{"id":37333,"date":"2024-02-26T10:36:12","date_gmt":"2024-02-26T10:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=37333"},"modified":"2024-02-26T11:30:17","modified_gmt":"2024-02-26T11:30:17","slug":"netomnia-reveals-plan-for-50gbps-uk-fttp-broadband-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/02\/netomnia-reveals-plan-for-50gbps-uk-fttp-broadband-network.html","title":{"rendered":"Netomnia Reveals Plan for 50Gbps UK FTTP Broadband Network"},"content":{"rendered":"

Network operator Netomnia<\/a>, which is supported by retail ISP YouFibre<\/a> and has already covered almost 1 million UK premises with their alternative 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP<\/a>) broadband network, has quietly revealed that their network is being upgraded to support ADTRAN’s 50Gbps (50G PON) kit.<\/p>\n

Just to recap. Netomnia<\/a>’s network currently, as of 9th November 2023 (last update), covers over 730,000 UK premises \u2013 across parts of over 70 towns and cities \u2013 and they’re imminently expected to reach 1 million premises across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (coverage plan<\/a> \u2013 plus additions here<\/a>, here<\/a> and here<\/a>). The group also has around 65,000 active customers via YouFibre<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> Netomnia<\/a> is supported by funding of \u00a3648m from DigitalBridge<\/strong> and other investors.<\/div>\n

However, despite being a relatively new alternative network (AltNet), Netomnia has already become quite well known for pushing the boundaries of UK broadband performance via their XGS-PON<\/strong> powered full fibre network. One of the best examples of this came last year when YouFibre<\/a> became one of only a tiny number of providers to launch an 8Gbps<\/a> (7Gbps average speed) package for consumers (previously only the likes of B4RN<\/a> and one of Telcom’s outlets had done similar).<\/p>\n

In that sense it is quite remarkable, if perhaps not surprising (given their track record), to see network technology firm ADTRAN<\/strong> quietly confirm (credits to YuGi for spotting<\/a>) that Netomnia will be the “first customer<\/em>” of their new SDX 6400 50GB PON OLT<\/strong> platform. This is bleeding edge technology, with the 50 Gigabit Passive Optical Network standard still being fairly recent (here<\/a>) – the SDX 6400 doesn’t even appear on ADTRAN’s website yet.<\/p>\n

Jeremy Chelot, Boss of YouFibre and Netomnia, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“If you look at technology trends, when everybody was doing GPON, I started doing XG PON, and really if you want to offer a true gigabit type of services, GPON is not enough. So it was important for me in the past to roll-out XGS-PON for that, but now that we’re rolling out that 8,000Mbps [8Gbps] service it’s about making sure that we’ve got true 10Gbps services that we can offer to every home. 50G-PON is necessary to provide that level of service.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The move, which seems to skip the expected upgrade to 25G-PON<\/strong> that other networks have been toying with, is a major development for any operator and demonstrates a lot of faith in strategic supplier ADTRAN. Often there’s something to be said for waiting and allowing a newer technology to mature, but Netomnia’s ability to push the boundaries has become somewhat of a unique selling point, which they clearly intend to retain.<\/p>\n

Clearly the initial plan is to harness 50G-PON to help underpin their 8Gbps packages, but it’s obvious to see that this would also enable Netomnia to go much faster in the future and, as they grow, that will give them an edge over most of their competitors. On the other hand, competition evolves as markets change, thus Netomnia’s move may end up directly influencing the plans of others.<\/p>\n

The usual catch in all this is the difficulty of actually being able to harness all that speed when online. Most internet services still seem to struggle to harness more than 300-500Mbps, assuming they can do even that, while the 1Gbps+ domain remains more of a luxury (Why Buying Gigabit Broadband Doesn\u2019t Always Deliver 1Gbps<\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\n

On the other hand, marketing departments and consumers with deep pockets like big performance numbers, so if you absolutely have to have the fastest connection available, and are covered by Netomnia’s network, then it’s 7-8Gbps speeds are available already.<\/p>\n

Not forgetting that there was a time when even a 56Kbps dialup<\/a> connection was considered “fast<\/em>“. Internet connections and consumer demands are in a constant state of growth and evolution, so there will come a time when even 10Gbps+ speeds will seem positively pedestrian.<\/p>\n