Press & PR

A recently published global survey of consumer broadband services found that the average cost for such packages rose during the last quarter of 2007.

The PointTopic study suggests that the costs of DSL, cable and fibre-optic subscription costs all saw increases, although the analysis firm attributes much of the overall rise to significant price hikes by a few key operators.

On average, global monthly subscription costs for DSL services rose 11 cents to $24.54 (£12.24), although this was largely attributed to a new pricing policy implemented by Telekom Austria.

The increase in prices made the provider the fourth most expensive in Europe, with UK telecoms giant BT following closely in fifth position.

Fiona Vanier, research analyst at Point Topic, said: "We think that the increases in average prices are significant, but we're not yet ready to call it a trend."

However, she added that with infrastructural upgrades imminent in the future, the chance of a drop in prices soon seemed unlikely.

Point Topic has also recently released predictions for growth in the mobile broadband market as many customer groups look to take advantage of the products.

Vonage's broadband phone tariffs competitively priced and easy to understand, with an online account management facility allowing control over calls that are made.