BT speaks out on 100Mbps fibre broadband plans
Tuesday 19 August 2008
A month after
BT announced that it had plans to start work on a £1.5bn broadband improvement scheme an interview detailing the scheme has appeared on ISPreview.
Aiming to clear up some important issues and questions the interview, conducted with a BT spokesperson, revealed new details, facts and figures.
Among the topics covered was the discussion of prices. ISPreview raised the issue that BT's faster fibre services would naturally be more expensive to the consumer, pointing out that estimates suggest prices could head towards £100 to £150 for a connection fee and a monthly pricing of around £20 to £30. Asked if it believed some customers would be put off by increased costs, BT answered: "FTTC [Fibre To The Premises] is being positioned as a premium product and it is expected to be purchased by consumers who are willing to pay a little more for the increased speed available. This is in line with the pricing principles outlined for FTPP in New sites."
The BT spokesperson also confirmed that they do not plan to set any usage limits on the Openreach wholesale service.
BT are expecting to announced the location of their large scale operational trial of FTTC towards the end of September 2008. This will be followed in November with details of their proposed early market rollout.
A transcription of the interview can be read in full
here.
