BT today announced plans to connect 10 million homes across the UK to super-fast broadband over the next four years. The plans involve connecting 40% of British homes to a new fibre-optic network, replacing the copper wires used for broadband transmission today. The overhaul will cost an estimated £1.5 billion.
According to BT, the changes should revolutionise the way we use the internet by allowing us to surf, download and watch high-definition video online at much higher speeds and simultaneously. Ian Livingstone, BT’s chief executive said this morning that the planned network heralded “the beginning of a new chapter of Britain’s broadband story.”
“Broadband has boosted the UK economy and is now an essential part of our customers’ lives,” he said. We now want to make a step-change in broadband provision which will offer faster speeds than ever before.”
Under the new plans, new homes will be installed with fibre-optic cables running directly to the house, known as fibre-to-the-premises, or home (FTTP/FTTH). Meanwhile, older buildings will have access to the fibre-optic network, which will be laid right up to the street on which they are situated - Fibre-to-the-kerb, or FTTK.
FTTH will reach speeds of up to 100Mbps, already experienced by broadband customers in Japan, whereas HTTC will reach speeds of up to 40Mbpsfor the forseeable future. Houses that are excluded access to the new network, mostly in rural areas and small towns, will still run on ASDL which provides a much slower connection. ASDL2+ can reach speeds of up to 24Mbps but the majority of broadband customers currently receive speeds of up to only 8Mpbs.
However, there are fears that BT will squeeze out competition from smaller providers as the network gives the former telecoms monopoly a significant advantage. Earlier this month Ofcom indicated that they would regulate broadband expansion so that companies would receive a return commensurate with the risks taken.
There is also a concern that the planned network will exacerbate the “broadband divide” between rural and urban areas, which means that customers living in the country currently experience much slower connection speeds than those in the city. However, BT says that eventually fibre-optic broadband should extend to vast swathes of the country.
Similar Posts: