Ref: 82/01
Date: 7 December 2001

A benchmarking survey of prices as at August 2001 for dial-up, DSL and cable modem Internet services in the USA, France, Germany, Sweden and the UK been published today by Oftel.

The UK compares favourably to other countries surveyed for residential narrowband Internet services. UK consumers benefit from good deals for both peak and off-peak use, including a wide range of unmetered dial-up packages.

Recent falls in the cost of cable modems mean that the UK comes out as one of the cheapest countries surveyed for residential broadband packages - only Sweden is cheaper. But DSL services in the UK are more expensive than elsewhere.

For business customers, unmetered narrowband packages for UK businesses compare well with other countries surveyed. Prices for DSL and cable modem services for business are broadly in line with prices elsewhere but metered dial-up prices are higher.

David Edmonds, Director General of Telecommunications, said:

"Oftel’s regular benchmarking surveys give us a picture of how the UK compares to other countries.

"The results of the new survey show that while the UK is doing well in some areas, such as narrowband Internet access and cable modems, there is still progress to be made in other areas, notably DSL.

"However I am encouraged by recent trends. Over the past months we have seen price reductions for cable modems and strong growth in the number of both cable modem and DSL users. Since December 2000 we have seen cable modem users increase by over 500% and DSL users by over 400%. The UK's current takeup level for DSL is similar to the level seen in other countries at a comparable point after service launch.

" UK prices for business are comparable to those in Germany, and cheaper than in France for a basic business DSL/cable modem service.

"Oftel is working to encourage a competitive market for broadband services delivered through a variety of channels including DSL and cable. We are now seeing active competition between cable modems and DSL which should help drive down DSL prices."

Notes to Editors

1 International benchmarking study of Internet access (dial-up and broadband) is available on Oftel’s website at www.oftel.gov.uk/research/2001/dslb1201.htm. Copies are available to the media from Oftel’s Press Office on 020 7634 8991 and to the public from the Research and Intelligence Unit on 020 7634 8761.

2 This report looks at Internet access via dial-up PSTN, DSL and cable modem. The countries considered in the study were France, Germany, Sweden, the UK and the US. The analysis and drafting of the report was carried out by Oftel. The models developed by Oftel used to generate the results were audited by an independent consultant, Analysys Ltd, who confirm that the models are logically sound and that correct tariff data has been used. The tariff data used in this report has been collected by consultants Total Romtec. The results are based on a snapshot of prices as at August 2001.

3. The survey was conducted to benchmark UK prices against those of a number of other countries and US states and should not be seen as recommended ‘best buys’. When making a purchase decision, consumers will want to have the latest pricing information, as well as taking into account other factors such as service features, personal usage patterns, terms and conditions and indeed any other factors that they feel are relevant to their needs.