BT slashes hundreds of broadband trigger levels

As the process of rolling out ADSL gets cheaper, BT needs less guaranteed local interest before opening its wallet and upgrading a telephone exchange

Twenty-two local communities will get their first taste of ADSL in April, following a revision by BT of its broadband registration scheme.

BT said on Friday that it had lowered the level of customer interest needed at 388 exchanges in order for them to be upgraded to ADSL. It has also set trigger levels for 87 exchanges where previously none was set.

For 22 of these local exchanges, the new trigger levels are now actually lower than the amount of interest already registered by local people, so they have now been added to BT's ADSL build programme and should be upgraded in around three months' time.

By cutting these trigger levels, which in some cases were as high as 750 broadband pre-registrations, BT says it is speeding up the rollout of high-speed internet across Britain - a statement echoed by e-commerce minister Stephen Timms.

Paul Reynolds, BT Wholesale chief executive, said: "The registration scheme has helped us guide investment in broadband to match demand.

"Our growing experience of the actual work involved now allows us to be confident in lowering many of the demand levels at which we will upgrade exchanges for broadband. This is another significant step in making broadband more widely available."