Telewest broadens cable broadband

Telewest Broadband is boosting the bandwidth of its broadband internet connections by 50 per cent without increasing the price.

Over the next few weeks, Telewest will increase the bandwidth for its 512Kbps service region by region to 750Kbps.

Its 1Mbps service will move to 1.3Mbps and its 2Mbps service to 3Mbps. The upgrade should be completed by the end of May.

The cable firm said this revamp of its blueyonder broadband products was possible without having to make technical upgrades to its fibre optic network.

The changes will be made remotely by changing the profile of the docsis - the platform that determines the speed for cable modem services.

Chad Raube, director of internet services at Telewest, told vnunet.com that the changes made good business sense in an increasingly competitive market.

"We introduced a new 256Kbps this month to attract newcomers to broadband. This will remain the same speed. But we can cost-effectively increase the speed of cable broadband products," he said.

"We have seen cable operators in the US, such as Comcast, increase their speeds. For example, [Comcast's] 1.5Mbps service went to 3Mbps, which makes us pale into comparison. So we are not saying our current upgrade will be our last."

Raube added that Telewest wanted to offer a better service as more content became available online.

"We feel it will bring us business, and is a good time to give customers a broadband boost for no extra cost and offer them something they can't get from any other broadband provider," he said.

Last week, rival BT said it will begin trials in June that could bring ADSL broadband to more of the customers currently unable to receive the service.