C&W in phone assault

Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) yesterday revealed the first phase of its assault on the UK telephones market, offering some of the first "bundled" price packages for fixed phone lines, writes Chris Godsmark. The group, created out of the merger of Mercury, Nynex CableComms, Bell Cablemedia and Videotron, also pledged to refund twice the difference if customers found they were paying more than they would with British Telecom.

The price packages offer existing cable area customers 100 minues of free local evening calls a month, backed by a pounds 45m advertising campaign. Some packages include free voice mail and national calls, one-third cheaper than BT's standard tariff. Though some prices have fallen in the new tariff, some have risen, leaving the overall package "revenue neutral", the company explained.