UK in
slow lane with high-speed Net access
By Jonathan Lambeth
BT is to allow internet service providers (ISPs) to sell more high-speed
connections after complaints that its own provider, BT Openworld, is getting
more than its fair share.
The decision should cut the waiting time for the thousands of
people who want to get a high-speed internet connection, known as ADSL
(asymmetric digital subscriber line), although the number of homes that
BT is able to connect each week is still painfully restricted.
Chris Gibbs, head of broadband services at BT Ignite, the telecom
company's internet network arm, insisted: "In an ideal world, there would
be no supply constraint but this is not the case. So we created a fair
and equitable process based on demand to divide the available number of
installation slots."
BT Ignite sells ADSL connections to ISPs such as Freeserve and
Iomart. These ISPs can then resell the service under their own brand label
although it is still installed and run by BT engineers. At present, various
network problems and a lack of engineers means the number of installations
are severely rationed.
Speaking before BT's decision to reorganise allocations, John
Pluthero, chief executive of Freeserve, said: "We are on less than 20 slots
a day now which is diabolical. We are being institutionally restricted
in the share of the market we are allowed to take."
Meanwhile BT Openworld, which has connected around 20,000 homes
and businesses since its launch last year, is understood to have around
2,000 slots each week which is significantly more than its competitors.
A number of companies have lodged a formal complaint with the
industry regulator Oftel about BT's allocations process and the terms and
conditions. Predictably, Oftel has been overtaken by events as BT has decided
to reorganise the allocations this month. Mr Gibbs said: "We have made
the process more efficient so ISPs can resubmit their demand estimates.
They should see an improvement in the number of slots."
Many telecoms companies were hoping they could bypass BT's involvement
by applying for space in its local telephone exchanges as part of the local
loop unbundling process, which is intended to introduce competition into
BT's local network from July. However, a number of companies have dropped
out of the process because they are unhappy with the cost and slow progress
of unbundling which means that they are now dependent on buying BT's ADSL
service.
The ongoing problems with ADSL and local loop unbundling are embarrassing
for both BT and the government which are desperate to keep the UK competitive
on internet issues. Recent research has shown the UK is behind European
competitors in the availability and price of high-speed internet connections.
Peter Bradshaw, an analyst at Merrill Lynch, notes that Germany
is expected to have up to 800,000 unbundled ADSL connections by the end
of 2001 which is well ahead of the UK. He said: "Things are slowly improving
but at a glacial pace. Once people have high-speed access, they never want
to go back but most people are not able to drink at this fountain."
Email: jonathan.lambeth@telegraph.co.uk
