BT Wholesale to charge rivals whose broadband customers move - but Wholesale prices are also set to drop
BT's Wholesale division has announced that it will start charging rival broadband operators if their customers move from them to another provider. The charge will be £33.75 ex VAT and will also be charged to BT's retail division if their customers up sticks.
However it won't be charged if the customer is given - and uses - a MAC (a migration authorization code - which many providers give to customers moving to other broadband providers and which facilitates a much smoother switch).
BT Wholesale says that as they are rejigging their prices, this penalty charge cost will be made up for in better overall BT Wholesale prices which are poised to fall once 1.5 million LLU lines have been enabled (LLU providers - local loop unbundlers - put their own equipment into local BT exchanges, meaning they can often offer much faster broadband speeds than the "up to 8Mb" that a typical ADSL Max reseller can offer.) BT reckons this will happen in May 2007. It has been prevented from dropping Wholesale prices until the 1.5 million marker was reached to give the LLU sector a competitive chance to get going.
These price changes mean that the rental charge for its most widely used product, BT IPstream, looks to fall 9% next May and more the year after. There are other proposed price changes and it looks as if the market could get more competitive among ISPs using BT Wholesale, though the LLUs are unlikely to be happy...
Even before any wholesale price change occur - and make it through to end user prices - there are some great deals for broadband in the UK, whether for home or business. If you're looking for broadband (yup, it's time for the sales bit) try our UK Broadband Finder availability checker - just go to www.ukbroadbandfinder.com.
By Sarah, at UK Broadband Finder
However it won't be charged if the customer is given - and uses - a MAC (a migration authorization code - which many providers give to customers moving to other broadband providers and which facilitates a much smoother switch).
BT Wholesale says that as they are rejigging their prices, this penalty charge cost will be made up for in better overall BT Wholesale prices which are poised to fall once 1.5 million LLU lines have been enabled (LLU providers - local loop unbundlers - put their own equipment into local BT exchanges, meaning they can often offer much faster broadband speeds than the "up to 8Mb" that a typical ADSL Max reseller can offer.) BT reckons this will happen in May 2007. It has been prevented from dropping Wholesale prices until the 1.5 million marker was reached to give the LLU sector a competitive chance to get going.
These price changes mean that the rental charge for its most widely used product, BT IPstream, looks to fall 9% next May and more the year after. There are other proposed price changes and it looks as if the market could get more competitive among ISPs using BT Wholesale, though the LLUs are unlikely to be happy...
Even before any wholesale price change occur - and make it through to end user prices - there are some great deals for broadband in the UK, whether for home or business. If you're looking for broadband (yup, it's time for the sales bit) try our UK Broadband Finder availability checker - just go to www.ukbroadbandfinder.com.
By Sarah, at UK Broadband Finder
Labels: broadband providers, BT Wholesale
posted by Sarah at
8:55 am
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