TalkTalk to launch its own superfast fibre broadband service

LONDON, June 23 (Reuters) - Britain's TalkTalk will offer fibre-optic broadband with gigabit-a-second speeds at no extra cost when it switches on its own network in York, northern England, later this year, throwing down the gauntlet on price to rivals.

TalkTalk teamed up with pay-TV group Sky (Other OTC: BSYBF - news) and AIM-listed CityFibre to build its own network in the city, taking fibre connections right into premises.

In other parts of the country, TalkTalk relies on BT's fibre network, which generally uses slower copper wires for the last metres into the home.

"We have never seen this as a premium product," TalkTalk Chief Executive Dido Harding said in an interview on Tuesday.

"The way that you make building fibre to premises affordable is getting very high take up, and the way you get high take is having a very compelling price. You can't get any more compelling than no extra cost."

Speeds of a gigabit a second are about 40 times faster than the average 22.8 megabits-a-second rate in Britain in November 2014, according to regulator Ofcom, and enable customers to download a high-definition movie in less than 30 seconds.

TalkTalk customers with access to its network in York will pay from 21.70 pounds ($34.16) a month from the autumn, the company said.

Harding said the company was asking residents and businesses in other parts of York whether they also wanted a superfast network, and it could build in other cities if York was successful.

Analysts have said the project is also designed to put pressure on BT, to show other providers can go it alone and build their own fibre network if the national infrastructure provider does not offer terms they find acceptable.

($1 = 0.6352 pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Mark Potter)