BT calls on government to make good on broadband

By Matt Whipp

Posted on 3 Apr 2003 at 12:20

BT has called on the government to act on its pledges for a Broadband Britain to bring ADSL services to all.

'We now have the opportunity to go big time with broadband,' said CEO Ben Verwaayen.

Among a wave of announcements this morning, BT has said it hopes to bring ADSL services within reach of 90 per cent of UK homes, made possible by a number of technological improvements. But creating the demand to activate those extra exchanges will require government input.

While Verwaayen praised the efforts of local initiatives and public/private partnerships in stimulating broadband demand, he called on the government to push ahead with its promises for a Broadband Britain to help achieve this.

'Using broadband for schools and hospitals will bring down trigger levels,' he said. 'We are not asking the government to do anything more than it said it would.'

He said that of the ï35m the government has pledged to broadband, only ï1m is being invested in infrastructure. He urged the government to push ahead with hooking up schools, hospitals and other public institutions to broadband. 'It is not about investing in the network, it is about stimulating it,' he said.

BT has announced that new software and other technological 'breakthroughs' has made it possible to link up exchanges so that connecting them to BT's core network is cheaper. This means a further 600 new exchanges can now be given trigger levels for broadband activation.

Furthermore, BT has officially extended the reach of broadband to 6km from an exchange, so that 98 per cent people connected will be able to get the service. This follows a successful trial period we reported in February.