In a bid to regain the broadband-speed crown, NTL plans to start upgrading its cable customers to 10Mbps connections before the end of the year.
The move will be free to all NTL broadband users, the company said on Monday. NTL plans to roll out the service first to its 3Mbps users this year, but insists that all cable customers will be eligible. The rollout is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2006.
Companies such as Bulldog and UK Online already offer 8Mbps services in some urban locations, and BT announced its own plans to offer 8Mbps broadband across the UK last October.
Other suppliers are promising speeds of up to 24Mps on the latest flavour of ADSL broadband, called ADSL2+, which is due later this year.
NTL hopes that its latest strategy will put it into a market-leading position once again. "Our broadband services will become amongst the most innovative in the world and certainly well ahead of anything else in the UK," said Simon Duffy, NTL's chief executive.
NTL is hoping to establish to 10Mbps as standard for cable broadband products. Its strategy is to offer practically unlimited speed, but to impose extra charges on users who download very large amounts of data.
These 'experienced users' will pay extra for the usage. NTL says it will supply tools to help customers to track their usage. The basic usage allowance will increase broadly in-line with the increase in speed, to 75GB per month. Today, NTL's 3Mbps users have a basic data limit of 30GB per month.
Mark Main, senior analyst at Ovum, believes that rival cable operator Telewest may soon follow NTL's lead.
"Both companies have both been at or near the front in announcing speed increases for consumer broadband. This latest rise is not so much an incremental speed increase over BT's current 2Mbps retail/wholesale offering but rather a response to the 8Mbps speeds from the LLU [local-loop unbundling] players such as Bulldog and UK Online," said Main.
"The new service will give cable broadband users the fastest broadband on offer, and it will put the heat on BT and the loop unbundlers to press on with ADSL2+," Main added.
Talkback
as i am stuck here with a 24 hour broadband internet failure in the BN2 postal area i read all this with great interest/ the tv freezing should be sorted as well as speed ups/ obviously 10 mkg as standard is excellent but ONLY IF IT WORKS /:)
Just to have a reliable NTL service would be good!
NTL ahead of the game?! Don't make me laugh. i was paying £25 a month for a 512kpbs line a couple montha go, now they wanna give us free 10meg line when they know ADSL+2 is gonna screw NTL again next year. What a joke of a company, and it's playing it's customers, i know i'll be moving soon...
All hail WiMax i say.
I have been an NTL customer for a lot of years. I have never had any problem with them, I may be fortunate but I think NTL are a great company and they are making the broadband service better all the time. Just now I use the 2meg Broadband and have no problems with it... Keep up the good work.
Ive had NTL broadband for almost 2 years now, and Ive never had any problems with them. The internet has always worked, has been cheaper than most and only recently they upgraded the speed from 128k to 1MB for the same price. I am interested however to see if they will be upgrading people that are on 1MB & 2MB to the new speeds and not just the 3MB customers, come on NTL dont forget us!
Anyone who wishes to get relaible Broadband services should now learn to shop around.
There are many places to get Broadband services that work and are more relaible than ntl, telewest.
Go check what I found at triple redundant Broadband services at http://mobiles-3g.2u.co.uk/adsl-broadband-internet-access/
or use their fastes UK dail up (no sharing internet connections with others-safe an secure too).
Also offer 100% satisfaction or moneyback!
Good luck with your broadband suppliers.
Tell others to switch if thier service is not working.
Dear Sir or madam
Could you please check that i am on droadband 2meg as i am paying for £24.99 a month .But it is going slower than usual and i havent done anything different from before.
Many thanks
From
Mrs l Willis
28 Mowbray road
Hartlepool.
Please reply to email.