A method of connecting a subscriber terminal to the Internet, wherein the
connection is made through an exchange of a public telephone network and
the exchange has a plurality of Internet access servers (IASs). In
response to a request received from the subscriber terminal, it is
determined whether or not an active connection currently exists for that
terminal over one of the IASs. If an active connection does not currently
exist, transmission bandwidth on one of the IAS is allocated to the
subscriber terminal. If an active connection does exist, the IAS on which
transmission bandwidth is allocated is identified, and additional
bandwidth allocated to the terminal on that IAS if available. If
sufficient additional bandwidth is not available, the active connection is
transferred to a second IAS on which sufficient bandwidth is available.