News Release

27th January 2003

APOLOGY FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF BT re BURNTWOOD BROADBAND

Frustrated residents of Burntwood who hoped to have access to broadband internet services have received an apology from Sir Christopher Bland, Chairman of BT. When BT announced they would require 650 people to register their interest in using broadband before they would supply the service, one of Michael Fabricant's constituents living in Chase Road, Burntwood tried to do just that - by logging onto BT's own website. He then found it wouldn't accept his name! After complaining to Michael Fabricant, BT have said they have found a fault in the system and have now put it right.

Sir Christopher said in a letter to Michael Fabricant: "We carried out extensive tests and found that a computer programming fault was the cause of the problem..... This situation was corrected and..... I am sorry for the difficulty your constituent encountered when he tried to register his interest in broadband at the Burntwood exchange. But your constituent's feedback has been invaluable in helping us to involve the community in shaping our investment decisions."

Michael Fabricant says "Sir Christopher tells me that so far 218 people have registered their interest, but we need 650 before BT installs the necessary hardware at the Burntwood exchange. It's now up to the people of Burntwood to log onto the BT site and demand broadband. Now that BT have fixed their website, there is no excuse! I hope that people will spread this news and that the 650 trigger level will now soon be reached.

"Registering an interest is not legally binding so you needn't sign a contract with BT if you don't like their prices once broadband is made available. So there really is no excuse for not logging on even if you don't end up using the service. It will, however, help stimulate hi-tech employment opportunities in the town once broadband becomes available. This is needed even more since John Prescott's appalling decision to refuse the go-ahead for the retail park in Burntwood".

The BT site where you can register your interest in broadband can be found at: www.bt.com/btbroadband/register/ns_register_intro.jsp'target