British Telecommunications Plc is the first European carrier to join the group of companies supporting the Universal ADSL high- speed data transfer standard mechanism. Microsoft Corp, Intel Corp, Compaq Computer Corp and the five Baby Bell telecommunications companies – and now BT – aim to standardize high speed data over telecoms copper wire technology using ADSL specifications. The equipment manufacturers and telcos hope that uniting behind a standard they can all agree to – even if it is not necessarily the fastest mechanism available – will bring them the benefit of economies of scale and lower the cost of equipment and installation. Unlike the US, where ADSL is about to be launched commercially, British Telecom, which has been trialing ADSL technology since early 1995 but will not set a date on a commercial launch in the UK as it says it must first complete yet another study of the technology. British Telecom denies that it is planning to sideline ADSL to avoid cannibalizing its lucrative ISDN data business, so it is only coincidence that the company is launching a consumer version of the business ISDN service in the summer, called Home Highway. BT may not feel inclined to provide high speed data connections to homes anytime soon though, as its largest UK rival Cable & Wireless Communications Plc hasn’t yet got a strategy for deploying broadband data connections. The company is running a technical trial of cable modems in the North East England, with a 10Mbps data rate, and has some undisclosed plans for using digital TV for high speed internet access. However C&W may get its act together later in the year, planning to introduce later this year a system that takes advantage of cable digital TV to transmit other data embedded in the TV signal.
