Posted: 18th Nov, 2011 By: MarkJ

BT has announced a new trial of its 100Mbps (rising to 300Mbps next year) fibre optic
Fibre-to-the-Premises ( FTTP ) broadband technology for
High-Rise buildings in
West India Quay,
Canary Riverside and
Port East (Isle of Dogs , East London UK).
The move, which some view as being BT's response to similar projects from niche rival ISP
Hyperoptic (
here), could provide a huge boost for residents in the area, many of whom currently receive internet download speeds of between 1Mbps and 10Mbps due to network and telephone exchange congestion.
Jane Hewland, Secretary of 1WIQ (Represents Marriott West India Quay), said (Warf.co.uk):"It's the slowest place for broadband in the whole of London, so this is fantastic news for us. We've had appalling problems. In these high rise buildings if you've got copper wire your broadband speeds are very slow."
Poplar and Limehouse MP, Jim Fitzpatrick, said:
"The impression I'm getting is they are very close to moving it forward quite a significant way. It has been an issue for some time due to the contrast of the businesses inside the Canary Wharf estate and those just outside."
Apparently the new service will take BT's
fibre optic cable directly to each apartment, which is interesting because BT usually uses the
FTTB solution for such locations. This takes the fibre to the building but then distributes it over the premises existing internal copper lines (more cost effective and the short copper run doesn't have a huge impact on speed).
The Warf's article claims that BT hasn't, until six months ago, had a policy for high rise buildings. Thankfully public pressure appears to have changed all that and now the first trials are due to begin in March 2012. A related article over on Thinkbroadband suggests that residents can register their interest here:
http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/resident/ .