It's being reported that, while the trial of 10KM extended reach broadband ADSL services has yet to complete, some unofficial preliminary results have already been released and ISP's briefed.

The Samknows site carries word that 478 lines took part in the trial, 76% of these worked first time, 24% required a BT engineer to visit and conduct further work (adding a face-plate etc.) and sadly 3.9% failed.

It would appear as if the majority of 512Kbps lines worked fine with up to roughly 75dB line loss, with the odd rare exception working at 100dB! Face-plate engineer installs also helped to solve many problems with distant links:

Whilst no firm new limits have yet been set, the following limits were proposed by BT Wholesale:

* Increase the "Green" limit for 512K lines to 75dB. All lines above this limit will be tested for viability after ordering though. If the line is above the limit, but could receive ADSL with a faceplate, then one will be supplied free of charge by BT.

* Leave 2Mbps alone at 41dB line loss for now.

We're unlikely to see the official results from BT's trial until October, although it looks as if ADSL is about to expand its coverage once again.