Big BT broadband roll-out

By Guy Dresser
Updated: 00:00 BST, 30 June 2004

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A MILLION extra 世帯s will be able to receive broadband services within 13 months after a 大規模な cable-laying programme 明かすd by BT today.

The company 約束d that it will lay 3,300 miles of new cable across the country to connect more than a thousand 田舎の and more remote communities to the broadband 網状組織.

Alison Ritchie, BT's 長，指導者 broadband officer said the 率先 meant that by August next year 99.6% of UK 世帯s will be connected to broadband 交流s.

However she 認める that about 100,000 世帯s and 商売／仕事s connected by the very smallest telephone 交流s will still have longer to wait. She also said that they might have to rely on wireless or 衛星 broadband systems rather than the 伝統的な cable method.

Ritchie 追加するd: 'We're working hard to find 解答s for them. These 解答s depend on the support of 外部の partners and so BT will continue to 捜し出す to work in 共同 with public 部門 and other organisations. Possible 解答s 含む wireless and 衛星 broadband.'

詳細（に述べる）s of the 延長するd broadband roll out （機の）カム as BT 削減（する） the 賃貸しの prices of its 消費者 broadband services by up to 25%. The 削減s will 影響する／感情 存在するing 同様に as new 顧客s and will see the cost of its 512k broadband service 落ちる from £27 a month to £24.99. The 512k BT Yahoo! Broadband service will come 負かす／撃墜する from £29.99 a month to £26.99 a month, and the 1Mb service will 減少（する） from £40.99 to £29.99.

Other 削減s in the price of BT telephone 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金s, however, were attacked by 競争相手s which said that their own services were still cheaper.

BT 削減（する） the 基準 率 for call 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金s yesterday, with daytime calls 落ちるing from 3.95p per minute (地元の) and 7.91p per minute (国家の) to a flat 3p per minute.

A 広報担当者 for BT, which has 19m 顧客s, 主張するd that the company would be cheaper 'for most UK calls' than its major cable 競争相手s.

Price 監視するs uSwitch.com, however, said that while 顧客s would be an 普通の／平均（する） £24 a year better off, BT will still be about £42 a year more expensive than its cheapest 競争相手s.

'Switching is 平易な and you can make 重要な 貯金 by shopping around,' said uSwitch director John Miller.

Nine other 操作者s have already 答える／応じるd to BT's move. Carphone 倉庫／問屋 is off ering 解放する／自由な dialling for its 400,000 TalkTalk 顧客s calling other TalkTalk 使用者s.

Ian El-Mokadem, managing director of OneTel, 追加するd: 'It's astounding that so many people continue to waste money by sticking to BT にもかかわらず it 存在 the most expensive telecoms provider in the home telephones market.'