330Mbps G.fast Pods Appearing in Broadband Delivery UK Areas Too

Some readers have been asking whether any areas that have been upgraded with FTTC (VDSL2) via the state aid supported Broadband Delivery UK programme are going to benefit from Openreach’s (BT) commercial roll-out of ‘up to’ 330Mbps G.fast technology. The answer is yes.

For example, take the PCP street cabinet Hunslet 62 in Middleton (Leeds), which serves about 120 premises and is twinned with a nearby VDSL2 cabinet that was upgraded via public investment support from the Government’s BDUK scheme. This same PCP cabinet now has a shiny new G.fast extension pod affixed to the right side of its casing.

Long-time readers may recall that this was one of several cabinets in an area where local broadband campaigners had to battle for an upgrade, after Openreach initially said that it “would not be commercially viable.” Funnily enough uptake since the FTTC upgrade doesn’t appear to have been an issue. How times change.

Several other factors are also likely to have played a role in Openreach’s decision to add G.fast to 62. Pretty much all of the premises that it serves are fairly close to the cabinet (good speeds) and Virgin Media has also deployed their rival 350Mbps cable broadband network into the same area (FTTC isn’t quite up to that kind of challenge).

Openreach is currently deploying their G.fast service to cover 1 million premises by the end of 2017 and they aim to reach 10 million by the end of 2020 (here). Credits to Carl Thomas for his useful contribution below.