“We are withdrawing consumer ISDN,” a BT spokesman told BBC News, referring to the Home Highway product, explaining that “demand … has dived with the availability of cheap, fast broadband”.

ISDN was introduced at a time when dial-up modems were the fastest way to get internet access.

It offered fast connections at a lower price than the fast data pipes – now known as broadband connections – which business internet users purchased.

But the 64kbps connections ISDN could muster are looking outmoded at a time when the average home broadband user now uses a speed of 3.8Mbps, according to industry regulator Ofcom.

Nevertheless, some will mourn the passing of ISDN, notably radio or TV programme makers hoping to upload news reports when on location, BBC News explained.

Upload is as fast as download on ISDN connections, distinguishing them from many broadband connections which make it easy for customers to download huge files online but do not have the same capacity to handle upload.

Find out more about BT broadband

© Adfero Ltd