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By editorial@silicon.com, 3 April 2002 17:40

COMMENT BT is in the firing line again. It's the company's fate to have chunks torn out of it, one way or another, and today those veteran flesh tearers at Freeserve are stepping up to have a go. The redoubtable John Pluthero, caught on the hop by BT's utterly astonishing broadband price cuts, is now alleging BTopenworld, the part of the beloved telco that he competes with rather than buys stuff from, was tipped off. It's easy to see where he's coming from. BT's marketing machine was already switching into high gear in an optimistic push to flog its exorbitantly priced broadband services when, whoosh, the price goes down by a half. TV adverts slot into place and promotional CDs - the device that effectively built Freeserve, back in the day - are in shops, with millions in warehouses ready to replace them. Is this the BTopenworld marketing machine swinging into action with unprecedented agility? Or has a conversation occurred over the water cooler in BTopenworld's Mondial House offices? Have BTopenworld boss Alison Ritchie and group chief Ben Verwaayen had a furtive chat while buying pastries at the company's in-house café in Newgate Street? In short, did they know the cuts were coming before Freeserve did? It's difficult to know. Even harder for Freeserve to prove. And next to impossible for an outsider to believe that there's no link at all, even if the company's internal communications are notoriously bad. As BT points out with a shrug of the shoulders: "First we're criticised for dragging our heels, then we're criticised for marketing it too hard." Yup, that's the press for you. But there's a legitimate point here - we need broadband to be widely available and cheap but it won't stay cheap if one company has a virtual monopoly. It's all a question of balance. The question this does raise is why, if BTopenworld really doesn't talk to BT Wholesale, it should still be in BT Group. It may not be a great time to sell it but BT has happily flogged off everything from its property portfolio to its mobile arm in recent years. BTopenworld will have to leave the mothership at some stage, though - because even if this complaint doesn't stick, future ones will.