Despite being trumpeted as beneficial to small firms, BT has suspended the rollout of its symmetrical digital subscriber line (SDSL) business broadband services due to a lack of demand.
The telecoms giant confirmed that the planned upgrade of a total 800 telephone exchanges with SDSL will now be delayed until at least early next year. So far, 729 have been upgraded.
BT admitted the high cost of SDSL, which is purchased from BT by internet service providers and resold to individual businesses, has resulted in limited demand.
The company has promoted SDSL, also know as symmetric broadband, as ideal for small firms.
The system provides a two-way high-speed internet connection so is suitable for companies, particularly those with remote workers, needing to send and receive data at high speeds or those that host their own email server and websites.
Earlier this month, BT cut the wholesale price of SDSL by 30% in an effort to increase its popularity.
Announcing the reduction, the company said: "Symmetric broadband is ideal for business use as it supports applications that require the same upstream and downstream speeds.
"This allows businesses to benefit from applications such as video conferencing and realise greater efficiencies through fast file transfer."
