Microsoft bouyant as BT prepares for broadband slash
Thursday 7-Feb-2002 12:00 AM As predicted, British Telecom has announced "substantial" reductions in the cost of high-speed Internet services in the UK: lucky for some... British Telecom confirmed today that it intends to make "substantial" reductions to the cost of high-speed Internet services in the coming weeks, a move designed to boost interest in the market. No more £40 a month for a high-speed Web connection in the home. Hear that? It's the sound of Microsoft and Sony breathing a very large sigh of relief.
"We need to underwrite broadband Britain, " said BT CEO Ben Verwaayen, before confirming a "substantial cost reduction on the wholesale side to allow all partners to have a fundamental repricing."
With Microsoft planning to launch six online Xbox games later this year, those involved in Web projects for the console are understandably jubilant.
"Obviously, we love any price cut," said Kate Wilson, business development manager for Xbox online in Europe. "When we look at what's going to drive people to use our service or not, 50 percent say the reason they won't consider it is the price of broadband. The more broadband comes down, the better it is for consumers, adoption and I think ultimately even for BT, but obviously they have to figure out their own business model and make sure it works for them in the context.
"I think that Xbox online is going to be an absolutely fantastic product for the gaming market, and then for the mass-market after that."
Sony has been coy about online services for PlayStation 2, but Chris Deering, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, confirmed recently that all internally developed games are currently having online functions included. The first PlayStation 2 game capable of Internet play was Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, launched by Activision last Christmas.
BT has issued no specific details on the price reductions, but wide-spread speculation is pointing to a possible drop to £25 a month, a similar cost to current cable services in the UK.
Britain lags heavily behind other parts of Europe in terms of broadband availability and costing. DSL connections are available in Germany for a paltry €25 (£15) per month, while Sweden offers its public an astonishing 2.5Mbits/s connection for US$25 (£18) - enough to allow your computer to lift off and fly through the window screaming, "You'll never take me alive" and blasting your street with laser bolts.
Bottom line? Internet, faster, cheaper, more widely available, more cash for business and heaps, and heaps, and heaps of PC, Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Gamecube online titles to waste your life on. What more, said the rabbit, could you possibly want?
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