Posted: 24th Jan, 2012 By: MarkJ

Internet provider PlusNet UK, which claims to offer standalone "
broadband that won't be beat on price", has today revealed the first public price and package details for its forthcoming
100Mbps capable fibre optic ( FTTP ) superfast broadband service.
The
Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based service is currently under
trial at the ISP with
150 active customers, although that all looks set to change on
1st February 2012 when the new product expands to a full customer trial.
Plusnet Extra Fibre 100Mbps – £34.49 (Monthly)
Speed – 100Mbps down, 15Mbps up
Usage – 120GB (between 8am and midnight), unlimited overnight (midnight to 8am)
Router – Free 4 port wireless (currently ZyXEL NBG4604)
At present the service suffers from
extremely limited UK coverage and is only available in "
some areas" around the following telephone exchanges – Bradwell Abbey, Highams Park, Chester South, York, Ashford (Middlesex), Ilford Central, St Austell, Forest Hill, Leytonstone and Exeter.
Existing trial FTTP customers will be allowed to either remain on their current product and price point or switch to one of the new options. PlusNet's existing 40Mbps (FTTC) packages, which start from just £16.49 per month, will also be available on FTTP supporting lines (with the same details and price as they are now).
In addition PlusNet has also been taking part in BT's trial of
80Mbps (20Mbps uploads) FTTC (
Fibre-to-the-Cabinet) technology, which will soon be made available to almost 40% of the UK. It's understood that PlusNet's
technical trial has been running for two weeks and will be opened up to existing customers "
from early February".
Dave Tomlinson, Plusnet's Product Team, said:
"We have so far seen maximum sync speeds of 80Mbps down and 20Mbps up with speedtest results coming in at a maximum of around 76Mbps. As with other DSL technologies the up to 80Mbps speeds are distance dependant, although it is distance between property and cabinet that counts rather than property and exchange. As such we have seen sync speeds vary from the mid 50s all the way up to the full 80Mbps, with a mean speed of about 68Mbps."
Those taking part in PlusNet's January FTTC trial will receive the faster service for no additional charge until 30th April. This suggests that PlusNet might be planning to offer a separate 80Mbps service at extra cost.
UPDATE 25th January 2012Just a quick correction. According to PlusNet the 1st Feb actually marks the launch of yet another FTTP trial stage and not its commercial launch as we had assumed.