Outlook: British Telecom

AS EXAGGERATED claims go, BT's insistence that most homes will have installed one of its ISDN lines by 2002 takes some beating. Since there is no point in having one of these things unless you own a computer, the forecast requires the present level of PC penetration to nearly double over the next four years. You then have to assume that all these PC users will also be internet subscribers, since again this is the main use for a home based ISDN line.

And finally, you have to assume that none of these new PC owners will want to use the alternative of cable for their connection to the net, and that they are ready to pay roughly four times the cost of an ordinary line rental for the privelege of ISDN. But there's no accounting for marketing hype, is there?