UK cable firm offers free digital upgrade

Cable & Wireless Communications (C&WC), the UK's largest cable television and telephony group, has announced new bundled services, which will be made available together with a free digital upgrade after 5 October.

The company is hyping its cheapest bundle of TV channels plus telephone line rental as marginally more expensive than a regular BT line rental, but it is the prospect of a free digital upgrade which should do most for prospective suppliers of interactive services such as home banking and shopping.

In August, C&WC announced it had struck deals with Barclays Bank, British Airways, Littlewoods Home Shopping Group, Granada Media Group, Associated New Media and ITN. The move was a challenge to British Interactive Broadcasting, the interactive services group headed by BT and BSkyB which aims to supply other digital platforms.

C&WC's free digital upgrade still means consumers will have to buy or rent set-top boxes to make use of interactive services, and in this respect the cable industry trails both terrestrial and satellite digital services, the latter of which are being launched by BSkyB this Thursday.

However, analysts remain optimistic that there is a future for digital cable services, not least because high-speed cable modems will make up an integral part of many set-top boxes.