Yes Television, the video-on-demand company gearing up for a £600m flotation, yesterday threatened to abandon its partnership with British Telecom unless the former state-owned monopoly changed the technology being deployed to upgrade its network.
The comments from Yes TV were made as BT was forced to defend itself against criticism that it had been dragging its feet over the introduction of its broadband network.
BT said its roll-out was on target with 25% of the population connected to asymmetric digital subscriber lines, which turn an ordinary telephone copper wire into a high-speed connection for internet, broadcasting or video-on-demand services. BT expects its coverage to grow to 33% of the population by June, which would account for 50% of the UK's internet users.
Yes TV was critical of the technology being deployed and said it was lobbying senior BT executives to introduce a different form of ADSL.
BT has allied with Yes TV to pilot a scheme over the next three months in 440 homes. The equipment supplied by Fujitsu and Alcatel for the service does not have a multi-channel TV facility, leaving only internet access and the ability to download specific films or TV programmes.
"Our endgame is to use ADSL that supports multi-channel TV and if BT does not go down that route then we will find another telecoms partner," said Yes technical director Huw Price-Stephens. "But we are confident BT will listen because they understand that is a threat to their business."
Both sides later tried to play down any suggestion of a rift. BT's director of broadband, Chris Gibbs, said upgrading the ADSL network would be a simple matter. "We have been working on the strategy of building out high-speed internet access so far but are looking very closely at the needs of the broadcasters." He noted that the ban on broadcasting over BT's network would not be lifted until January 2001.
Yes TV provides a video-on-demand service in the joint venture between Kingston Communications and BSkyB using ADSL in Hull.
Kingston began its service in January over its local network carrying 60 TV channels, internet access and video on demand, using technology supplied by Newbridge Networks, recently bought by Alcatel.
Paul Reynolds, BT's managing director of network and information services, estimated BT had spent "a couple of billion pounds" in the past two years upgrading its network to broadband. "There will be more of it in the coming year and I don't see it slackening."
"What we have not done is take a catastrophic lurch into this. It's the fastest roll-out of DSL we've seen in the world."
Yes TV yesterday published details of its flotation and set a price range of 225p-275p.
