BT extends broadband reach further

BT has extended the range of its most popular ADSL services, which it said will make them available to an additional one million homes and businesses.

Following BT Wholesale trials in Milton Keynes, and rural areas around Fort William and Dingwall in the Scottish Highlands, BT is confident that a 512Kbps ADSL service can be provided to the vast majority of people beyond the former limit of 6km from the exchange.

As a result, the distance limit for the 512Kbps ADSL services will be removed from 6 September.

BT said that 99.8 per cent of lines connected to a broadband exchange should now be able to get a 512Kbps ADSL service, up from 96 per cent.

The telco is also increasing the range for its 1Mbps premium services from 4km to 6km, which it claimed will make them available to 96 per cent of homes and businesses connected to a broadband exchange.

BT chief broadband officer Alison Ritchie said in a statement: "By pushing the boundaries on broadband reach we are building on our exchange upgrade rollout programme which means the remaining gaps in the broadband Britain jigsaw are getting smaller and smaller."

Ritchie explained that ths move, coupled with BT's exchange upgrade programme, means that ADSL availability will stand at 99.4 per cent by next summer.

This figure is on a par with the percentage of homes that can get good quality analogue TV signals for the four main terrestrial channels.

To provide broadband services to around one in five people beyond the former limit will require a visit by a BT engineer to make modifications to wiring at the customer premises or to local BT network cabling. BT will not charge the customer for this.