Broadband service development

BT Group PLC
18 June 2002

June 18, 2002



                   BT GIVES CUSTOMERS POWERFUL INFLUENCE OVER

                          WIDER BROADBAND ROLLOUT

BT today gave its customers a powerful voice in where broadband should be rolled
out next.

It paved the way for the widest possible availability of its broadband services
with the announcement of an innovative order registration system. It will give
service providers and the public a direct say in the rollout plans for ADSL.

The on-line scheme will:

  • encourage consumers and businesses to log their interest in ordering
    broadband service in their area through service providers

  • enable them to see the "trigger point" at which their local exchange will
    be upgraded and to view the number of end-users already interested

  • give service providers a powerful tool to target marketing drives
  • and ensure BT commits resources precisely where demand levels make
    commercial sense.

BT chief executive, Ben Verwaayen, said: "We are pushing out broadband wherever
we can. This scheme is hugely important in testing demand and making sure we get
broadband out there without delay. Everyone who wants to get the benefits of
broadband should register. Every vote counts."

BT Wholesale chief executive, Paul Reynolds, said: "This exciting new scheme
gives us the means to bring broadband Britain to every community where it is
commercially viable. It will act as a true barometer of demand.

"People have been claiming that there is sufficient demand for broadband in
their areas if only they had a way to channel their interest to us. Now we have
created just such a scheme.

"Businesses and consumers can register their interest with service providers who
will record it on the broadband registration database. The demand and the target
levels will be clearly visible to all and will help individuals, communities,
local authorities and service providers to have a direct impact on broadband
roll out."

BT Wholesale's scheme will go live on July 1 and will record firm demand for
broadband at every exchange in the country. It will also publish the threshold
at which the level of demand makes individual exchanges commercially viable for
broadband upgrade.

At launch, trigger levels ranging from 200 to 500 user registrations will be
published for more than 300 of 500 exchanges reviewed since April to establish
individual costs of ADSL deployment and operation.

For the remaining exchanges in that review further work needs to be done to work
out costs before a threshold is set. Threshold levels for these exchanges plus a
further 400 exchanges will be published in phases between July and September.

The move will also help BT reach its target of one million broadband connections
by summer 2003. So far more than 250,000 customers have been connected to ADSL.
BT Wholesale has enabled 1,115 exchanges, serving 66 per cent of Britain's
households and 73 per cent of current internet users.

The 900 exchanges being reviewed for the broadband registration scheme, together
with the 1,115 exchanges already ADSL-enabled, serve more than 80 per cent of
Britain's homes.



David Rickards, Managing Director of broadband ISP PIPEX, said: "PIPEX is seeing
rapid growth of its broadband customer base with orders coming in at just under
4,000 a week. We have details of many potential broadband customers in areas not
currently served by ADSL, including many of our dial-up Internet customers who
have expressed an interest in broadband.

"This registration initiative opens up further opportunities for us to realise
the business potential of this customer data. Customers previously disappointed
at their inability to subscribe to a PIPEX ADSL service may now be able to do so
if there is sufficient interest in their area.

"This will also help us focus marketing in areas where demand would directly
lead to an exchange being enabled and help accelerate the growth of broadband
Britain."

Paul Reynolds added: "This move ensures BT can deploy broadband technology in a
cost effective way by allowing service providers to identify demand not
previously incorporated into roll-out plans.

"The launch of the database opens up the prospect of service from any exchange
where true commercial levels of demand can be established. It will be a valuable
tool in helping to widen the footprint for broadband as demand grows from
households and businesses."

BT Wholesale is investigating a range of community partnership business models
and alternative technologies, including wireless and satellite solutions, to
deliver fast internet and broadband services to those areas which will remain
outside the reach of conventional ADSL. Registrations from homes and businesses
in such areas will strengthen the focus of these initiatives to deliver
broadband to more rural areas.





Notes to Editors

The new database will enable service providers to log end user orders against a
threshold level for the local exchange. When demand reaches the threshold for a
particular exchange BT Wholesale will inform service providers who will have 42
days to convert registrations into advance orders. When the number of orders
confirmed meets required levels, and other technical criteria met, the exchange
will be included in the build programme for ADSL deployment.

When the database goes live, service providers will be given the opportunity for
bulk input of details of potential customers who have already shown an interest
in areas where ADSL was previously not available.

Registration does not guarantee future ADSL service as target levels of demand
would need to be reached and individual customer lines would be subject to line
survey and distance constraints on ADSL availability. The current availability
checker for ADSL and a full list of ADSL service providers can be found at the
website: www.bt.com/broadband.



The broadband registration database will record interest against every exchange
in the country. Should significant numbers of registrations be recorded against
any exchange not previously reviewed due to low internet use patterns, an
individual costing review would be carried out and a threshold trigger level
set.

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Inquiries about this news release should be made to the BT Group Newsroom on its
  24-hour number: 020 7356 5369. From outside the UK, dial + 44 20 7356 5369.

          All BT Group news releases can be accessed at our web site:

                          www.groupbt.com/mediacentre

  PIPEX - Catherine Power, Marketing Manager, DDI 01707 299517, www.pipex.net



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