Jim Mooney, NTL chairman, said it would "significantly enhance" the cable giant's ability to challenge Sky, which has had the monopoly on Premier League games since it replaced the old First Division in 1992.
Last year, NTL said it was not going to bid for the rights and criticised the European Commission competition authorities for failing to take a tougher stance on how it divided the packages for Premiership football rights.
The cable company said in a conference call to journalists that current proposals for rights to the 2007 to 2010 seasons were "not attractive enough" for the firm to pay for.
However, yesterday when announcing the group's quarterly results, which saw the broadcaster add almost 21,000 new subscribers, Mooney said this time NTL was serious.
"If the Premier League and the government are serious about creating competition in football, then we are serious about participating."
The Premier League has said it will auction off six "balanced" packages, with one broadcaster allowed to bid for five of the packages.
BSkyB is almost certain to outbid its rivals for five of the Premier League packages, with NTL or Irish broadcaster Setanta expected to scoop the remaining games.
The last season of the old First Division in 1991-1992 season was the last time free-to-air broadcasters screened live top-flight games.
The European Commission first voiced its concerns about BSkyB's monopoly in 2003.
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