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The IPStream Symmetric service - as the SDSL product is known - will be available at four speeds: 256kbit/sec, 512kbit/sec, 1Mbit/sec and 2Mbit/sec costing £1,440, £1,680, £2,520 and £3,000 a year respectively for a minimum one-year contract. The connection charge will be £450.

Bear in mind that these

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are the wholesale prices that BT will charge service providers and will be lower than the final cost to end users.

Unlike ADSL connections, the symmetric lines do not carry voice calls, and therefore in most cases will not be suitable for home usage. If you do want SDSL at home, you will have to have a second copper phone line installed.

BT has not yet confirmed which of its exchanges will be SDSL-enabled, although those which have been part of the extensive trials should be - see High-speed broadband for 2003 and ...SDSL trial extended.

SDSL - or Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line - differs from ADSL by providing the same bandwidth upstream and downstream and is geared primarily towards organisations uploading large amounts of data to the Internet, to update their website for example.