BTOpenreach, which is responsible for ensuring that all rival UK ISPs have equality of access to BT's local telecommunications network, has confirmed that its existing Basic Line Test service will soon be able to identify and locate unbundled ( LLU ) end-user broadband lines that suffer from High Resistance (HR) faults.

On the surface this might sound like a minor change, and it is, but many consumers frequently experience "significant" broadband performance or connectivity problems (e.g. unstable connections, loss of sync, reduced speeds etc.) that can be traced back to HR. This is caused by all sorts of things, such as water ingress into cables (especially tedious during the winter months).

Unfortunately detecting HR problems and then locating the cause can be a challenge. Enter BT's new Copper Integrated Demand Testing (CIDT) solution, which is being trialled for use by unbundled LLU operators (e.g. Sky Broadband , TalkTalk , O2 etc.).


BT claims that this new upgrade, which is being trialled from 25th July 2011 in 119 exchanges equally split across Durham, Wirral and South Liverpool, Gloucester and Portsmouth, will deliver a "better end user experience" and "increased customer satisfaction from more sophisticated fault detection and less complaints".

It's important to stress that broadband performance and connectivity issues on copper DSL lines can also be caused by all sorts of other problems, such as poor home wiring and your distance from the local telephone exchange.

UPDATE 29th November 2011

The trial went extremely well and identified 96% of High Resistance (HR) faults. The roll-out is now due for completion by the end of June 2012. CIDT is already available on 90% of lines connected to EVOTAM or LLUTAM at enabled exchanges.