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UTV Internet to launch broadband in NI
Friday, May 31 2002
by Aoife White


UTV Internet will launch a broadband service for its Northern Ireland customers
in the next few weeks.

UTV chairman John McGuckian told the company's AGM that the recent changes in
wholesale prices made it possible to offer a broadband product.



Pricing will be STG27.50 monthly including VAT, according to Scott Taunton,
managing director of UTV Internet. Both BT and Freeserve currently offer ADSL
access at STG29.99 a month including VAT. UTV Internet will also give customers
the option to rent a DSL modem for around STG5 monthly or buy it outright,
Taunton said. 



"We're trying to make life easier for people by keeping the joining fees low,"
Taunton told ElectricNews.Net. 



UTV Internet CTO Martin Lyons said the company would love to be able to offer
customers in the Republic the flat rate and broadband service.



"The regulatory environment does not make it easy. Wholesale lines are not down
to the level where we think it is cost-effective to launch a residential service
but we expect that to change," he said.





UTV Internet achieved operating profitability in the second half of 2001, well
ahead of original targets, according to McGuckian.



The division reported a loss of STG0.38 million from January to June 2001 but
made a profit of STG0.15 million in the following six months.



"UTV Internet continues to make good progress with a growing customer base
across the island of Ireland," McGuckian said at the AGM on Friday. "Trading
remains profitable and we would expect UTV Internet to make a positive
contribution to the Group in the full year."



Taunton said the company had signed up more than 60,000 customers, but its core
base of active users totals around 28,000 people. Around 40 percent of these
customers are based in the Republic of Ireland.



The heart of UTV's Internet service was acquired by the company almost two years
ago when it bought Northern Ireland's DNA Internet for STG4.25 million.

In March 2002 UTV acquired a 50 percent stake in Dublin-based Bocom, which
broadcasts news and advertising via satellite to large plasma screens located in
high footfall locations, for STG1 million in cash.