Post Office set to join broadband bandwagon

The Post Office could be set to join the broadband revolution, after reports yesterday said it was set to move into the crowded market for high-speed internet access.

“We look at lots of opportunities in the market, and broadband is naturally one of those things you would look at, but there’s absolutely no decision,” spokesman David Simpson said.

Telecoms analysts suggested that the Post Office, which already offers a fixed-line telephone service in conjunction with Cable & Wireless – HomePhone – in direct competition with BT, was poised to announce the move.

The battle for broadband customers has intensified in recent months. BSkyB launched its own high-speed internet product last month and, in April, Carphone Warehouse entered the fray by offering its “free” broadband service Talk Talk as part of a bundle with line calls and rental.

Other companies were forced to slash their prices to stay competitive.

The Post Office already offers the cheapest fixed-line rental on the high street with call charges 20 per cent lower than BT. It launched HomePhone, using the network of Cable & Wireless, in January last year and is now signing up 5,000 customers a day.

Earlier this week, a survey revealed the average UK broadband user spends around 50 days a year online.

In the early days of its fixed-line service, launched last year, the Post Office, by signing up a significant number of customers, seemed to have proved wrong critics who had said that the GBP 15 million move was ill-judged and unrealistic.

Ian Watt, senior analyst at Enders Analysis, said: “A move into broadband would make more sense than just offering telephony alone because it is extremely difficult in the long term now to proceed in the marketplace by providing just one fixed-line service.”