« 1000 GB DVDs | Main | Toshiba Gigabeat »
October 02, 2004
Broadband distances extend
Changes in the range of broadband ADSL services from BT Wholesale come into effect today - BT abolishes 6km limit on 512K broadband.
Properties that were previously beyond the 6km scope of 512Kbps connections will now be able to get broadband, although in some cases this may require a visit from an engineer, free of charge.
The range of 1Mbps connections extends from 4.1km to 6km. It should be noted that this is the distance along the phone line from the exchange and is an approximate figure based upon a signal degradation of 60dB.
ISPs' availability checkers should now reflect the new restrictions, or lack of them.
BT Wholesale is to remove the distance limit on 512Kbps ADSL connections and extend the range of 1Mbps services.
From 6 September, anyone connected to an ADSL-enabled exchange will be able to get broadband. Previously connections were limited to properties within 6km of the exchange when measured along the phone line.
At the same time, the range of 1Mbps services will grow from around to 4km to 6km, meaning that anyone who can currently get 512K will be able to upgrade. 2Mbps services will continue to be restricted to 4km.
Despite abolishing the 512K limit, BT says that a few properties may be so far from the exchange that it will simply not be able to provide a reliable service. In other cases, BT engineers may have to modify wiring at the property or update local cabling. This service will be free.
Trials in Milton Keynes, Fort William and Dingwall found that dropping the 512K limit would raise the average number of homes that could get broadband from 96 per cent of those connected to an enabled-exchange to 99.8 per cent.
Together with the current exchange upgrade programme, by the end of next summer, 99.4 per cent of UK homes and businesses will be able to get broadband, which is the same proportion that can receive 'good quality' analogue TV.
Anyone who has previously been rejected, should re-apply for whichever ASDSL service they require once the limits have been changed. Service availability can be checked at www.bt.com/broadband.
BT Wholesale is currently connecting around 6,000 new ADSL subscribers every day, bringing the total to over three million. There are also some 1.7 million cable subscribers plus several thousand who use LLU-based services.
Posted by robeva at October 2, 2004 05:07 PM
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)