Broadband drops below £20 a month barrier

Internet users will be able to sign up for a home broadband connection for a monthly cost of only £19.99 from next week. Subscribers must agree to take the service for at least one year, though, and pay an initial one-off fee of over £200, which includes payment for two months' in advance, the according to the company offering the service.

Starting on 1 August, V21 -- a UK ISP -- will start selling its new home broadband ADSLHome User package. This is the first ADSL product in the UK to cost less than £20 per month including VAT.

Some of the UK's smaller ISPs, such as Pipex and Nildram, have been offering broadband for less than £20 per month, but excluding VAT. This means that the retail price paid by customers is around £22.

Customers who subscribe to V21's ADSLHome User service must sign a 12-month contract.

V21 will also charge a total of £164 including VAT for installation costs and for an ADSL modem. This is around £15 more than some other ISPs charge.

Customers must also pay two months' subscription -- £39.98 -- up front, pushing their initial payment to V21 up to £204.

V21 has been accepting pre-registrations for ADSLHome User since April. Interested users can still register for the service at V21's Web site.

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