BT launch faster upload speeds through Annex M on 21CN
Tuesday 03 August 2010 15:22:43 by John Hunt

Yesterday BT Wholesale announced the launch of faster upstream speeds on its 21CN Wholesale Broadband Connect (WBC) platform. The option increases the amount of bandwidth available for uploading by slightly decreasing the amount of downstream bandwidth. BT trials showed that enabling the option can increase the upload speed by between 200Kbps and 1Mbps with a 10-15% sacrifice on the download speed.

BT believe the option will favour businesses who use services like VoIP, video conferencing as the enhanced upload speed will allow users to increase the quality of calls and video used. Users who upload lots of data using things like VPNs or online backup tools could also benefit from the faster time to transfer data. There is an additional charge levied at £7 per end user per month to the ISP which may be higher for end users.

"Annex M allows our customers to expand their portfolio and so find themselves in a better position to tailor – and differentiate – their broadband services by matching them more precisely to the needs of individual businesses. Annex M is just one of the one of the number of broadband developments to help our customers deliver an ever better customer experience and grow their sales in the mixed economy marketplace."

Colin Annette, (Client Director) BT Communication Service Provider Group

Annex M does require users to have a modem or router which supports this option and should give users the option of up to 2.5Mbps of upstream bandwidth if your line can support it. It's worth noting that this option has been available through providers who use an LLU network such as BE for some time and BT are slowly playing catchup. On the BT network, its only available if your exchange has been upgraded to ADSL2+ (i.e. you can receive up to 24meg broadband from BT) and this is currently around 55% of homes and businesses. This will be increased to around 75% by spring 2011.