BT to offer homes Internet fast-track

A NEW LOW-COST system that will transform home use of the Internet is to be trialled by BT. Using technology jointly developed by Ericsson of Sweden and the UK’s GPT, Home Highway will pro-vide home-based surfers with the equivalent of an ISDN line - but using the standard phone network. The system will be tested in some 300 households in the Midlands next year, offering users a choice of simulta-neous digital and analogue connections. A subscriber could, for example, connect to the Internet at high speed whilst making or receiving ordinary voice calls. Pricing has not been yet been revealed but will obvi-ously be well below the cost of an ISDN line. BT, however, insists that the service will not be suitable for business customers [preserving at all cost the goose that lays the golden ISDN eggs!]