Bermuda Telephone Company (BTC) has launched a new 1 Megabit (Meg) DSL service for under $20 per month in a bid to offer residential customers a more affordable Broadband experience.

The new Simply DSL 1.0 service, which is dubbed as 'the most affordable DSL on the Island', offers the ability to e-mail, surf the web, send and view photos and free up your phone line, for the price of $19 per month.

Current dial-up customers can upgrade for a slight fee to a Broadband network with a speed of 128 kilobits (k) for a combined monthly costs of $48.95 (BTC 1 Meg $19/Internet Service Provider (ISP) 128k $29.95) versus dial-up at $45.95 (BTC $26/ISP $19.95). This does not apply for bundled DSL, cable modem or fixed wireless services.

Government's latest ICT (information and communication technologies) report revealed that 15 percent of residential Internet users were on dial-up.

Patricia Tucker, vice-president of marketing and sales at BTC, said the new deal would offer users who were either on dial up or had been priced out of the market to enjoy Broadband at a more affordable rate.

"It is the lowest priced DSL offer in the marketplace," she said.

"It allows the customers that don't really need the higher speed to ensure they are not over purchasing for their requirements.

"We are certainly hopeful that it expands the DSL market and offers something to those who have not been able to experience the use of Broadband."

She said that BTC was hoping to roll out more similar services in the future, offering its customers a greater choice and capturing a niche in the market where there is a big jump in price between connection speeds.