The competition between BT and Carphone Warehouse to lower the
cost of SME broadband will help 4.7 million small businesses
survive and prosper during the recession.
BT and Carphone Warehouse’s TalkTalk business arm, Opal,
have both launched SME broadband packages for as little as £10
and £15 respectively.
Although both firms claimed that the timing of the launches was a
complete coincidence the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)
welcomed the competition.
Stephen Alambritis, head of public affairs at the FSB, said small
businesses are feeling the impact of the recession and any savings
are welcomed.
“If the suppliers go into battle to provide as competitive a price
as possible it will help them,” he added.
He said the FSB welcomes new suppliers into the business broadband
market to reduce BT’s dominance. “It is always the case when there
is a monopoly that prices are higher than they should be.”
Opal said it wants to win 20% of the SME market while BT said its
announcements were part of a package to improve its business
broadband
offerings.
BT launched a package for £10 per month.
The 24 Mbps service from
Opal gives
business users priority over the network, and uses the TalkTalk
group's next-generation network. The company has spent £200m on the
network, which now covers more than 80% of the UK's users and
supports more than1.4 million broadband customers.
On the same day that Opal launched its new package
BT announced price reductions.
The price of BT’s Broadband Option 3 will be reduced by a 35%
from £40.50 to £30 per month. This will include mobile broadband
connection, at no extra charge.
Option 1 will now be £15 per month from £19.79 before.
Option 2 is being reduced to £25 from £26.99.