ad info

 
CNN.com  technology > computing
    Editions | myCNN | Video | Audio | Headline News Brief | Feedback  

 

  Search
 
 

 
TECHNOLOGY
TOP STORIES

Consumer group: Online privacy protections fall short

Guide to a wired Super Bowl

Debate opens on making e-commerce law consistent

(MORE)

TOP STORIES

More than 11,000 killed in India quake

Mideast negotiators want to continue talks after Israeli elections

(MORE)

MARKETS
4:30pm ET, 4/16
144.70
8257.60
3.71
1394.72
10.90
879.91
 


WORLD

U.S.

POLITICS

LAW

ENTERTAINMENT

HEALTH

TRAVEL

FOOD

ARTS & STYLE



(MORE HEADLINES)
*
 
CNN Websites
Networks image


NTL announces free Net access plan for UK

IDG.net

March 8, 2000
Web posted at: 8:12 a.m. EST (1312 GMT)

(IDG) -- Communications group NTL became the second U.S. company in two days to announce ground-breaking changes to U.K. Internet access, with Tuesday's announcement that it will offer free Internet access to U.K. users beginning April 17.

Through it's U.K. telecommunications division, NTL Group, the company's ntlworld plan will offer free Internet access, including free ISP (Internet service provider) subscriptions -- and more significantly for the U.K., free call connections to customers who sign up for cable telephony service, NTL said Tuesday in a statement.

MORE COMPUTING INTELLIGENCE
IDG.net   IDG.net home page
  More portals jump into the free-ISP game
  U.K.'s Freeserve to begin offering ADSL trial
  TechInformer: The Thinking Internaut's Guide to the Tech Industry
  E-BusinessWorld
  Reviews & in-depth info at IDG.net
  Year 2000 World
  IDG.net's Windows software page
  Questions about computers? Let IDG.net's editors help you
  Subscribe to IDG.net's free daily newsletters
  Search IDG.net in 12 languages
  News Radio
  * Fusion audio primers
  * Computerworld Minute

Monday, AltaVista announced that it plans to offer flat-rate monthly Internet access, including toll-free calls, to U.K. customers who pay a yet to be determined set-up fee of between 30 pounds (US$47) and 50 pounds, as well as an annual charge of between 10 pounds and 20 pounds. That service is set to launch in three months.

The announcements come hot on the heels of continued calls within the U.K.'s political and business establishment for lower Internet access fees. In his speech today to the Knowledge 2000 conference, U.K. Prime Minister, Tony Blair is expected to issue a challenge to the telecommunications industry to bring easy and inexpensive access throughout the U.K. in five years time.

Furthermore, according to various reports, including one by the British Broadcasting Corporation, Mr. Blair will call the NTL service a "significant new offer" for bringing Net access to the general public.

Last month, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown caused a stir when he publically called on British Telecommunications to move more quickly in lowering Internet access rates as well as moving ahead the July 1 deadline for unbundling the local phone network.

It is widely believed U.K. citizens are shying away from using the Internet due to metered charges for voice and Internet access and that this in turn is keeping the Internet economy in the U.K. from blossoming.

The NTL plan will not bring flat fees for voice calls. It is for the company's U.K. residential telephony customers only, either those using its cable service or those using a plug-in adaptor to make calls over rival BT's network. These users must make a minimum of 10 pounds worth of voice calls with NTL per month, the company said.

The initial offer will be for Internet access via a PC or Apple Macintosh, with TV Internet access following soon after the April 17 launch, NTL said.



RELATED STORIES:
Technology - W2K Day: Let the buying begin
February 17, 2000
GTS expands European broadband Net services
January 25, 2000
Excite offers free Net access
January 10, 2000
Free Internet access to explode in 2000
January 4, 2000
Free Internet access with purchase
July 7, 1999

RELATED IDG.net STORIES:
Study: European ISPs expect e-commerce to pay big
(IDG.net)
Telef—nica subsidiary launches free ISP in Mˇxico
(IDG.net)
Lycos to launch free Net service in LatAm
(IDG.net)
Concentric to acquire U.K. ISP
(IDG.net)
More portals jump into the free-ISP game
(The Industry Standard)
Why Telstra can't be a free ISP... yet
(Computerworld Australia)
KPN buys into more Eastern European ISPs
(IDG.net)
U.K.'s Freeserve to begin offering ADSL trial
(IDG.net)

RELATED SITES:
NTL
AltaVista

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

 Search   

Back to the top   © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.