Broadband News

20Mb BT Broadband Speed Accelerator

Monday, 17 August 2009

By Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk

Millions of BT customers can boost their broadband speeds to up to 20Mb from today, the ISP has announced.

BT Broadband (www.BT.com) customers currently get speeds of up to 8Mb, but those living in areas where their local telephone exchange has been upgraded will now be able to receive speeds of up to 20Mb for free.

Upload speeds will also increase from 448Kb to up to 1Mb.

This means that new BT customers, or existing customers willing to recontract, will be able to get faster speeds from just £7.78 a month for the first three months.

BT added that customers wanting to improve their speeds could also apply for a BT Broadband Speed Accelerator - or iPlate - free online, with just £1.20 post to pay.

John Petter, managing director of BT’s Consumer division, said: “The BT Broadband Accelerator can make a big difference to the speed of your broadband. We think it is so important we’ve taken the decision to offer it to our customers for just the cost of the postage.

“Between that and us more than doubling headline speeds for millions of homes and businesses, most customers should start to see a rapid boost in the performance of their connection.

“We have a track record of not charging customers any more when we increase the speed and this time is no different. BT broadband customers won’t have to pay any more to get higher speeds.”

The faster speeds will initially be available through 549 exchanges serving 10 million - or 40 per cent - of the UK’s homes and businesses, with coverage increasing to 55 per cent by March 2010.

Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said: “Although this isn’t the cheapest package in its speed bracket after the introductory offer has expired, BT’s strong brand and large customer base will certainly bring more competition to the superfast broadband market.

“Existing customers looking to take advantage of this free speed boost should be aware of the limited coverage - only around 40 per cent of homes and businesses will be covered at launch - and the fact that they will have to sign a new contract with BT in order to qualify for the upgrade,” added.

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