BT Openreach Say LR-VDSL Could Push “Fibre Broadband” to 99% of the UK

Openreach (BT) has issued an update on their existing plan to run a “commercial pilot” of Long Reach VDSL (FTTC) broadband technology, which involves around 120 premises across 6 rural locations. The operator claims that if deployed LR-VDSL could bring “fibre” to 99% of the UK by 2020.

The update doesn’t add much to what we first reported in February 2017 (here), although this time Openreach has put into writing their belief that “we can get fibre-based solutions to almost 99 per cent of homes by the end of 2020 including the use of Long Reach VDSL and our current plans would see most homes in the final [5%] of the UK receive speeds well in excess of 10Mbps.”

The 6 LR-VDSL Trial Locations
Clachan, Mull of Kintyre, Scotland: Cabinet 1
Eriskay, Outer Hebrides, Scotland: Cabinet 1
Kesh, Northern Ireland: Cabinet 12
Plaistow, West Sussex: Cabinets 1 and 2
Pomeroy, Northern Ireland: Cabinet 3
Whitehouse, Mull of Kintyre, Scotland: Cabinet 1

Just to put this into context. The Broadband Delivery UK programme has already helped to extend fixed line “superfast broadband” (24Mbps+) speeds to cover an estimated 92%+ of premises in the United Kingdom and this should reach 97% by 2020. After that Openreach envisages LR-VDSL technology as being used to help achieve the Government’s new 10Mbps+ minimum speed (Universal Service Obligation) in the final 3%.

Kim Mears, Openreach MD for Infrastructure Delivery, said:

“Long Reach VDSL can potentially improve speeds for thousands of homes and businesses across Scotland and the rest of the UK – particularly those connected by long lines.

Getting faster speeds to rural communities is one of our biggest priorities. We believe we can get fibre-based solutions to almost 99 per cent of homes by the end of 2020 including the use of Long Reach VDSL and our current plans would see most homes in the final five per cent of the UK receive speeds well in excess of 10Mbps.

This technology is a great piece of British engineering, but it is not something Openreach can just implement alone so we’re delighted to be working with a number of our service provider customers on these pilots to make sure it works with their home routers and TV boxes.”

Long Reach VDSL is essentially a modified version of the same VDSL2 technology that already exists in the current ‘up to’ 80Mbps Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) network, albeit harnessing higher signal power, Vectoring, G.INP and wider frequency ranges (tech details) in order to deliver faster speeds over longer copper lines from your local street cabinet (tech details).

The catch is that it works best when older ADSL broadband connections are disabled, which complicates the roll-out because ISPs need to be convinced to play ball. This is a particular problem for LLU providers like TalkTalk and Sky Broadband, which have invested money into building their own platforms. The price difference between ADSL and more expensive FTTC is another issue, although Ofcom’s proposed price cut could help to solve that (here).

Last year a Proof of Concept trial took place in Isfield (East Sussex), North Tolsta and Barvas (Isle of Lewis), which we’re told was able to deliver an average increase in download performance of 13Mbps. In theory a 2km copper line might deliver around 9Mbps via normal VDSL2, while LR-VDSL could potentially do 24Mbps+ over the same distance.

As for the new pilot locations, Openreach has already migrated all eligible lines in Clachan and Whitehouse and on Eriskay to the new technology and, if it proves successful, they will remain in operation at the higher speeds for the foreseeable future. “Early results have been positive with most households seeing a significant increase in their fibre broadband speeds,” claims Openreach.

Clachan, Whitehouse and Eriskay were chosen due to their remote locations, and the fact that existing fibre cabinets which serve the communities support a cluster of long lines where download speeds are currently less than 10Mbps.

However the Government has yet to launch its final USO consultation and so the key decisions, such as on what technologies will be deployed or how the funding will be handled, have yet to be made. Nevertheless LR-VDSL seems like a fairly safe bet, particularly given that the Government and Ofcom keep name dropping it.

ISPreview.co.uk understands that several LR-VDSL related improvements are also being planned as amendments to the related ITU standards – G.993.2 (VDSL2) and G.993.5 (Vectoring) – and these should be ready by the end of 2017 or during 2018. The changes to VDSL will enable it to synchronise on long loops and to ensure that “VDSL always outperforms ADSL2+ from the exchange.”