ISP congratulates BT on being only 12 months behind the competition

Bulldog is using ADSL 2+ technology to double the speed of its broadband service for residential and commercial customers.

The DoubleSpeed service will be marketed at 16Mbps, but speeds will vary depending on the user's distance from the exchange. Bulldog is confident, however, that all users will see an improvement.

Customers can purchase DoubleSpeed Anytime Plus for £9.75 for the first month or Unlimited Plus for £19.50 for the first two months. Prices will rise by £5 per month after the initial period.

Business customers can get one Bulldog Business phone line, 16Mbps downloads and up to 1Mbps uploads for £45 ex VAT a month and get a wireless router for £30. The router is free if customers sign up for two further phone lines.

However, the business account is being hit with an £80 activation fee owing to the installation procedure at local exchanges.

"For Bulldog it's the same as initiating a new customer," explained Andrew Morley, chief commercial officer at the ISP.

"A new card has to be physically installed at the exchange, and we have to deal with our very reliable friends at BT. I'm being as ironic as a Yorkshireman can be."

Morley also noted that BT had just increased its basic broadband service to 8Mbps and congratulated the company on being only 12 months behind the competition in the broadband market.

Bulldog is currently available to 31 per cent of the UK, and has equipment in 400 exchanges.

The company intends to double the number of exchanges by September and boost its coverage to over 50 per cent.