ISP TalkTalk Business Relaunch UK Ethernet over FTTC Service

Internet provider TalkTalk Business has today relaunched their uncontended Ethernet over FTTC (EoFTTC) service to partners with improved features for small business customers. This is not to be confused with the broadband focused Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) product that consumers buy.

The EoFTTC product offers uncontended capacity (no sharing with other users), a 7 hour fix time (Service Level Agreement) if things go wrong, a dedicated network with 24/7 management and support, is available via 1 or 3 year contracts and supports both internet and MPLS IPVPN.

The product itself comes in the form of a 20Mbps symmetric speed connection, albeit with the ability to “burst” download speeds up to 76Mbps (line allowing). Meanwhile the lead times from order to activation are estimated at 30 working days.

A number of other UK ISPs also offer EoFTTC products – often based on TTB’s platform – and TTB are relaunching it following several claimed improvements to its reliability, order journey and lead time.

TTB’s EoFTTC Improvements

Reliable connectivity: Released a new firmware for the EoFTTC modem making customers’ connections more reliable and stable than before (sadly they don’t say how it achieves this).

Seamless order journey: Partner internal order updates have been refreshed and automated to ensure Partners receive the information needed to keep customers completely abreast of progress all the way from order placement to handover.

Improved lead time: Key sections within the internal order journey have been automated to deliver faster lead times (despite this claim they’re still promoting the same lead time of 30 days as before).

Admittedly it may seem a bit unusual to be relaunching EoFTTC at a time when the mainstream is so focused upon full fibre, although the reality is that pure fibre optic connections will take a fair few years to reach most areas and in the meantime many locations are going to be stuck with older connectivity. Since not everybody needs a dedicated leased line or EFM solution then EoFTTC can sometimes act as a cheaper fix until something better arrives.