Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

Telecoms watchdog Oftel claims that, based on figures released today, consumers are feeling the benefits of a competitive telecoms market, that almost 50% of the UK adult population now uses the internet and that 200,000 businesses have gone on-line in the last quarter. Oftel also reports that the average quarterly spend on fixed-line telephone services fell by £5 between May and August 2001.

David Edmonds, Director General of Telecommunications, said: "Our research shows that UK consumers are taking advantage of the wide range of competitive telecoms services on offer and are making savings on their phone bill. With so much choice available, greater consumer awareness about price and quality is needed so that even more people can benefit from the competition that exists in the market.”

However, it appears that rural consumers awaiting broadband internet access will feel no such benefits. BTopenworld has just announced pricing details for its broadband satellite service. For a single PC to be connected to the service, consumers will be charged £69.99 per month in addition to a connection charge of £899.

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