ADSL trialists angered by BT pilot schemes

Trial users of BT's ADSL service in London have reacted angrily to the telco's decision to add £20 to the subscription fee and cut the available bandwith to one quarter of its original speed.

Silicon.com has been flooded with complaints since BT made the changes, with one ADSL subscriber saying: "I think the price and bandwidth slashing is an absolutely disgusting use of their [BT's] power, but I have been forced to sign up as I cannot stand to lose my 'always on' connection."

Another said: "Once again technological advance stands at the brink of changing Britain, yet it is being held back by its former national telecoms provider."

When BT's ADSL trial began last year, it offered 2Mbps Internet access for £30 per month. But last week, it announced the first phase will be replaced on 15 November with a £50 per month, 512Kbps service.

BT claims the decision was based on feedback from trial users, but those who contacted Silicon.com disagree. "Having been a trial user of the service for the past 12 months, I can honestly say it has gone from bad to worse. BT never listened to a single comment made by any trial user and failed to fix even the most serious of problems. They implemented a poor system which underwent constant degradation from day to day," one trialist stated.

Analysts argue that these kind of problems should be expected in a trial. Nick Gibson, Internet analyst at Durlacher, said: "The leased-line market is worth £194m annually in the UK - it is understandable that service providers put in a false barrier to protect their existing market."

Robin Duke-Wooley, principal analyst at Schema, agreed: "You can see that there is a potential problem with larger companies using the 2Mbps ADSL connection rather than leased line - at a much lower price, so BT is trying to prevent that."

But Duke-Wooley warned that if BT is not careful, it will end up stifling the growth of the SME market - a sector he predicts will be very lucrative for ADSL services.

BT was unavailable for comment.