BT is planning to quadruple basic broadband connectivity
speeds to 8mbps nationwide.
The company will start trials of its ADSL Broadband Max service
next month in Cornwall, South Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and
London. These trials will be gradually expanded and BT expects to
roll out a national 8mbps service from spring 2006.
Earlier this year BT quadrupled the basic broadband connectivity
speed from 500kbps to 2mbps. The latest planned jump will see BT
reach the theoretical top ADSL speeds it mentioned when first
launching broadband services in 2000.
Cameron Rejali, managing director for products and strategy at
BT Wholesale, said, "BT is committed to ensuring everyone benefits
from the broadband revolution, whether they live in valleys,
villages or city centres."
BT's move is essential if it is to remain competitive against
the newly merged cable companies Telewest and NTL. They are already
offering users speeds of more than 8mbps for no extra charge on
existing broadband subscriptions.
Cable & Wireless subsidiary Bulldog is also building a
nationwide 8mbps broadband network.
BT has also started trialling optical fibre broadband services
in Wales, where strands of blown fibre connect businesses to
ultra-high-bandwidth services using existing telegraph poles.
This avoids BT having to dig optical fibre trenches to the user
and cuts the cost of delivering optical services in "the last
mile".