British Telecom to Sell Direct Internet Access to its Customers
London, June 10 (Bloomberg) -- British Telecommunications
Plc said it will sell direct, pay-as-you-go, non-subscription
access to the Internet at rates only a penny-a-minute more than
customers pay for local calls.
The dominant U.K. telecommunications company's service,
which doesn't require subscription to an Internet service
provider, will be tried out in Northern Ireland this month and
introduced nationwide in September, BT said. With the service,
customers can download Internet access software from a BT disk
or the Internet, and aren't required to register, sign
contracts, or pay a monthly fee.
BT aims to attract ''all those who have felt inhibited
using the Internet for reasons of cost, commitment or technical
complexity,'' said John Swingewood, director of BT's Internet
and multimedia services.
BT has been counting on increased Internet traffic. Last
month, the company said it would invest a further 800 million
pounds ($1.3 billion) to upgrade its network to accommodate
spiraling Internet, multimedia, and other data uses. Half of
BT's annual costs now go to support data services, up from less
than 5 percent in 1994.
BT currently competes for Internet services mainly with
WorldCom Inc.'s UUNet Technologies and Demon Internet Ltd.,
which was Europe's largest independent Internet service provider
before it agreed to a 66 million pound offer by ScottishPower
Plc last month.
By 2003, BT has said the volume of Internet and other
multimedia traffic it carries will match the number of ordinary
voice calls transmitted. Today, ordinary calls generate 90
percent of its revenue.
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