Telewest trumps BT with unmetered offer

Telewest has unveiled what it claims is the first unmetered access to the Internet over cable, at prices significantly below that of BT's recent unmetered offering (see 'BT launches unmetered Internet access' http://www.silicon.com/a34491 ).

Telewest's service will be called SurfUnlimited, and will cost just £10.00 per month for completely toll-free Internet use. This compares with a price of £34.99 per month for BT's equivalent service.

Telewest's service does however, require users to spend at least another £10.00 a month on non-Internet calls, but it stresses that this figure is below average monthly spend amounts. Users must also pay line rental on their voice phone line, which will cost £7.93 from Telewest.

The service is standard narrow-band dial-up cable access, and will be formally launched for use on Valentine's Day 2000. Telewest also plans to launch a Broadband unmetered service early next year, but has not yet announced pricing.

Users of the SurfUnlimited service will get up to fifteen email addresses, technical support and access to a revamped version of its Cable Internet ISP. This site is currently being renovated in partnership with Microsoft.