BT set for ADSL roll-out

BT could finally begin rolling out high-speed ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) services to business and home users within two months, according to reports in the Financial Times.

The UK's largest telco has been trialling the Internet access technology for years, but has faced criticism that it is stalling the launch to avoid cannibalising existing ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) and leased line revenues.

ADSL offers download speeds over 2Mb per second -15 times faster than ISDN - and upstream data transmission of 640Kb per second. It uses existing copper phone lines, and is an 'always on' service that allows simultaneous voice calls.

BT has come under pressure from businesses to speed up its ADSL deployment to keep pace with telcos in Europe and the US.

However, BT is remaining cagey. A spokesman said further announcements will be made "later in the year". But one MP and several sources at suppliers predict movement by the autumn. Trials will be completed by the end of the summer.

One participant in the trials told Silicon.com: "I generally found it wonderful, but price is still the big question. At £30 per month [the trial price] it's a killer, but they can't have it out of whack with pricing on ISDN and leased lines."

Telecoms consultant, Tim Johnson, editor of the Access@Ovum report, agreed. "Any details on the roll-out are welcome, but the question remains - at what price? For quite good reasons, BT will probably continue to take a cautious approach, but they have to get going because of pressure from [UK telecoms regulator] Oftel to keep up with other countries," he said.

Johnson added that telcos which have deployed ADSL have experienced problems meeting user demand and getting equipment installed in homes and local exchanges properly. There have also been complaints that download speeds fail to match promised rates.