As a consequence of the small fraction of BT customers using the company’s dial-up internet service, the national telecommunications company have made the decision to take this “outdated” facility off the market.
As far as Think Broadband representative Sebastian Lahtinen is concerned, “It’s a statement of how mainstream broadband services have become, with entry-level broadband being cheaper than the dial-up plans BT is closing down.”
Countryside Dwellers Suffer the Consequences
BT is by the far the only company to have made this step, however. With fewer and fewer now offering a dial-up service thanks to the ever-growing popularity of broadband, those who aren’t fortunate enough to live in an area where this speedier connection is available are facing difficulties.
Of the many thousands of BT customers around the country, isolated areas and telephone lines incapable of supporting broadband will prevent around a thousand of them from being able to go online.
Then and Now
In years gone by, dial-up was once the internet connection of choice. This can be largely be explained as a result of its affordability in comparison to broadband. For many households, the expense of broadband meant that it simply was not an option. However, the surge in internet usage in recent years has allowed this to change.
According to The Daily Mail, over three quarters of British households have access to the web, with over 90% of those using a fixed broadband connection.
Solutions
BT’s subsidiary Plusnet has been put forward as the solution for those who still want to be able to go online. Should customers choose to transfer to this alternative dial-up service, their bill unfortunately won’t be getting any cheaper and they will still continue to pay more than those signed up to broadband packages.
Many abandoned BT customers have been fooled into thinking that this is their one and only internet option. As a matter of fact, this is most certainly not the case. The existence of satellite internet companies such as CEO Andrew Walwyn of EuropaSat provide another potentially more attractive solution to the problem. CEO Andrew Walwyn said the following on the subject:
“We were surprised by the press reports of the numbers of households still persevering with dial-up internet when ‘quality of life’ in the modern world is so intrinsically linked to access to fast broadband.”
“Satellite is the perfect fit for these people who were digitally disadvantaged, but the challenge for us is that we don’t know who or where they are.”
“BT hasn’t seen fit to present the satellite alternative, although there are now tens of thousands of happy satellite broadband customers who were originally forced to rely on dial-up. We’re trying to get our message out to these people to come and try 20 Mb satellite broadband and to see how it can improve their world”, he added.