BT is turning to comedy to try to convince people to upgrade to a broadband net connection.

The telecommunications giant has teamed up with the Classic Comedy site to make available a series of long clips featuring British comedy greats.

The clips are free to download and will be available for the next eight weeks.

While broadband net connections are steadily proving popular with British net users, many people are thought to be resisting signing up because there is relatively little they can do with a faster net link.

The fast show

The numbers of people that are using high-speed net connections at home is growing slowly, but the vast majority of websites are still optimised to work with slower dial-up modems.

Comedy conjurer Cooper will feature in the clips

In an attempt to give broadband users something to do with their net connection and to convince others to sign up for a fast link, BT has joined with the Classic Comedy site to provide free clips.

Over the next few weeks visitors to the site will be able to download a selection of short clips from a library of 50 featuring comedy greats such as Monty Python, Benny Hill, Tommy Cooper and the Goodies.

As well as the comedy shorts, Classic Comedy is also making available every week two larger downloads of a complete sketch or scene that are several minutes in length and just for broadband users.

The Classic Comedy site was set up in April 2001 by Richard Bentine son of former goon and TV funny man Michael Bentine.

The clips are being made available in two formats: Real Video and Windows Media.