ADSL - BT says goodnight to preregistration scheme

["Mark McCall" <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/

BT have this morning announced that they are to scrap the preregistration
scheme and replace it with a pre-ordering system.

Some people have suggested that the preregistration scheme has begun
running
out of steam. It seems that BT have taken a similar view - "We would
not be
able to bring broadband to exchanges serving 99.6% of UK homes by Summer
2005 if we maintained the registration scheme". Yes, the target is
99.6%
ADSL based coverage as revealed earlier last week. The remaining 0.4% will
be covered with alternative technologies. Furthermore, they state that a
planned rollout, rather than a triggering system, allows them to
"adopt the
best options and engineering solutions to deliver broadband to people
connected to all these exchanges faster".

The replacement for the pre-registration scheme is the pre-order scheme. At
the end June this year, BT will announce a rollout programme for the
remaining exchanges with triggers. These will be given RFS dates
automatically. The Q&A document supplied to campaigners seems to
suggest
that the 150 day limit on pre-ordering broadband before the RFS date will
be
removed, so as to allow customers to order as soon as their date is
released. The document also seems to suggest that there will still be a
place for campaigners who "wish to continue the drive for broadband
take up
in their communities". Details of their continued involvement are not
yet
available.

Exchanges which have triggered and are without RFS dates, and those above
90% registrations (42 exchanges), will be given RFS dates automatically
over
the coming weeks. These 42 exchanges which fall inside the 90% bracket will
be the only ones. All the others from now on will end up in the new
pre-ordering scheme. I'll try and get an official list of the exchanges
above 90%, but as I said, I make the list to be 42.

The remaining 565 (figure quoted from BT) exchanges without trigger level
will not be included in the rollout - "BT will continue to seek to
work with
public sector and other organisations to help bring broadband to these
areas. Possible solutions include BT's Exchange Activate community
broadband
solution as well as wireless and satellite broadband."

Another interesting point to make, besides the fact that people will be
able
to order before the 150 day barrier (which essentially destroys provisional
RFS dates altogether), is that they will now be able to receive broadband
ADSL on the day the exchange is activated. Until now, you often had to wait
up to a couple of weeks after the RFS date itself.

And here's the clincher... "As of April 27th 2004, the registration
scheme
is closed. Exchanges that have not triggered or are not within 10% of their
trigger target will have an RFS date set and announced at the end of
June."
The availability checker on bt.com/broadband has already been updated to
inform people of the removal of the preregistration scheme.