La Poste Slashes Broadband, Dial-up Net Access Fees
French postal operator La Poste is cutting its Internet access rates in a bid to compete more effectively with strong rivals such as France Telecom’s Wanadoo service.
The move is also intended to increase the subscriber base of the La Poste service, which debuted in March of last year. Besides the price cuts on both broadband and narrowband services, La Poste is also making it easier for consumers to sign up for the service.
La Poste said people could now walk into any of its 14,000 branch offices and sign up. Previously, they had to call a special phone number or go online.
The price cuts cover both broadband and dial-up services of the post.
La Poste offers high-speed ADSL Internet service at speeds of 512 Kbps and 1024 Kbps.
The monthly charge for 512 Kbps under a one-year contract is now 23 euros ($27.41) compared to the original 33 euros ($39.33).
For the faster 1024 Kbps service under the same one-year contract, the post is now charging 25 euros (29.80). The old price was 43 euros ($51.24).
The rates for the post’s ADSL services are substantially higher in certain “blue zones” around the country where France Telecom continues to enjoy a monopoly position. However, the post said more people are covered by the lower rates in the “green zones” where it doesn’t.
Neuf Telecom, previously known as the LDCOM Group, powers La Poste’s Internet service.
Subscribers to either of the ADSL services get a modem for a single euro ($1.19), free installation, an electronic mailbox with 30MB of storage, 50MB of storage for a personal web page and one month of free service for people who sign up at a post office.
The post is also promising free transfers when customers move and lower rates if the prices go down during their subscription. On the dial-up side, the cost of five hours of service a month under an annual contract is now five euros ($5.96) compared to the original seven ($8.34), and 12 euros ($14.30) for 25 hours a month versus the original 18.5 ($22). Dial-up subscribers who sign a one-year contract get a free hour tacked on to the five-hour program and five free hours tacked on to the 25-hour program.
Dial-up subscribers also get the same 30MB electronic mailbox and 50MB of storage for a personal web page as ADSL subscribers get
La Poste declined to say how many subscribers it had but the service is reportedly profitable. Presumably, La Poste lags its Wanadoo rival.
La Poste considers that Internet access complements its free e-mail service.
Launched in August 2000, the laposte.net e-mail service reportedly has 3.6 million users. The service can be accessed over the Internet as well as by phone and Minitel.
Wanadoo also cut what it’s charging for Internet access recently. It claims to be Europe’s second-biggest ISP with about nine million customers including 2.5 million ADSL broadband subscribers.
The Internet has been a rocky road for La Poste as it has for several other postal operators including the US Postal Service. La Poste has had to shut down some online services such as its B2B e-bill venture Post@xess for lackluster performance.
