If you are a BT Retail broadband customer and you fancy being upgraded to a new ADSL Max 8 meg service, bare in mind that you will have to register your interest at a BT web site. The upgrade itself is free, but those who sign up will have to be tied in to a new 12 month contract. New customers will be able to apply, and will have to pay out £29.99 a month for BT's "Option 4" package.

Once provided with an 8 meg line, there are no guarantees that end users will reach such speeds. According to BT, eight in ten broadband users should be able to get 4 meg and above, while only those people closest to their BT exchange can expect speeds nearing 8 meg.