BT's big bundle of broadband and wireless

BT has taken the logical step of combining broadband, wireless home networking and public Wi-Fi access via its BT Openzone operations.

The package will be called BT Broadband Traveller and, as a simple addition to existing bills, will be aimed at consumers, home workers and SMEs.

With strong sales of 802.11b-enabled client devices - mainly laptops and some PDAs - as well as the proliferation of public hotspots, a combination package has been on the cards.

BT's public hotspot roll out goal is 4,000 locations by June next year and roaming deals with various operators and locations means potential access points - offering truly broadband speeds - could be much higher.

A BT spokesman said the service is aimed "at anyone who needs total access at home and also when out and about".

Wireless access when away from one's main broadband connection will be limited but pricing resembles that ubiquitous cellular networks.

The pricing breaks down as £27 per month for a broadband ADSL connection from BT, £129.99 or more to set up home wireless networking, then 23.5p per minute for time spent using a BT Openzone hotspot.

Unlike with some tariff structures for data over mobile phones, the decision was made not to charge on the basis of traffic volume.

Yesterday BT cut the cost of using its Openzone network and for heavy public users a separate Openzone account is likely to work out cheaper than Traveller's pay-as-you-go. To give users an extra incentive, the first three months of the subscription are free.