BROADBAND RACE HOTS UP IN NORTHERN IRELAND AS BT INFINITY GETS EVEN FASTER – AND AT NO EXTRA COST!

BT Infinity 2 downstream speeds roughly double to up to 76MbpsBT Infinity 2 offers UK’s fastest upstream speeds of up to 19Mbps[1]BT Infinity 1 upstream speeds to be up to five times faster than before

BT Retail has turned up the speed dial in the broadband battle by announcing a range of speed increases for its customers for no extra cost. Customers signing up to BT Infinity 2 from tomorrow (April 12) will benefit from downstream speeds that are roughly double those on offer today – up to 76Mbps rather than up to 38Mbps. The newly revamped service will also offer the UK’s fastest upstream speeds of up to 19Mbps.

BT Retail is also set to give its BT Infinity 1 product a boost by increasing its upstream speed fivefold from up to 1.9Mbps to up to 9.5Mbps. With a downstream speed of up to 38Mbps, this service will compare very well with the 30Mbps service offered by Virgin Media given the upstream speeds will be considerably faster than those offered by the latter. The high upstream speeds will also be of great benefit to customers who wish to upload photos, video, graphics or other rich content.

From April 12 customers new to BT and existing BT customers switching to BT Infinity from other packages will automatically benefit from these higher speed packages.  Current BT Infinity customers will be able to switch to the faster products by starting a new contract, at no extra cost.

Peter Morris, consumer director, at BT Northern Ireland, said: “Super-fast broadband is helping people enjoy the internet far more than ever before. However, many providers have forgotten about the importance of fast upload speeds. BT believes that fast upstream speeds are vital given how people now use the internet and so we are distancing ourselves from the competition by providing the UK’s fastest upload speeds. ”

BT Infinity is currently available to more than seven million premises across the UK. That figure will rise to ten million in 2012 and then to around two thirds of all UK premises by the end of 2014.             

ENDS

Enquiries about this news release should be made to: Paul McCarthy, Aiken PR, 02890663000, paul@aikenpr.com

About BTBT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170 countries.  Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services.  BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Retail, BT Wholesale and Openreach.BT is the official communications services partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. BT is also a sustainability partner of the Games and a Premier Partner of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.In the year ended 31 March 2011, BT Group’s revenue was £20,076m with profit before taxation of £1,717m.British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group.  BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York. For more information, visit www.btplc.com