BT is endeavouring to extend the coverage of broadband ADSL services in some remote areas of Yorkshire and Northern Ireland by installing DSLAM's in or around street cabinets, which is then connected back to the main exchange using a fibre optic cable link.

Typically this places the technology on the doorstep of many locations, albeit more costly for BT to deliver and thus not something we would have expected to see.

The trials, which are due to start this month, will initially take place at four sites in Yorkshire and five in Northern Ireland. BT is expected to extend these in December to separate ones around Dorchester, Dorset and the Kingswells area of Aberdeen.

Some overlap between current ADSL users and those just outside of its reach will be a factor, so as to determine the impact on existing users. We suspect that the success of this trial may depend more on economic viability than technological. Few other details are known.