My super amazing plan for ntl cable broadband

[Ron Jeremy]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/04/19/bt_broadband_250k_1mb/

"BT is also planning a 250k product as an entry-level service. Trials are expected to begin in June. At £12.25 a month, the wholesale cost of the 250k service is less than a quid cheaper than the wholesale cost of BT's 500k service. "

However, I am not sure why the 2mg is so expensive - "wholesale cost of the service has been set at £38 a month".
Actaully, I do know. It is profiteering on BTâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s part. I suppose they think the 2mg service is brand new, a bit of a luxury, so they can get away with huge profit margins on it.

[Chrysalis]

NTL are actually making a profit on their broadband services, its their tv and phone thats losing them money alongside with their debt interest.

I agree about the email, newsgroups etc. make them optional extras as I use none of them, their email service is a joke taking 2 days for emails to be sent and recieved.

[andygrif]

I'm not sure that this is completely correct. It would be unwise for ntl to provide any service that is loss making, so I doubt that any of the three services actually do this. I think it is just that broadband is making a lot MORE profit than tv and phone services. TV is a very small profit margin, as most of the money will go to the content providers.

The debts come from (with hindsight) wild spending and acquisition frenzies, with the company totally over-commiting themselves financially. It's this that they are still paying off (albiet a lot less than they really owed) and it is this that ntl need to address - hence the rather substantial price increases.

I saw Hussein quoted somewhere, saying that the increases are in the areas where the services cost more. Call waiting now costs 50% more? A second line, having already been installed for seven years costs 20% more today? Not sure how true that is!

[willo]

I'd vote for basic connectivity then pay for addons if required.