Freeserve to raise broadband price

LONDON - In a blow to cheap broadband internet access, ISP and portal Freeserve is to increase the price for high-speed broadband internet access by £120 a year, according to a report in the Financial Times.

The company plans to raise its price from £39.99 a month to £49.99 and its one-off installation charge of £150 will increase to £170.

The news will severely dent the government's vision of making the UK a "competitive and extensive" broadband market. Oftel recently announced that UK broadband prices are higher than in France, Germany and the US, and in a survey of home high-speed access penetration, the UK was second to bottom.

Freeserve said that BT Ignite, BT's wholesale access service for ISPs, needs to come down from £35 a month to £15 before broadband access can become mass-market.