BT undercuts Virgin Media with Infinity for £19.99

BT’s retail arm has said it will make its fibre-based high-speed internet service, dubbed BT Infinity, with download speeds of up to 40Mbps, available from £19.99 (€23) a month with a £50 connection charge, undercutting cable operator Virgin Media’s 50Mbps XXL service, based on DOCSIS 3.0.

However, Virgin Media has countered by pointing out that its 50Mbps service, which is available to 12.5 million homes, does not come with a 20GB usage cap, unlike the £19.99 version of the BT service. BT is also marketing a version of the Infinity service for £24.99, without a connection charge, that does not involve a usage cap.

BT has been trialing the Infinity service in London, Whitchurch in Hampshire, and Glasgow, ahead of making it available to four million homes by the end of this year following the rollout of the service by BT Openreach, the company’s access division. BT has said it will make high-speed services available to 10 million homes and businesses by summer 2012 via a mix of fibre-to-the-cabinet and fibre-to-the-premises.