Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2001/11/07/bt_makes_isdn_to_dsl/

BT makes ISDN to DSL upgrade easy

But has no plans to market the upgrade path

By Tim Richardson

Posted in Networks, 7th November 2001 13:57 GMT

BT's commitment to broadband has been questioned following the reports about its plans to upgrade ISDN customers to its DSL family of products.

According to a BTopenworld PR there are no plans to market or advertise the upgrade path other than respond to those current ISDN users who wish, or who have expressed an interest, to upgrade to ADSL. Nor has there been any formal press announcement about the initiative.

News of the three-month promotional offer - which started on Monday - was reported yesterday by vnunet.

According to BTopenworld - the Internet business of the monster telco - the offer only applies to business users of ISDN. A decision concerning an upgrade path for home users is expected shortly.

Currently, business users who want to ditch ISDN and sign up to ADSL first have to buy their way out of their ISDN contract, which could cost several hundreds of pounds. They then need to have their line converted from ISDN to a normal phone line and then go through the process of ordering and installing ADSL.

If all goes to plan, the new "one-stop-shop" upgrade should make life easier for business ISDN users. A fee of £100 plus VAT will cover the cost of cancellation and conversion of the phone line regardless how many months are left outstanding in the contract.

Business users will still have to pay for installation of DSL as normal.

However, if it's not possible for the user to get ADSL once an ISDN line has been removed (for whatever technical reason) then BTopenworld said they would return the cash and re-install ISDN at no extra cost.

A PR for BTopenworld said: "The process is there to make it easier for ISDN users to upgrade to ADSL." ®