KC ( Karoo ), the incumbent telecoms operator and broadband ISP for Hull and East Riding (Yorkshire), claims to have transformed the online experience of people living in Walkington by installing a fibre optic cable to the local cabinet(s). Residents now have average broadband internet connection speeds of around 15Mbps.

Residents had previously been forced to suffer typical broadband download speeds of just 1Mbps over KC's existing ADSL2+ lines, largely because the area resides around four miles from KC's Beverley telephone exchange.

Thankfully the new technology, which is similar to BT's FTTC solution, has brought a fibre optic cable directly to kerb side cabinets and thus delivered a significant boost by cutting out much of the old copper phone line weakness.


However, judging by some customer comments, many residents in the area have yet to benefit from KC's upgrade. Indeed their press release doesn't make it immediately clear whether the upgrade requires a new service to be installed, such as with BT's FTTC solution, or is merely running fibre optic cable to the cabinet and nothing more.

In related news BT has rolled out it's up to 40Mbps FTTC solution in the non-KC region of North Yorkshire, specifically York and Harrogate. The move means that up to 46,000 households and business premises should now be able to receive faster speeds.