Martin's article - getting broadband requires upgrading the phone-line?

jane22

I read on Martin's article here

that people getting broadband for the first time will have to upgrade their phone line. I've never heard of this before and was hoping that someone could explain in what exact sense my phoneline needs upgrading.

redux

Broadband is much faster internet. The most common type is an upgraded home telephone line called ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line),

I'm wondering if this is the part that has alarmed you.

BT has been upgrading the whole country's exchanges and trunk phonelines to enable broadband; there are not many more to go, but that's the large scale ...

When Martin mentions an upgrade fee, it doesn't mean new phoneline wiring must be installed all the way to the house, or inside it; it is more usually described as a connection fee for installation at the exchange, which BT charge to your ISP and is often but not always bundled into the cost of a year's contract - which Martin points out later in the article (the "Are you new to broadband?" paragraph).

Whether these costs, now about £20 for modem and £50 for connection, are included or not is one of the things to check when comparing ISPs deals.