WightFibre Trial Ultrafast 1000Mbps Broadband on the Isle of Wight

WightFibre, which is a cable (DOCSIS) operator that delivers 152Mbps broadband and TV across the Isle of Wight (South Coast of Hampshire, England), has deployed a 1000Mbps fibre optic (FTTH/P) network to a development of new build homes in the village of Wootton and more will follow.

The service is being trialled on a new private cul-de-sac development (The Wiltons) of new homes in the centre of Wootton (Wootton Bridge), although at present it has only been made available to just 10 of the new 2-3 bedroom houses. But the operator plans to go a lot further.

Pete Collinge, Sales Director at WightFibre, said (Island Echo):

“We have always had a reputation of pushing the boundaries of communications across the Island and this is another first that will allow owners of these new properties to receive the full fibre experience and endless online possibilities as never before.”

At this point we should say that a joint project between BT and the Isle of Wight Council has already expanded the reach of “fibre broadband” connectivity to 99% of homes and businesses on the island. However much of that has been done via the slower ‘up to’ 80Mbps Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) technology rather than ultrafast pure fibre optic (FTTH/P) lines.

The good news is that WightFibre intend to hit back by upgrading their entire network to deliver broadband speeds of up to 1000Mbps by 2020, with the main roll-out beginning in 2018. Sadly there’s precious little detail available on the wider plan, but we will report back when more its known.

As a side note the island is currently home to about 140,000 people.