BT shuns dealers over ATM service

British Telecom will pilot the UK's first national ATM service, Cellstream, from September, ready for its launch in January.

Although BT sells ISDN and PSTN switches through dealers, the ATM business will only go direct. The telco will initially be pitching ATM at large corporates and heavy users, and believes the product is not yet suited to the dealer channel.

Roger Gilbert, manager of BT's data services division, said: 'ATM may get to the dealer level when it becomes a volume product, but that is a way off.'

The service is expected to be tested on five or six corporate customers, including Halifax Building Society, in the run-up to the launch. Full commercial transatlantic service is scheduled for early 1997.

BT launched its international switched multi-megabit data service (SMDS) last week, offering broadband interconnection between its national SMDS network and those of MCI in the US and Telecom Eirann in Ireland.

Pilot customers include Microsoft, Pyramid Computers and Superjanet.