Posted: 22nd Jul, 2003 By: MarkJ
Following yesterdays news that
Oftel would force BT into cutting its wholesale unmetered dialup (FRIACO) charges by 17%; today UK ISPs and operators have hinted that the cuts may not result in cheaper dialup for end-users:
"It's far more likely that ISPs will invest any saving, to bolster their service and add additional content," Jonathan Lambeth, head of corporate media relations at AOL UK, said.
"I'm confident that AOL UK will pass on any benefits to consumers -- it's much better to do it in terms of better content and better customer service," Lambeth added.
Large telcos such as Cable & Wireless and Energis buy BT's wholesale unmetered Internet access product and resell it to ISPs. Some sources in the industry are already indicating that these operators will absorb the savings rather than lowering their prices.Typically other ISPs, such as
BTOpenworld and
Freeserve, have declined to comment. It remains to be seen exactly how the reduction will play out, although simply absorbing such a significant cut 'may' appear selfish. More @
ZDNet.