BT Retail has today given rival UK ISPs cause for concern after the operator launched a cut price broadband and phone bundle based off its new "super-fast" (up to 40Mbps download and 2Mbps upload speed) fibre optic ( FTTC ) internet service, better known as BT Infinity. The deal gives new subscribers a reduced price of just £7.49 per month for the first 3 months (£17.99 a month thereafter, plus £25 activation fee and line rental from £9.49).

Broadband and Calls with BTInfinity (direct link)
* Up to 40Mb download speeds
* Up to 2Mb upload speeds
* 40GB monthly data usage allowance
* BT Infinity Home Hub included
* Free engineer installation
* Basic security
* Unlimited calls to UK^ landlines at weekends
* FREE connection charge if new line required
* 18 month contract
* Unlimited Wi-Fi minutes included
* 24/7 Freephone help from UK landlines
* BT Digital Vault (5GB) online storage

BT's Fibre-to-the-Cabinet technology ( FTTC ) delivers a fast fibre optic cable to the operators street level cabinets, while the remaining connection - between cabinets and homes - is done using VDSL2 (similar to current ADSL broadband but faster over short distances) through existing copper cable. The service can currently reach more than 1.5m UK premises and should cover 40% of the UK in 2012, rising to 66% during 2015.

Previously the cheapest BT Infinity package (option 1) had been a standalone (broadband only) deal and offered many of the same features, albeit for the higher price of £19.99 per month (+£50 connection change) and with a smaller usage allowance of just 20GB 40GB (GigaBytes).

Some rival ISPs, such as Zen Internet UK, had earlier this year complained that it would be difficult to match BT's "very aggressive" pricing. Since then a raft of new FTTC based packages have launched, although few have managed to beat BT's prices.