Telewest revamps broadband package

Cable operator Telewest has admitted that small businesses are unconvinced by its broadband package, and has decided to revamp its Blue Yonder Workwise to include Outlook XP and other added services from July.

Adam Smith, managing director of the firm's business division, told vnunet.com: "The world is going broadband, it has to. Offering broadband capabilities into the small business market is a huge opportunity, and there's a huge latent demand.

"But the main point in the business market is that if you just offer broadband as a fast, always-on connection to the internet, that actually is not terribly competitive."

Smith said that services such as his own Blue Yonder should stop talking in acronyms and start thinking about how small businesses actually use computers.

"Most small businesses are not technically focused or in technical industries, and the industry has not done itself any favours by throwing out bunches of acronyms like ADSL, ISP and ASP. What do they mean to someone who's not in the industry?" he added.

Smith continued: "For a small business, or indeed any business, most employees don't surf the internet. Their computer time is email and calendar, and some of the Microsoft Office-type applications.

"So we'll be providing applications such as Microsoft Outlook and a calendar though broadband connections."

Telewest's Blue Yonder service will offer Outlook to its customers through a Microsoft Exchange server hosted within Telewest's network.

The firm has not yet decided pricing.