Telstra yesterday announced it will let the public decide which telephone exchanges will next be upgraded to handle ADSL.

After Telstra enabled its 1,000th exchange, in Warner, Queensland, the company said that from now on exchanges to be upgraded will be chosen by popular demand through the ADSL Demand Register, an innovative technique pioneered by British Telecom.

Telstra will analyse the costs of upgrading exchanges around Australia, and then will set a minimum 'required interest' level. If enough people in that area register their interest, the exchange will be flagged for upgrade.

'The ADSL Demand Register gives a strong voice to people who want ADSL in their area, and gives Telstra a new ability to direct its ADSL investment where demand is greatest,' Bruce Akhurst, group managing director, Telstra Broadband, said today.

'Communities will be able to follow the progress of their local telephone exchange towards obtaining ADSL on the web at www.telstra.com.au/demand' said Akhurst.

Telstra will not require users to sign up to its ADSL service, BigPond, but will leave it up to the individual to choose which ISP to use, the company said.