British Telecom Confirms Massive UK ADSL
Deployment Plans
July 30, 1999
LONDON, ENGLAND, Newsbytes via NewsEdge
Corporation : Confirming plans outlined earlier this
month, British Telecom [NYSE:BTY] has said it will
spend around $35 billion ($50 billion) over the next
few years rolling out ADSL (asymmetric digital
subscriber line) technology for its subscribers.
As reported earlier this month by Newsbytes, BT is
tapping a number of vendors, including Fujitsu and
Alcatel, for the hardware for the rollout, which aims
to upgrade around 400 switches by next summer.
The slightly bad news is that BT has around 5,500
switches on its network, some 2,000 of which are
installed in major cities, so 400 switch upgrades is
not that big a deal, Newsbytes notes.
BT says, however, that its ADSL upgrade program
will service the needs of around 6 million subscribers
by next March, and that plans are in hand to roll out
the service "progressively" across the UK after that
time.
BT's press office refuses to be drawn on details of
the precise plan for the ADSL rollout. Instead,
officials referred Newsbytes to the official release on
the subject, which states that the ADSL service will
be between 10 times and 40 times the speed of a
conventional modem connection.
Newsbytes understands, however, that the ADSL
rollout will start later this year in most parts of
London within the M25 ring, as well as in Cardiff,
Belfast, Coventry, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds,
Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.
In the press statement, Sir Peter Bonfield, BT's chief
executive, said that the plan is a major step towards
making Britain a world leader in the information
revolution.
"By committing to a large scale roll-out, BT will play
a vital part in stimulating a competitive mass-market
for consumers as well as businesses of all sizes. It
will drive new information industries and services to
the benefit of all," he said.
Newsbytes sources suggest that pricing on the
ADSL service will not be cheap, with BT talking
openly about monthly charges of between 40
pounds and 150 pounds ($65 and $240), depending
on what type of service is required.
Over at Alcatel, one the main suppliers to the ADSL
project, the firm says that the national rollout of
ADSL in the UK will be based on similar hardware to
that seen on the existing pilot program among
several hundred users in North and West London.
That system, Newsbytes notes, includes users of
Alcatel's ASAM (ADSL subscriber access
multiplexer) central office system, and the Speed
Touch range of ADSL modems managed within BT's
service systems.
Alcatel's Web site is at alcatel.fr .
BT's Web site is at bt.com .
Reported by Newsbytes.com,
newsbytes.com .
(19990729/Press Contact: Niall Hickey, Alcatel
+33-1-4076-1156; BT Corporate Press Office
+44-171-356-5369/WIRES TELECOM, BUSINESS/)
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