LONDON: The British Post Office, eager to boost flagging revenues any which way it can, will next week launch an own-brand broadband service backed by a £10 million ($20.49m; €14.38m) ad campaign.
The venture's unique selling point is that users can, if they wish, pay cash for the service at any of the PO's 14,500 high street branches - which collectively attract around 24 million visits weekly.
The timing of the launch is also significant - coinciding with the mass expiry of eighteen-month contracts signed by initial customers of the Carphone Warehouse's much criticized "free" broadband service, TalkTalk.
Says the Post Office's head of telecoms, Martin Moran: "There is a whole raft of people who are currently digitally excluded but they regularly go into their local Post Office."
The PO claims 400,000 phone customers, who contribute some 10% of its total annual revenues. It aims to increase that figure to 25% by 2011.
Data sourced from MediaGuardian.co.uk; additional content by WARC staff
