Telefonica launches ‘free’ broadband service

Telefonica Chile has launched a ‘free’ internet service it claims will help it achieve its goal of having 100% of its telephony clients using broadband services, writes BNamericas. Available only to its post-paid fixed line subscribers, customers are required to purchase a modem for CLP29,990 (USD53). They will then be able to surf the web, for free, on any of Chile’s ‘.cl’ domain name sites. Users wishing to access other domain sites have the option to buy a pre-paid card, at a cost of CLP1,500 per 24 hours. Download speeds on Chilean sites will be 300kbps, while those on non-Chilean sites will be 1Mbps. The service is designed to appeal to either people that are just starting out in using the internet, such as the elderly, or those that do not use it frequently and cannot justify paying a monthly broadband subscription.