In its ads promoting Velocity, the telephone lines for high-speed Internet access, the Bermuda Telephone Company beckons prospective customers to "move into the fast lane."

Since BTC introduced digital subscriber lines, or DSL, last September, 1,200 customers have moved, lured by the prospect of quicker downloads and unlimited Internet service for a flat fee, which had never been available before. DSL also allows customers to use the Internet (pictured left) and talk on the phone simultaneously.

But changing to the fast lane has not been a smooth ride for some customers, whose experiences have been riddled with delays and hiccups. For reasons involving BTC and the Internet service providers (ISPs) which link the high-speed lines to the Internet, the fast lane has not been the information autobahn many people were hoping for.

For starters, most people with DSL are only prepared to pay for the baseline service which, for about $190 a month, provides an unlimited connection at speeds of 128 kilobits per second.

That's more than twice as fast as a regular modem, but just a quarter of the speed of even the slowest DSL offerings in the North America and Europe, with a price tag that is several times higher.

Dwayne Lambert opted for the most expensive package from North Rock, which costs him almost $500 per month, including BTC's fees.

But despite the hefty monthly fee, he does not think he gets what he pays for, and has had a hard time getting answers.

"I never felt I was getting the fast connection speeds," Mr. Lambert said, who admitted to being a junkie for downloading video and audio material. Sceptical, he ran his own speed tests, and found that his connections speed fluctuated between 66 and 133 kilobits per second. He pays for 512 kilobits per second.

"I call North Rock and ask `what's the problem,'" he said. "They say it's BTC."

When BTC sent a technician to his house, the technician told him the problem was with North Rock. After being "given the run around", as he put it, by North Rock, he called BTC again.

Yesterday, another BTC technician came to his house in Sandys, this time with his own laptop, which he plugged into Mr. Lambert's DSL modem and connected to North Rock to run a speed test. The download speed was 113 kilobits per second, slightly more than a fifth of the speed Mr. Lambert was paying for.

He then connected to Logic Communications, another ISP, and clocked download speeds of 400 kilobits per second - not a perfect speed, but one Mr. Lambert suggested he could put up with, even if he was paying for more.

"If I don't get satisfaction today," a frustrated Mr. Lambert said, "I am going to switch to Logic.

"It's diabolical. North Rock are taking so much money from individuals and there's no one getting guarantees (of speed)."

North Rock later tested Mr. Lambert's account from another location and clocked download speeds consistent with what he was paying for, suggesting that his slow speeds are not completely their fault either.

"We have an engineer visiting the customer's home tomorrow morning to check on his connection, PC settings, etc." Vicki Coelho, North Rock's sales and marketing manager, wrote in an e-mail. The ISP is also crediting Mr. Lambert's account for one month of service.

"We apologise for any inconvenience that he may have experienced," Ms Coelho wrote, adding that DSL service is "complex and many components are involved."

Mr. Lambert is not the only person whose complaints have been bounced from his ISP to BTC, and back again.

Charles Finn, the head of the Computer Driving Licence Programme for the Computer Society of Bermuda (CSB), also lives in Sandys and has had problems with his connection.

He is a beta tester for Cable & Wireless' small business DSL services, and should be connected at a rate of hundreds of kilobits per second. But his connection speeds average about 100 kilobits per second, according to speed tests he has conducted, and he has recorded rates as low as 6 kilobits per second.

"It would be nice if it was consistent," said Dr. Finn, who telecommutes to the CSB's office on Richmond Road.

"If you figure something's going to take half an hour, you can go and do something else," Dr. Finn said, but instead his download speeds vary wildly.

"It makes it hard to do any planning."

When he told BTC about the problem, they said it was a Cable & Wireless issue. Cable & Wireless said the exact opposite.

Dr. Finn figured there might be a problem with the copper cable which connects his telephone line to the telephone company's central network or Cable & Wireless could be ironing out some kinks during the testing phase of its product.

Allan Sloan, BTC's vice president of market and technology, said that Bermuda's corrosive salty air is the source of many problems. "It plays havoc with our wiring, especially with the jacks inside the house," he said.

But individual customer complaints aren't the only evidence of problems with DSL. In July, BTC had a problem with its equipment in Southampton, which left users in the area without Internet access for half a day.

And last Friday, customers sharing their DSL connection between multiple computers (one of the primary advantages of the new technology) with routers made by one of the biggest manufacturers, Linksys, were suddenly disconnected from the Internet and unable to reconnect unless they dismantled their network.

Craig Clark, the managing director of Computer City, said he had fielded calls from customers who had bought the $138 router from the retailer. He estimated that about 100 people were affected by the problem, which was caused by an incompatibility with BTC's network.

Yesterday, BTC engineers were working with Linksys to figure out the problem, but still had not determined what the cause was or how long it would take to fix. "We've made it a priority," Mr. Sloan said.

Although the routers had worked before last week, Mr. Sloan said it would have been helpful if the retailers had asked BTC to test the routers for extended periods before selling them, as they did with the modems.

BTC has also suffered delays in converting customer lines to DSL, which it is supposed to do within 10 business days of the request, according to the company's website. Dr. Finn waited nine months between the date BTC said Velocity was available in his area and the day his line was activated this May.

BTC customer care gave Dr. Finn a new expected installation date every time he e-mailed them, but the schedule was invariably delayed. He said that BTC apologised "and were really nice about it."

Another prospective DSL subscriber said he had ordered DSL six weeks ago and was still waiting for his line to be activated. BTC said that his line was due to be activated yesterday.

A BTC spokesman explained that there have been some delays in DSL installations because many of the "cards" which are connected to customer lines in wiring cabinets around the island were faulty, leaving customers with no voice service. The manufacturer agreed to replace the cards, but delivery took between 2 and 3 months. Meanwhile, BTC's supply of working cards quickly ran out.

About 200 people are now waiting for their lines to be upgraded to DSL. BTC hopes to enable their lines by the end of the month. According to the company, 80 percent of Bermuda households are able to receive DSL service. By early September, the company hopes to complete upgrades for St. John's Road and Fairylands in Pembroke, Collectors Hill in Smith's and George's Bay in Southampton. Dockyard will be upgraded "swiftly after."

The spokesman added that once the roll-out is complete, about three percent of households will not be able to get Velocity, mostly located in including pockets of subscribers in Granaway Heights, Palmetto Bay, Manor House, Burnt House Hill, Spice Valley and Khyber Pass. DSL only works when there is less than 18,000 feet of copper cabling between a customer's house and BTC's fibre-optic network since service deteriorates with the length of the cable.

Mr. Sloan said the company could take measures over the next year to decrease the length of cabling between some houses and the cabinets, and put DSL within reach of those areas, although he said he didn't want to make any promises.

Despite the hiccups and delays, DSL users are happy they upgraded. See tomorrow's Royal Gazette.