Broadband hope

[ck4707]

Those waiting for their local BT exchange to reach broadband trigger levels might take heart from this item on BBC News today :



Engineers are working hard to install broadband in exchanges
BT has connected one million customers to broadband, in line with an ambitious pledge last year.
The figure includes customers of internet providers, who have bought BT's wholesale broadband product.

It reflects falling prices and a multi-million advertising campaign from BT and other internet providers which use the telephone lines to provide customers with ADSL broadband.

To mark the occasion the telecommunications firm has brought forward some of the dates for connecting telephone exchanges in remoter parts of the UK to fast net services.

[Tinstaafl]

My impression:

For years BT dragged its heels about enabling broadband access, citing no demand so not part of their social obligation etc. Then when they get corporatised with telecom services opened to competition they suddenly recognise the demand but now it's not profitable unless there's xxx users.

And all this time other companies have been pushing to gain access to the exchanges to fit their own equipment but refused by BT. BT won't even relinquish the local loop - thereby keeping a supposedly competitive market in a de-facto monopoly, without the social obligation requirements they used to have.

This latest seems a case of hyping up their tiny dribble of enabling access into something that should have been ubiquitous by now.