As ISPs force down prices and BT retreats to the exchange,
broadband take up is soaring
As regular readers of this column will know only too well, a
subject that has drawn my wrath on a number of occasions is the
stultifying effect BT has had on the roll out of ADSL (asymmetric
digital subscriber line) broadband technology in this country.
It has achieved this in two ways. First, the process of installing
ADSL at home has been too intrusive, involving a visit by BT
engineers to carry out the work. Secondly, the pricing for ADSL has
ensured that it has remained something of a niche market, rather
than becoming the standard way for home users to connect.
The first of these problems has been dealt with through the
introduction of "wires-only" services. With a wires-only service,
BT carries out all the necessary work at the exchange, while the
user is responsible for buying an ADSL modem or router and
completing local tasks such as installing microfilters to separate
the ADSL signal from the ordinary phone line.
Wires-only services have brought some much-needed flexibility into
the ADSL picture. On the plus side, they allow users to choose
exactly what hardware and software to use. On the downside, users
have to deal with problems relating to their telephone wiring.
The final obstacle to widespread ADSL adoption was the price
barrier. As the figures from analyst firm Point-Topic show, BT's
wholesale prices were far greater than those available in the rest
of Europe.
Much of the credit for removing this final obstacle must be given
to the ISP Pipex. At the end of January it announced that it was
creating a £2m fund to cover the set-up fee for ADSL, which
normally cost £58.753. It also introduced a basic ADSL subscription
rate of £29.95. This was reduced to £24.99 at the beginning of
February, with the result that Pipex started signing people up at
the rate of 300 new connections a day.
Quite what effect this had on BT's plans is unclear, but it is
striking that just a couple of weeks later BT announced some major
cuts in its wholesale pricing. Even industry regulator Oftel seemed
happy with news.
Pipex responded to BT's move with yet lower prices - less than £20
per month for its basic service. This level was soon matched by
other ISPs. As figures on the ADSLguide site show, prices for
business ADSL services have also been reduced by many ISPs.
ADSLguide is probably the best place to keep up with ADSL's rapidly
changing landscape. As well as news, the site offers an excellent
series of FAQs, including one on the wires-only service. Perhaps
even more valuable for garnering the latest information, rumours
and opinions from people who are actually installing and using ADSL
are ADSLguide's Web-based message forums.
The comments on these forums make it clear that ADSL is finally
happening. Not only is there a palpable excitement among current
and potential users that has long been absent from the ADSL world,
but it seems that suppliers are really making an effort.
Reading through the ADSLguide forums for the various ISPs - there
are more than 50 of them - you find, alongside the inevitable
gripes about things not working or turning up late, a surprising
number of satisfied customers, many praising their suppliers for
actually activating their ADSL connections early.
Extraordinarily, there is even occasional praise for BT. Indeed, it
seems that by limiting its intervention to the appropriate realm -
that of the exchanges - and letting users and third-party suppliers
deal with the rest, the ADSL bottleneck that has throttled
broadband roll out in this country has been cleared. At last, the
UK's ADSL era has arrived.
Web links
In response to reader suggestions, we have
aggregated the Getting Wired Web links into the single list below.
1.www.seg.co.uk/products/adslover.htm2.www.point-topic.com/cgi-bin/download.asp?file=DSLAnalysis\Wholesale20benchmark.htm3.www.pipex.net/news/2002/3/4.www.pipex.net/news/2002/4/5.www.pipex.net/news/2002/5/6.www.groupbt.com/Mediacentre/Archivenewsreleases/2002/nr0209.htm7.
www.oftel.gov.uk/press/releases/2002/pr12_02.htm8.www.pipex.net/news/2002/9/9.www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=55610.www.adslguide.org.uk/11.www.adslguide.org.uk/qanda.asp12.www.adslguide.org.uk/qanda.asp?faq=Self13.bbs.adslguide.org.uk/