ISP Review - Pipex Interview

ISP Review interviews UK ISP Pipex

Pipex Interview
By Mark 'Winter' Jackson : Jun 27th-2005 : Page 3 of 3

"ISPs like PIPEX are too dependent upon the decisions made by BT and pay far too much of their income to BT."


12. In the past Pipex has claimed itself to be one of the largest UK broadband providers by ignoring rival products that run at below 512Kbps. Is this view (anything below 512Kbps = not broadband) still shared and do you believe Ofcom’s definition (128Kbps and upwards = broadband) to thus be wrong?

We are presently offering a very attractive service run at 256kbps, Solo 250. This is a unique product in the market place today as it has a speed boost facility which allows customers to go faster for periods of seven days at a time for a small fee. Our view is that many customers do not wish to pay for a faster speed service and are very happy to move to a low speed broadband service. By moving to PIPEX, the customer is not forced to pay for a faster speed it may or may not need but is giving the option to try it out or to use the faster speed from time to time. The Solo 250 is our second fastest selling service at the moment.

13. Is Local Loop Unbundling something your provider has considered, already invested in or would consider in the future and why?

We are continually looking at alternative ways to provide service to our customers and to see how we can improve our operational and financial performance. LLU falls firmly into this evaluation. PIPEX offers a national service today and LLU will never be available nationally so we must bare in mind that any investment in LLU by PIPEX, and by others for that matter, will only be into a limited number of exchanges up and down the country. With the way LLU pricing has moved recently it is not inconceivable that we could have another form of digital divide, those living in an LLU area having cheaper broadband services than those who do not – I question whether this really is in the interest of the consumer-citizen.

14. Pipex was rather busy last year buying up other Internet businesses, such as Firstnet and Nildram. What benefits has this brought to your service and do you foresee further acquisitions in the near future?

The acquisition activity has yielded a number of benefits to the PIPEX Group and also to the PIPEX customers. With a wider range of products and services now available and the sharing of people, skills, processes and systems, the PIPEX customer will benefit from new developments, brought faster to market and improved over all service.

From the PIPEX Group perspective the acquisitions have generated considerable cross selling opportunity, integration benefits, stronger branding, cost savings and the timely entry into the WiMax play.

15. Finally, what do you perceive as being the most important developments for your ISP in the coming year (2005)?

The OFCOM strategic review of Telecoms and its position on the BT Group. ISPs like PIPEX are too dependent upon the decisions made by BT and pay far too much of their income to BT.

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