<font size="3">Hundreds of exchanges fail BT trigger test </font>
The telco is breaking the bad news to areas where it says there just aren't enough residents to justify ADSL rollout

BT said this week that it cannot set achievable broadband trigger levels for 332 local telephone exchanges across rural Britain.

After examining these local exchanges and assessing the cost of ADSL-enabling them, the telco has calculated that there aren't enough potential broadband users in each area to justify the expense of an upgrade.

BT insists that it isn't saying that these local exchanges are permanently unviable for broadband, and that it may award trigger levels in the future. It's possible, though, that community activists may step into the breach to help provide broadband in the areas affected.

Trigger levels are a measure of how many people in one area must want to get broadband before BT considers it economical to upgrade the exchange. They vary between exchanges, depending on the state of the network and the cost of adding extra space to accommodate the broadband kit. BT explained on Thursday that at these 332 exchanges there just aren't enough people living in each area to justify rolling out ADSL.

"We've reviewed the exchanges, and under current circumstances we can't see a case for setting a trigger because the total number of customers needed simply wouldn't be achievable," a BT spokesman said, adding that in many cases the number needed is actually greater than the total number of local households.

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