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While BTOpenWorld's share of installed ADSL circuits continue to increase, Freeserve is complaining that its installations for broadband access (which are carried out by BT) are running at a meagre 29 a day. Its CEO, John Plutheroe accuses BT of "institutionally restricting" the market share of other ISPs. "At the current, pathetic levels of allocation granted to us by BT, it would take us 3 to 4 years to get to where BTOpenworld says it is today," he states. Maybe this is why we are the last country in Europe to see ADSL. BT has succeeded in making it uneconomic and unavailable."

As for legal action, the official Freeserve position is: "Freeserve are awaiting the findings from Oftel's preliminary investigation into BT following the complaint made by Freeserve in mid January, and is taking a view on the possibility of legal action."

BT sees it differently, of course. "Totally untrue" is its response to the allegation of preferential treatment for BTOpenWorld over other ISPs. It claims that the numbers involved have always been proportionate to the requests actually made. "BTOpenWorld is treated exactly the same as any other Service provider,"

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said a BT spokesperson. Freeserve, however, maintains that it has requested "several hundred" installations...

From next Monday, coincidentally, the system for allocating the installation of units will change. Installation requests that are not actually taken-up by any ISP will be re-allocated into the "virtual waiting list" for connections. Has this change been made in response to pressure from Oftel? Apparently not. BT claims that ISPs were already aware of the development, the issue having been discussed at length on the extranet that is maintained for the ISP industry.

The very latest figures from BT are that 1,500 ADSL circuits a week are currently being installed. The volume of installations is expected to rise to 2,000 per week "shortly", with 3,000 per week being reached by the end of March. What this translates into is approximately 60,000 installations by the end of March (there are currently 35,000 ADSL connections in place).

BT stresses that increasing resources will be devoted to the ADSL roll-out and that the rate of installations will keep increasing. But while it maintains that these are still "early days", others are concerned that the whole exercise - the provision of UK broadband access - is floundering.

(Incidentally, don't check out the www.btignite.co.uk URL for any information about BTIgnite, the sub-division of BT responsible for carrying out ADSL installations. You will only be taken to a page detailing the Microsoft NT 4.0 Option Pack... Just try here instead.)