BT have announced plans to end their long running echange enablement scheme that has been both heaven and hell for hundreds of thousands of broadband wannabes in the UK. Running since July 2002, BT's Exchange Registration scheme has enabled the telco to accurately judge demand for broadband services area by area.

In a remarkable turnaround, Chief Broadband Officer Alison Ritchie announced that following the decision to end the scheme, and push forward with a "systematic rollout" of exchanges, 99.6% of the UK's population will be served by an ADSL enabled exchange. One caveat remains however, in that 565 exchanges in rural areas are not to be included - with BT electing to work with partnerships and local businesses to bring broadband to these areas.

In total 1,128 exchanges have been identified for an upgrade to provide ADSL to residents and businesses in the catchment area. BT have set a target date of Summer 2005 for this to occur. Together with BTs recent announcement of a 10Km trial in Milton Keynes it seems the UK is moving quickly to acheieve its target of universal broadband access.

BT have continuously thanked the efforts of over 3,000 campaign groups and its no secret that without the efforts from these individuals and sites like Samknows.com and ADSLGuide.org - broadband access might still be in its infancy.

A copy of the BT Press Release can be found here