First Users LIVE on BT Trial of Exchange Based FTTP Broadband

BTOpenreach has confirmed that the first customers have now gone live on their trial of “ultrafast” 330Mbps native Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband technology in Haydon Wick (North Swindon), which involves building fibre optic lines direct to your home from the local telephone exchange.

The development, which was unveiled back in February 2016 (here), is one of several FTTP related technology trials currently being conducted by BT and forms part of their recent pledge to “significantly … accelerate the deployment” of such connections (here). Not that FTTP itself is anything new to Openreach, which has already deployed it to cover 200,000 UK premises.

In this instance Openreach are trialling their new “plug and play” technology, which they claim should reduce the cost and complexity of delivering an all fibre connection to a home or business. Apparently it “allows customers to be connected to FTTP with a simple two hour installation appointment instead of multiple appointments“, although the trial FAQ contradicts this by suggesting that the work on a customer’s property “will take approximately half a day“.

The trial itself covers some 500 homes on the development, with street level availability being present on Ariadne Road, Boatman Close, Clementine Road, Mayfly Road, Metis Road, Minnow Close, Ulysses Road and Voyager Drive.

Damon Bower, Local Councillor, said:

“Just five and a half weeks ago we were discussing plans for Fibre-to-the-Premises in the village, and now the first customers have been connected. It’s fantastic that in that time we have an active network delivered and working. All the engineers on site have generated a real buzz in the area. The trial will cover 500 homes so we can look forward to even more residents being connected in the near future.”

Openreach are also conducting trials of simpler ways to deploy FTTP in other parts of the UK, including one in Bradford and another in Campton and Meppershall (Bedfordshire), which for example will look at reducing the need for engineers to cut and melt fibres together. Some will also test 1000Mbps (Gigabit class) speeds, although that’s more intended for business products.

It’s worth pointing out that Haydon Wick is also one of the locations that might have benefited from UKB Networks controversial wireless broadband deployment in North Swindon (here) and locals in the area have long been campaigning for better connectivity.

Mind you one of the problems right now is with regards to the lack of ISP choice, with only a few providers like BT, AAISP, Claranet Soho and Zen Internet offering FTTP packages on Openreach’s network that are viable for home users. Availability will have to show a significant improvement before the other ISPs get involved.