By: MarkJ - 21 March, 2009 (10:22 AM) - Score: 34294 - Fixed Line Broadband
BT has revealed new information about the roll-out of its £1.5bn programme to deploy super fast fibre optic (Fibre to the Premise/Cabinet, FTTP/C) broadband to as many as 10 million UK homes (40%) by 2012 (original news). Scotland will become one of the first places to benefit from early next year, with more than 34,000 homes and businesses in Edinburgh and Glasgow receiving speeds of up to 40Mbps and potentially 60Mbps.
Overall BT Openreach, which is responsible for ensuring that all rival operators have equality of access to BT's local network, aims to deploy Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) based next generation broadband services next summer (2010) to 500,000 homes and businesses in the UK. The next set of locations, serving a further 1 million homes and businesses, will be announced in the autumn.
Openreach will be making fibre based services available to more than 30,000 homes and businesses from exchanges serving the areas around Glasgow University and the arts galleries and in the Hillington Park innovation centre and business park development. In Edinburgh, super-fast broadband will become available to 4,000 customers in Stockbridge and the New Town.
BT plans to trial their latest form of FTTC technology in Muswell Hill (London) and Whitchurch in South Glamorgan this summer. FTTC essentially replaces the copper wire going to local street cabinets with a high capacity fibre optic link. VDSL or VDSL2 is then used to carry the connection over the existing (last mile) copper wire into homes, working in a faster but not hugely dissimilar way to many existing (ADSL) broadband services.
This represents the first major phase of the UK's biggest ever investment programme in super-fast broadband. In addition BT informs us that upload speeds will also reach up to 10Mbps, which is significantly faster than the 2Mbps seen at their Ebbsfleet trials of FTTP technology. Openreach is aware there are some premises that will not be able to be served by FTTC and they are currently looking at alternative solutions for those.
Following this news we also asked BT when they’d be revealing more roll-out details for elsewhere in the UK and according to their press spokesperson, "the other UK sites are being revealed at 8am on Monday." Expect more details then.
UPDATE - 23rd MArch 2009:
BT Lists 29 Initial Fibre Optic UK Broadband Rollout Exchanges
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/story/2009/03/23/bt-reveals-more-fibre-optic-uk-broadband-rollout-plans.html
Overall BT Openreach, which is responsible for ensuring that all rival operators have equality of access to BT's local network, aims to deploy Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) based next generation broadband services next summer (2010) to 500,000 homes and businesses in the UK. The next set of locations, serving a further 1 million homes and businesses, will be announced in the autumn.
Steve Robertson, CEO of Openreach, told delegates at the Scottish Council Development and Industry conference in St Andrews: "Super-fast broadband is essential to Scotland’s future so it is great to announce this initial set of locations. The wider industry will now be able to plan ahead as we will be making our services available on a wholesale basis. This approach will benefit customers as there will undoubtedly be fierce competition for their business.
Once again, Scotland is at the forefront of one of the most important projects to take place in recent years. It will play a vital role in the UK’s future as a knowledge-based economy."
Once again, Scotland is at the forefront of one of the most important projects to take place in recent years. It will play a vital role in the UK’s future as a knowledge-based economy."
First Minister, Alex Salmond, said: "Broadband is already available in 99% of Scotland and the Scottish Government is rolling out a £3.3 million project to extend affordable broadband services. This technology has quickly established itself as vital communications tool for businesses and people of all ages. This new service will give customers in two of the country’s biggest cities even greater access to the opportunities and services that the internet offers."
Openreach will be making fibre based services available to more than 30,000 homes and businesses from exchanges serving the areas around Glasgow University and the arts galleries and in the Hillington Park innovation centre and business park development. In Edinburgh, super-fast broadband will become available to 4,000 customers in Stockbridge and the New Town.
Steve Robertson added: "We have worked very closely with industry, development agencies and local authorities to choose these sites and I would like to thank everyone who has worked with us to make this happen. We are in discussion with others so expect similar announcements in the months to come."
BT plans to trial their latest form of FTTC technology in Muswell Hill (London) and Whitchurch in South Glamorgan this summer. FTTC essentially replaces the copper wire going to local street cabinets with a high capacity fibre optic link. VDSL or VDSL2 is then used to carry the connection over the existing (last mile) copper wire into homes, working in a faster but not hugely dissimilar way to many existing (ADSL) broadband services.
This represents the first major phase of the UK's biggest ever investment programme in super-fast broadband. In addition BT informs us that upload speeds will also reach up to 10Mbps, which is significantly faster than the 2Mbps seen at their Ebbsfleet trials of FTTP technology. Openreach is aware there are some premises that will not be able to be served by FTTC and they are currently looking at alternative solutions for those.
Following this news we also asked BT when they’d be revealing more roll-out details for elsewhere in the UK and according to their press spokesperson, "the other UK sites are being revealed at 8am on Monday." Expect more details then.
UPDATE - 23rd MArch 2009:
BT Lists 29 Initial Fibre Optic UK Broadband Rollout Exchanges
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/story/2009/03/23/bt-reveals-more-fibre-optic-uk-broadband-rollout-plans.html
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Comments: 25
AlanPosted: 22 March, 2009 - 1:20 AM
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This sounds like the same idea as AT&T is implementing with their "UVerse" deployment that they began rolling out a couple years ago. I believe they now have around 18 million homes passed.
I believe this milking every last drop out of copper like this makes a lot of sense.
MarkJPosted: 22 March, 2009 - 8:23 AM
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Indeed copper wire is pretty old but over short distances it doesn't have to be rubbish, thanks to VDSL2/FTTC. I've even seen newer innovations that might well push up to 200Mbps over a single "last mile" copper line, although they're still on the drawing board.
The real question will be how ISPs price and offer the service because it'll need to compete with existing products to become acceptable on a mass scale. Current unbundled solutions are often very cheap, which will be difficult for a new service to match.
RichardPosted: 22 March, 2009 - 12:17 PM
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I think it is crucial advertising and promotional materials make it clear what is being offered. While VDSL and UVerse are able to use the copper cables to homes impressively this is still not fibre optic to the home. Customers need to know what they are getting. I do not think fibre to the cabinet ought be described, unqualified, as fibre optic.
http://www.rtaylor.co.uk/virgin-media-fibre-optic-
broadband.html
http://www.rtaylor.co.uk/virgin-media-fibre-optic-broadband-adver
ts.html
digital slowlanePosted: 22 March, 2009 - 12:50 PM
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Ho hum... more fast access for urban areas while the rest of us struggle on poor quality lines with sub standard speeds on over-contended exchanges. Market 1 areas where BT has a captive market as ever are left behind - it is time our costs were lowered to reflect the 3rd class service we receive under the BT monopoly.
stuart , wiganPosted: 22 March, 2009 - 2:32 PM
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i can't beleive that bt is so far behind its competiors such as virgin who has already been supplying its customers with fibre optic for a while.
with bt being such a large company. what have the been spending their profits on.
virginPosted: 22 March, 2009 - 3:04 PM
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virgin media isn't fibre optic to the home and never is ! They use co-ax cable to the house.
bobPosted: 22 March, 2009 - 4:44 PM
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"to as many as 10 million UK homes (40%) by 2012"
not exactly every one is it. i wouldnt hold my breath unless you live in a major city centre and why do virgin offer mega fast 50mb fibre broadband when they dont even have a fibre network?? anyhow openreach will be looking after the virgin network very soon
PeterPosted: 22 March, 2009 - 6:26 PM
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So will most people see a difference with FTTC? will the line attenuation and noise margin etc be better when this is complete even for very long lines?
bobPosted: 22 March, 2009 - 8:31 PM
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if you have a very long line then i take it you live in a rural area?? the difference with living in major towns is that the roadside cabinets are on average 400 to 600 metres from your house, if you live in a rural patch then the cabinet could be 4 to 6 miles from your house. so hence if the cabinet was fed by fibre then the last 4 or so miles would still be copper or could even be aluminium (yes its still in the network regardless of what bt say!!!) and your speed would still be crap. i cant ever see anybody but major cities being feb fibre to the cabs.
Not ThrilledPosted: 22 March, 2009 - 9:07 PM
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Wow I'm so excited! Fibre To The Cabinet is coming to the UK starting in 2010 while Greece, Netherlands, et al are or have been building fibre to homes.
Too little and way too late to be honest. Obsolete technology rolled out considerably after it was of any use - VDSL has been deployed for years and fibre to premises for a similar period.
dont blame BTPosted: 22 March, 2009 - 10:57 PM
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@stuart
You can blame OFCOM for the delays, before BT is allowed to make any changes to the network they have to be okayed by by OFCOM.
Now you'd imagine a group that has so much influence over our communication and digital future would be a group of people who are specialists in that field right? wrong its run by a bunch of people who only care about the bottom line and don't like to approve cost increases to wholesale customers (of which the board includes many) to roll out new tech.
As for Virgin as others have said they lie they use fibre to the cabinet and copper the rest of the way
SivPosted: 23 March, 2009 - 10:59 AM
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I think if BT don't get their finger out we'll all be switching to 30 and 40mbps services provided by the likes of O2 and 3 etc.
MarkJPosted: 23 March, 2009 - 11:39 AM
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Mobile Broadband services might eventually get faster (theoretical rate) but your quality of service will be significantly less because the capacity is extremely expensive for operators; coverage vs performance problems notwithstanding. Then there are the other limits too, as we covered in this article recently:
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/articles/09_how_to_use_mobile_broadband/
Mobile Broadband is good but it’s not yet a truly flexible fixed line broadband replacement and I have my doubts about the technical feasibility of it becoming that in the medium term future.
anonymousPosted: 29 March, 2009 - 1:26 AM
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Take a look at the following news:
Asahi Glass Succeeds in Development of Consumer Fluororesin-based Plastic Optical
Fiber that is User-friendly and Compatible with Ultrahigh-speed Communication
http://www.agc.co.jp/english/news/2009/0316e.pdf
tee dee brighton.Posted: 2 April, 2009 - 10:59 AM
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is that true about the coaxial cable to the house. surely if I am willing to pay for fibre optic it must be up to the point of termination within a property and not to the boundary. and I was just about to sign up to virgin on line. I must get an update first.
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