BT trials long-range broadband tech in Scotland

BT is going to the Highlands to test its new long-range broadband technology – and it's looking for 200 volunteers.

Those Scots interested will have to sign up with one of nine ISPs (to be announced on Monday) and pay their activation fee and subscription. They will, however, get a refund if the signal can't make it to their home.

This is the first rural trial of the technology. An earlier trial in Milton Keynes, in which BT hoped to involve 1,000 people, has only attracted 400 to 500 so far, according to BT product manager Alwyn Williams.

The tests will be at Fort William and at Dingwall where currently 14 per cent and 12 per cent of customers, respectively, are out of broadband reach. The exchanges involved are 01349 86, 01397 71 and 01397 70.

BT hopes the technology will bring another million homes and businesses into the broadband net and allow it to keep its promise of getting 99 per cent of the UK population onto broadband by the middle of next year.

Customers keen for the service will need to sign up with an ISP and will then wait for a BT engineer to install a service-specific front plate or correct internal wiring. The technology promises to boost the distance customers can live from the exchange from 6km to 10km.

Peter Jackson, marketing coordinator at ISP PlusNet, said: "At Milton Keynes, [the technology's] working very well. We had a lot of customers who couldn't use broadband, because of line noise as well as distance. Now they can."

At the beginning of the year, Pierre Danon, head of BT Retail, set a target of 100 per cent broadband coverage for the UK. A BT spokesman said that the results of two trials of radio broadband, in Cornwall and Scotland, would not be released until July.

Volunteers can find information about participating ISPs from BT, HIE Network or PlusNet.