TalkTalk are offering a service for £20.99 a month which includes unlimited local and national calls, and an up to 8meg broadband service – subject to a 40gb per month download allowance. Customers subscribing to the service will not have to pay line rental to BT as is required by conventional ADSL connections, but will just pay a £29.99 connection fee to TalkTalk.

Publicity surrounding the service has been massive, as it is the first free broadband offering in the UK. So good, in fact, that TalkTalk’s website appears to be temporarily unavailable. Struggling under the demand perhaps?

Cable Forum has contact ntl for a comment regarding the proposed service and we have received this exclusive comment from Chad Raube, Director of Internet for ntl:telewest.

As the UK’s most popular broadband provider, with over two million customers, we welcome any new offers which might support the further development of high speed internet in Britain.

Value isn’t just about price and we have become the UK’s biggest broadband provider by offering quality and reliability, peace of mind with online protection, the convenience of installation by an engineer and the freedom of unlimited access.

Cable customers can also enjoy broadband combined with a phone service and advanced digital TV services, including TV on demand, from £30 a month. Whereas Carphone Warehouse customers taking this new deal would be hit by bills totalling nearly £36 if they wanted to add Sky’s basic TV package.

So it would appear that ntl:telewest aren’t particularly phased by the TalkTalk package, however we shall have to wait and if this free offering triggers a price war between UK ISPs.

We have a thread discussing the free broadband offer here.