The Council of the European Union last week formally adopted new rules that aim to make it both “easier and cheaper” to roll-out ultrafast broadband networks, such as fibre optic infrastructure. In addition the new rules also call for a voluntary “Broadband-Ready” label on buildings with high-speed access and for all new builds after 31st December 2016 to be constructed “high-speed ready“.
A new report from Arthur D.Little and Exane BNP Paribas, which examines the Capital Expenditure (Capex) of European telecoms operators, has warned that incumbent providers will face a growing divide versus cable and pure fibre optic (FTTH/P) ISPs because the cheaper and slower hybrid-cheap (FTTC) approach is “not future-proof“.
Cable operator Virgin Media often wins awards for being the fastest national consumer broadband provider, at least in terms of average download speed, but this overlooks the contribution of considerably faster services from smaller ISPs that are frequently shunned. We take a closer look at the real-world performance of these providers.
Telecoms analyst Point Topic has slashed its prediction, which originally forecast that the United Kingdom would be home to just under 26m broadband lines at the end of 2016, by “almost” 8% to 23.88m due to the strain on disposable incomes and delays to the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) deployment of BT’s superfast broadband (FTTC/P) network.
The United Kingdom’s national cable operator, Virgin Media, has confirmed to ISPreview.co.uk that the still in-development DOCSIS 3.1 (DOCSISNG) standard, which could one day deliver cable-based broadband ISP speeds of up to 10Gbps (Gigabits per second), is something they’re testing for the future. But what does it mean?