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BT to trial FTTC 40Mb broadband in 2009 
BT is to trial next generation high-speed broadband in 15,000 UK homes it was revealed today.
Exchanges in Muswell Hill in London and Whitchurch in South Glamorgan will be the location of the trials. Once the exchanges have been upgraded with fibre-optic broadband, residents in these areas should be able to go online at speeds of up to 40 megabits per second – more than 12 times faster than the current UK average. This means a DVD quality film could be downloaded in 11 minutes as opposed to the two and a quarter hours it takes on average using current copper wire broadband technology.
The trials in Muswell Hill and Whitchurch will run fibre-optic cable to existing street cabinets that connect homes and businesses to telephone exchanges. A BT spokesperson said that the two locations were chosen because of their demographic and the mix of available providers, as well as their communications network and balance between rural and urban locations. However, the scheme is likely to be piloted in other regions towards the end of next year: “Areas which were shortlisted but not selected will be considered alongside many more areas for next stage pilots expected later in 2009,” he said.
The service is set to be rolled out commercially in 2010, with an estimated 10 million homes receiving next generation broadband in 2012.
The pilot scheme is being run by BT Openreach which is responsible for the ‘first mile’ of the communications network that links homes and office buildings to BT’s core network. Participants will be encouraged to put pressure on their broadband connection by, for example, downloading high density films and simultaneously participating in online gaming to test how the system will cope with such demands.
“We have no clear idea of the applications that are out there that people might need really high speed services for,” said the spokesperson.
In a separate trial BT is also running fibre directly to thousands of new homes being built at a large scale development in Ebbsfleet, Kent. It is estimated that residents of the new houses, which are currently under construction, will be able to enjoy speeds of up to 100Mbps.
The current UK average broadband speed is estimated to be 3.2 Mbps. London’s average speed is 4.5 Mbps, but in Northern Ireland it is just 2.3 Mbps.
Earlier this year, BT announced a £1.5bn investment in fibre-based broadband.
3 Comments »Posted by Ellie on October 14th 2008 in BT Broadband, Broadband, Next Gen Broadband
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3 Responses to “BT to trial FTTC 40Mb broadband in 2009”
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BT Ebbsfleet said on 02 Apr 2009 at 4:59 pm #
This time BT has beaten the competition with 100 mb broadband, even with new wi fi speeds emerging, BT fibre has less to compete with, then compete to. Fibre is still next gen technology imagine 100 mb wifi!!!
Ebbsfleet high speed said on 30 Jul 2009 at 7:46 pm #
When Ebbsfleet station opened in 2007, we herd news that BT were installing the fibre. Now its been two years and BT have not started to offer local companies in Ebbsfleet the option of using the Fibre over the existing services. Does anyone know when it launches….
Mark Hugh said on 10 Aug 2009 at 10:37 am #
BT services are available at the start of 2010, when they roll out to business first. Only in use by Ebbsfleet at present at the new station, trains to London have started ahead of schedule from Ebbsfleet. There is already wifi hot spots active at the station.