PCCW risks being left behind in UK

A plodding pace of expansion and use of proprietary wireless technology may spell trouble for PCCW in Britain's fast-moving broadband market.

PCCW needs to hasten the launch of services by subsidiary UK Broadband and break out of its wireless access strategy or be left behind, analysts say.

They said UK Broadband's Netvigator service, with more than 4,000 subscribers since its launch in the Thames Valley, west of London, last year, was slow to challenge the aggressive campaigns of fixed-line network giant British Telecom (BT) and broadband cable operators Telewest and NTL.

'BT is moving very quickly in Britain,' said Andrew Chetham, analyst at research company Gartner.

'I believe that the window of opportunity is closing for PCCW, which should have been there a year earlier.'

BT dominates the country's broadband market. The company had a market share of about 24 per cent last year. Its broadband network is based on digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, which delivers high-speed internet access over the telephone system. The combined shares of Telewest and NTL totalled about 34 per cent. The rest is divided between DSL service resellers such as AOL, Tiscali and Wanadoo.

UK Broadband, which acquired a nationwide footprint of licences auctioned in Britain in 2003, hoped to move within striking distance through a fresh marketing campaign this summer, backed by a US$50 million network expansion plan.