Oftel says UK has cheapest internet access

• the UK has the lowest prices for residential off-peak and peak metered internet access;
• only California has cheaper residential unmetered internet access for residential customers;
• the UK has the cheapest unmetered internet access for businesses in Europe. However, for metered business internet access, the UK is the second most expensive of the countries considered; and
• only Germany has significantly lower prices than the UK for mobile services, which is largely attributable to bigger handset subsidies in Germany.

David Edmonds, Director General of Telecommunications said today:

"The availability and price of unmetered internet access in the UK is much better than the UK's major European competitors. The range of choices for internet access has grown and UK consumers now pay roughly the same as, or less than, those in the US states for unmetered internet access."

David Edmonds said that Oftel's goal is to ensure that UK consumers get the best deal possible for telecoms services.

"Oftel's work on increasing the availability of unmetered internet access for consumers and promoting the introduction of new high speed services over BT's local network will help bring new choices and keener prices to consumers.

"However, while UK businesses enjoy some of the best prices for unmetered internet packages, they could still be getting a better deal for metered internet access. Oftel will continue to work to improve the services available to UK businesses so that they can choose the most competitive deal for their needs."