UK Hambleden Valley (Oxfordshire) resident and chairman of BT , Sir Michael Rake , has finally received a 1Mbps broadband connection to his home after first moving into the "not spot" location just one year ago. It should be good news but instead BT has stumbled onto a PR disaster after it emerged that his local neighbours were not being afforded the same privilege.. yet.

The Telegraph reports that Rake is part of the operator's Broadband Enabling Technology (BET) trial (original news), which is capable of bringing broadband speeds of up to 1Mbps (2Mbps with two bonded lines at roughly twice the cost) to homes that reside nearly 12km from their local telephone exchange.


Unfortunately Rake's neighbours, frustrated by the situation, have not been given the same option. Residents asking to be included in the trial are simply told that nobody else will be added again until sometime next year. But BT did offer one resident an alternative, except they'd have to pay £68,000 to have their home hooked up; BARGAIN!

It's certainly understandable that Rake would be given the first connection but a little common sense might have avoided what is now a sizable PR fudge up. Admittedly BET is still in early trials and BT holds that "trials of new technologies are often conducted among a company's own staff," which is fair. Still, broadband coverage is a sensitive topic and perhaps BT could have done more to work with local residents and businesses first.

BET is based off Single-pair High-speed Digital Subscriber Line (SHDSL) technology, which is a cousin of the more familiar Symmetric DSL (SDSL, same speed both ways) service for businesses. SHDSL combines elements from ADSL to work using frequencies that are not as prone to deterioration over distance. However the service has been criticised for its high cost and slow maximum speeds.