The preverbial boxing gloves could be off as the UK faces what could be an impending broadband & voice over IP price war as Be officially launches its 24Mbps ADSL2+ services this week. The launch follows what is evidently a hugely successful trial a couple of weeks ago.

With only a handful of ISPs capable of competing with Be on speed, price is the obvious next factor that can bring in the subscribers. Plenty of rumours are circulating about price cuts already from the likes of UKOnline regarding their existing 8Mbps ADSL service (currently priced at £29.99 per month). Strangely Bulldog are quiet, but then given recent press, the LLU operator is probably concentrating on other things at the moment. The only other big player, BT, are still yet to make any significant move towards providing high speed connections that can rival the likes offered by ADSL2+.

Subscribers to Be's service will also benefit from making voice calls over their broadband service, and its expected that this area will also see price cuts from rival suppliers, such as BT's Communicator, which is expected to see a massive 50% slash in its pricing from October 4th. Initially lasting for only a 3 month run, insiders feel the reductions will form the basis of a permanent change in BT's offering.