Rivals react to TalkTalk deal

BT and AOL claim to be unfazed by the launch of Talk Talk’s ‘free broadband’ offer, despite analysts predicting an industry price war. Carphone Warehouse's new broadband promotion has been described by experts as one that "will certainly stir up the UK market". However, Jonathan Lambeth, director of communications at AOL, said the ISP would not be drawn into any pricing battle, claiming its focus is on providing customers with a quality service. “We have been around for ten years and have seen offers come and go. Free broadband for life is one hell of a risky and bold offer as customers have a high expectation of broadband services now," said Mr Lambeth. “Anyone can offer a good service to a low number of customers but for any company it is hard to deliver good quality broadband at scale. What customers value is a quality of service and good customer service and that is what we focus on, the whole package.” A BT spokesman told Web User that the company welcomed the competition but warned surfers to check for the Talk Talk 'small print'. "BT welcomes competition and is very used to it. The broadband market in the UK is the most competitive in the world and this offer from Carphone is yet one more offer in what is already a crowded market," said the spokesman. “As for this being "free" broadband, it is only "free" if you pay them hundreds of pounds a year for other services. This is really just a clever marketing ploy from a clever marketing team. We'd advise people to take a careful look at the small print as there are plenty of extra costs." Meanwhile, a Tiscali spokeswoman said consumers will need to look closely if they want to sign up with Talk Talk: "The truth is nothing is ever really free. Customers will have to make a decision on three services. You will have to move your line rental away from BT and will be tied to a monthly voice subscription - that's a minimum monthly spend of £21, with additional call charges on top of that." Only one ISP has responded to the deal so far. NewNet’s new phone line and broadband package lets customers save money on their broadband by spending more on phone calls. However, to qualify for the 8Mbps £4.95 broadband offer, customers need to spend £70 on phone calls with NewNet per month. Wandaoo said it doesn't comment on competitors' broadband deals. http://www.newnet.co.uk/broadband/ http://www.aol.co.uk http://www.bt.com http://www.talktalk.co.uk