By Ben King, 19 September 2001 08:20
NEWS BTopenworld is to bolster its range of destination sites in a bid to boost revenues from simple DSL access. Chief among them will be a music download site funded by monthly user subscriptions which BT hopes will become a legal replacement for file-sharing services such as Napster. The group expects to announce major deals with record companies in the next few weeks. Other 'destination sites' with downloadable services, such as games, will be launched by Christmas. BTopenworld chief executive Andy Green said: "There is a real demand for somewhere you can put your intellectual property, and be sure that you will get paid for it." Payment will either be added to users' phone bills or be made by payment card. Green also hopes that making more broadband content available will boost demand for its ADSL services. BT has not ruled out acquisitions to boost its content businesses. Said Green: "There are a lot of cheap companies out there. But you have to be very careful when buying businesses like these - there's really not a lot of point buying it if all the people leave straight away." However, while investing in destination sites, BT has abandoned hope of making significant revenues from its portal operation. The news came as BTopenworld launched its first advertising campaign for consumer DSL, costing between £4m and £6m over TV, billboards and the internet, to help promote its new installation charges for ADSL, which began yesterday.
In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.
Log in or create your silicon.com account below