Users of BT's broadband ADSL service Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of England have been unable to use the service for last 24 hours because of major technical problems.

Reports suggest that more than 30 exchanges in the north of the British Isles have been hit by the problem.

A recorded message on BTopenwoe's help desk said: "We are currently investigating a technical problem with a number of telephone exchanges which may be affecting your ability to connect to the BTopenworld broadband service."

It appears the major outage may have been caused yesterday when contractors cut through a cable near a BT ADSL-enabled exchange in Manchester.

According to a BT spokeswoman, the Manchester exchange is used to route traffic to and from the north. Since it was hit, it effectively cut-off Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of England.

She said that the service should be back up and running by now although El Reg has received no confirmation of this at present.

News of BT's ADSL network collapse comes on the same day the FT reported that BTopenwoe was contemplating increasing the cost of its broadband service.

Of course, debt-laden BT is always looking for a new way to make more money so no surprises there.

But if BTopenworld were to increase the cost of its ADSL service that would be an issue of major concern for the those who believe in a wired future.

Unlike Le Freeswerve, which announced an ADSL price rise yesterday under the pretence that it is an broadband player when clearly it's not, a price rise from BTopenwoe would send two fingers to the UK Net users and the Government. ®

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