Posted: 20th Feb, 2003 By: MarkJ
Pierre Danon, BT Retail's Chief Executive, has today stated that content, rather than increased bandwidth, is at the top of the company's broadband agenda:
Getting people to pay for a raft of new services will be the next stage in BT's broadband strategy, as the telecoms giant tries to persuade people to abandon dial-up modems in favour of fast net connections.
He acknowledged that the UK net audience is unlikely to increase much beyond 50% of the population. Instead the real challenge for broadband providers will be in persuading those with dial-up connections to make the switch.
BT is hoping to tempt consumers by offering services such as 24-hour home surveillance and educational content, offering parents access to the curriculum materials in return for a small monthly fee.The
BBC News Online item notes Danon's belief that a concentration on content will not be easy, not least because Yahoo, MSN and AOL etc. are already doing it.
It's also going to be hard to tempt people off dialup, especially where broadband isn't available.