>From the BBC site - spotted the other day on the BBC website
Business: The Company File
BT to launch high-speed Internet access
Surfing the Internet could become much faster
BT is set to roll out its high-speed Internet network
service in August.
The new system, called ADSL, will allow Internet users
access to much higher download speeds and the ability
to view high quality television and video through their
computer.
According to the Financial Times newspaper, BT
Financial Director Robert Brace told an investment
conference that the company was just weeks away from
launching the new service.
BT is believed to have placed substantial orders with
manufacturers of the equipment needed to launch the
service.
Launch delayed
BT has been testing the system, known as Asymmetric
Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), since 1994 at sites in
West London. But it has angered media groups and
Internet service providers by the long delay in offering
the
service.
Other network operators, who lease lines from BT, have
been unable to offer ADSL until BT clarifies the charges
for access to its network.
BT is believed to have delayed the launch because of
fears that ADSL will take business away from its
existing, highly profitable ISDN lines, which are being
marketed for Internet use as Home Highway.
ADSL provides connection speeds of up to 2m bits per
second, nearly 20 times faster than ISDN services, and
most business users would be likely to switch to ADSL
once it becomes available.
Cable competition
BT has been forced to act because of the potential
competition from cable operators, who plan to market
high-speed cable modems that will deliver multi-media
programmes through fibre-optic cables connected
directly to the home, bypassing the BT network entirely.
Cable and Wireless Communications plans to unveil its
plans for a digital service which will launch in July,
while
NTL is also planning to market a high-speed service.
The cable systems will combine the delivery of digital
television programmes with high-speed Internet access
and cheap phone calls.
High-speed Internet war
In the United States, fierce competition between cable
operators and the regional telephone companies over the
provision of high-speed Internet access is already
underway.
The largest US telephone company, AT&T, has spent
$100bn to purchase a large stake in the cable industry in
order to roll out its high speed Internet services, known
as At Home.
Rival America Online has teamed up with a number of
local telephone companies to offer ADSL services.
For details of the trial see:-
http://www.isntrial.bt.com
David Dawson
Museums New Technology Adviser, Museums and Galleries Commission
tel: 0171 233 4200, email: [log in to unmask]
See the MGC Website at www.museums.gov.uk
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