VP Status

Using the Zen status checker my exchange is listed as RED, an upgrade is forecast for 6th October 06.
The previous dates of status GREEN, were 4th Sept and 11th Sept and two dates prior to that.
The status checker states, when showing Red that this May result in slower speeds.
Why does an exchange go from Green to Red, and what does an upgrade mean.
And, being Red, is it a large influence on speed as suggested or does the word MAY come into play.
Anyone care to enlightment me, I do not understand any of this.

Capacity or ports available at the exchange for ADSL use being used up. It can mean worse case that if everybody at your exchange was busy on their ADSL line you might see some slow down in the speeds available to you, particularly at busy times, such as in the evening. Though since the MAX roll out exchange congestion is not uncommon even on green exchanges. It doesn't always affect the end user though as my exchange has swapped back and forth between green and red many times over the last couple of years with no discernible drop in speed at any time of the day or night irrespective of the status.

Thanks for your reply. That does clarify things a little better.