Gauging UK Consumer Demand for G.fast Ultrafast Broadband

As Openreach begins to rollout their new 330Mbps capable hybrid fibre G.fast broadband service, which is set to reach 10 million UK premises by 2020, a new ISPreview.co.uk poll of 1,834 readers has found that 75.4% are interested in upgrading to the new service.

The question of NEED vs DEMAND remains a complicated one to resolve because we all have different requirements and those are constantly changing. Generally a modern 30Mbps+ (“superfast“) capable connection should be enough to do almost everything you could want today and that’s important because around 94%+ of UK premises should be able to order such a connection.

However 30Mbps+ may eventually become constrained as 4K video streaming begins to grow (a single 4K stream today requires around 20-30Mbps), especially in a busy family environment where multiple streams can become desirable, and lest we forget the advent of HDR video or future 8K quality. On the other hand future improvements to video codecs could mitigate some of this.

On top of that there’s always the attraction of being able to complete big file transfers in a much quicker time (many modern video game downloads are around 50-100GB in size). Plus faster upload speeds could also be a strong draw, not least because they have become increasingly useful for personal video streaming and social networking.

Nevertheless many people will always demand the fastest connection, often regardless of whether or not they truly need or could even fully use the speed. Of course converting mere interest into actual orders is another matter entirely and depends on a wider set of factors (package price, features etc.).

Do you have any interest in upgrading to an affordable ‘up to’ 160Mbps or 330Mbps G.fast package, once or if it becomes available?
Yes – 75.4%
No – 9.6%
I already have ultrafast speeds via a different service – 8.5%
Unsure – 6.3%

Given the choice, which G.fast speed option do you think is likely to be most attractive (the 160Mbps tier will be cheaper)?
330Mbps (50Mbps up) – 53.4%
160Mbps (30Mbps up) – 46.5%

G.fast is one of the solutions, alongside “full fibre” FTTP/H and Cable DOCSIS upgrades, that should help to power the new generation of fixed line “ultrafast broadband” services by offering download speeds of greater than 100Mbps.

Consumers are always seeking faster speeds and the ISP marketing departments know it, provided the price is right. In that sense the above survey is perhaps more reflecting a general desire for faster speeds than a specific desire for G.fast itself.

However it’s worth remembering that extracting the maximum performance from such connections is rarely so straightforward. Many common internet tasks (e.g. web browsing, email, multiplayer video games) do not require a particularly fast connection and a lot of internet servers will also limit their top speeds to well below those being promised for G.fast. Similarly other factors, such as slow WiFi, can mask the benefits.

Lest we forget that G.fast is also far from perfect and still suffers from the age old copper line problem of signal attenuation over distance, where speeds fall the further you are away from your local street cabinet. On the flip side those stuck in remote rural areas and some digitally isolated urban locations, where slower connectivity is still the norm, may find all this talk of “ultrafast” connectivity to be somewhat galling.

Meanwhile this month’s new survey asks about how you’d prefer to contact your broadband ISP and how often you’ve needed to do so? Vote Here.

NOTE: ISPreview.co.uk surveys are likely to receive a higher proportion of tech-savvy respondents than most, although the majority of our visitors are normal consumers (i.e. they come to this site for help and assistance with basic broadband problems / questions or when hunting for a new ISP).