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Bulldog Welcomes BT's 70% LLU Cuts

Posted: 14th May, 2004 By: MarkJ

Bulldog has echoed others by welcoming BT's 70% local loop (LLU) price cuts, although the operator feels that there may be room for further reductions. We note that Clara.net followed a similar line, yet expressed anger at the lack of competition and the time it took for this to occur:

Bulldog Welcomes BTs Announcement to Cut Local Loop Unbundling Prices by up to 70%

Bulldog Communications, broadband services provider and winner of the ISPA 2004 Award for Best Consumer Broadband ISP, welcomes BTs decision to lower prices for LLU services. According to BTs press announcement today, BT to usher in new era of broadband investment, BT will reduce prices for its local loop unbundled (LLU) products by up to 70 per cent in a phased series of price cuts. BTs proactive announcement coincides with Ofcoms LLU Market Review publication today, and follows on the heels of Ofcoms recently published Strategic Telecommunications Review.

Bulldog, one of the few LLU providers in the market, was founded in May 2000 with a vision of providing an alternative wholesale platform for broadband services in the UK. Like BT and Ofcom, Bulldog believes in the importance of infrastructure-based broadband competition. Bulldog views LLU as the necessary platform for the delivery of fundamentally differentiated broadband products and services.

Following this announcement, the price of an unbundled shared line in the UK has dropped from £4.42 per month to £2.26 per month. While Bulldog applauds this first price reduction for line-related costs since 2001, as well as BTs commitment to further reduce costs later this year, Bulldog is confident that there is scope for costs to fall further following the completion of Ofcoms LLU Market Review which will attempt to bring UK costs into line with European best practice. For example, in France, the LLU operator is charged roughly £0.40 per month, less than one-fifth of the newly announced UK price.

Bulldog is known as an innovator and price leader in the provision of broadband services. Bulldog was the first broadband services provider to launch 1, 2, 4 and 6 Mbps to the consumer market, the first to introduce PrimeTime, a consumer broadband service with a unique time of day feature, and the first to offer a 4 Mbps service under £40.00 per month.

As a follow on to BTs announcement, Bulldog is announcing today a promotion for new customers on its Primetime 2000 product, reducing the monthly charge from £32.99 per month (inc VAT) to £24.99 per month (inc VAT) and its PrimeTime 1000 product, from £24.99 per month (inc VAT) to £19.99 per month (inc VAT).

Richard Greco, CEO of Bulldog, stated Bulldog is delighted with this announcement by BT on the heels of the results of the first phase of Ofcoms Strategic Telecommunications Review. We believe that the only way to ensure long-term value and choice for the British consumer is through competition. In a wholesale LLU-friendly environment, the UK will experience similar growth to our European neighbours, attract more investment in broadband technology, while giving UK consumers a much broader selection of innovative services, at more price points.