BT has unveiled its first low-cost, no-frills, high-speed Internet service in a move to boost a key growth division and face off fierce competition.
Around two million customers in Britain use BT's mid and higher-priced Internet services - BT Broadband and BT Yahoo! Broadband - but BT said it was aiming at more cost-conscious customers with a new offer for about £20 per month.
BT, which plans to win five million broadband customers by the end of 2006, is relying on its broadband division to boost falling revenues as it is one of the few major European telecoms operators to control no growing mobile phone network operator.
BT's new service allows Internet speeds of up to 10 times that of ordinary dial-up services and has a usage allowance of one gigabyte per month.