'No-frills' DSL falls below £20

NEWS Three ISPs have started offering DSL services with monthly subscriptions below £20 per month, but they could be on the verge of a customer support nightmare. ET Global Solutions is offering a self-install ADSL product for £18.95 per month including VAT, while fairADSL's service sells for £18.99 per month including VAT, and V21 is asking for £19.99. Both services offer a contention ratio of 50:1, with an activation fee in the region of £60. Customers will have to provide their own ADSL modems and microfilters. The margins for these companies are ultra-thin. Excluding VAT, the companies are charging a shade over £16 per month - just a couple of pounds more than the £14.75 they have to pay BT Wholesale for the local connection. Other discount ISPs such as Pipex are struggling under the burden of supporting their broadband customers, even though they're charging a relatively princely £23.44. The three sub-£20 revolutionaries insist their business plans will be profitable. So customers who do plump for these cheap options should be prepared to deal with a fairly minimal customer support operation. ET Global Solutions' service is backed by an email customer support centre and a pound-per-minute customer helpline. Don Day, MD of ET Global Solutions, guarantees a same-day reply to email queries "backed by the word and honour of the MD", but with just 20 support staff and plans to add 4,000 subscribers per month, it will be difficult task. fairADSL's also offers an email-only customer service policy. A spokesman for fairADSL's said: "We can't provide the customer support that other people claim to provide, but I don't think extra support is worth the extra £120 you have to pay for it. "Ours is very much a no-frills service for web savvy clientele. We can't hold your hand and tell you how to turn your PC on." ET Global Solutions is also offering a 40:1 contented product for £22.45 including VAT.