BT offers 20Mbits/sec broadband boost

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 3 Jun 2009 at 14:22

BT has announced that it will upgrade the headline speeds of its ADSL customers to 20Mbits/sec this summer.

The 20Mbits/sec speed will be available to around 40% of the country, though BT says it will consider expanding that figure to 55% of the country by March 2010, depending on demand.

The 20Mbits/sec line will be offered as standard to all new customers on the same broadband packages as are currently available.

Existing BT customers looking to upgrade will need to sign a new contract, though the upgrade itself will be free. The speed boost will also benefit customers of ISPs operating lines on BT's Wholesale network.

Alongside the speed boost, BT will also be giving away iPlates - now rebranded the BT broadband Accelerator. This nifty gizmo sits in the telephone master socket and dampens all electrical interference. Our online editor gave one a try and found it sped up his line by 60%.

Interestingly, for those vexed by the industry-wide practice of over-hyping headline speeds, BT is marketing ADSL as "up to 20Mbits/sec" even though the technology is theoretically capable of 24Mbtis/sec.

"Only a small percentage of customers are likely to be able to receive the 24Mbits/sec," said a BT spokesperson. "We think 20Mbits/sec is a better indication of the sort of service they can expect."

BT is also pressing ahead with trials of fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) this summer. The FTTC service will offer speeds up to 40Mbits/sec and is being piloted in Whitchurch, South Wales and Muswell Hill in London.

The company still has a long way to go to catch up with Virgin, however. The cable company is currently testing 200Mbit/sec broadband connections.