News - BT Infinity to launch 300Mbps "supercharged" broadband

[DeludedGuy]

I will be getting BT Infinity due to the fact Sky and Virgin do not provide Fibre in my area. My first choice would have been Virgin, then Sky.

[watercooled]

With this FTTP will it still require a phone line though? Currently I have BT Infinity and its costing me about £40 a month due to line rental and internet.

Also, 300mbit down and only 20mbit up? Surely they could make it 300/100!

Yes, I think Openreach also offer POTS over fibre, so your phone plugs into the ONT (modem) which is battery backed-up, but ATM it's actually more expensive AFAIK, and yes you still need to pay line rental - you still have a line to maintain.

Anything that travels over antique copper phonelines ain't broadband.

Not true at all. 'Broadband' is actually more or a marketing term, a bit like HD, with no exact definition, although it's generally accepted to be anything over 256k/s IIRC.

"Fiber to the x (FTTX) is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to replace all or part of the usual metal local loop used for last-mile telecommunications. The term is a generalization for several configurations of fiber deployment, ranging from FTTN (fiber to the neighborhood) to FTTD (fiber to the desk)."

Sounds like a hybrid.

He specifically said FTTC, which means fibre to the cabinet/curb - fibre is pulled from the exchange to a new DSLAM installed in a new street cabinet next to the existing one, the last leg from the cabinet your house is still over the existing phone line using VDSL.

[directhex]

Anything that travels over antique copper phonelines ain't broadband.

FTTC Infinity runs over antique copper phonelines, at least for the final hop. 76mbit feels pretty broad.

[Barry]

Do you really need 300mbps?, I can't max the 50 I already have and that's between pcs/laptop/consoles ect in the house all in use at same time

[Boon72]

I will be getting BT Infinity due to the fact Sky and Virgin do not provide Fibre in my area. My first choice would have been Virgin, then Sky.

Sky are doing fibre now, as long as BT can do it in your area then they should be able to as ALL fibre comes from BT Wholesale who sell it all other ISP's (except Virgin as it's their network)

[NecronomicoN]

I can't argue with the technicalities, so I won't try in vain. The sentiment remains true though. Here I sit with my 1Mbps, an F for the Nation, a D- worldwide, while ISPs keep advertising increased speeds, completely ignoring us. The bitter taste still remains after I've spat out their names and crushed them under my heel. When you promise somebody something, you deliver on it, regardless of profit margins. Otherwise you're just a politician.

[crossy]

Well it certainly wasn't helped by the insane subsidy of rural broadband.Basically tax payers money, paid for fewer people to get a good service. Sure, people on these rural exchanges get a better service now, all 15 of them. Meanwhile in large city areas very large numbers of people get terrible highly congested speeds. Yey for subsidies!

The argument was that there would be enough consumers in the large cities to make it economic for businesses to deliver the service without any subsidy.

Basically the same way that you can get alternate postal in London, but the rest of the country has Royal Mail and that's it. Although if the idiots in the HoP get their way then we won't even have RM.

300Mbps sounds nice, but if my recent experience with my 120Mbps line is anything to go by then it's money down the drain. Got a 60-120Mbps hike with Virgin in April and I can't see any improvement, heck latterly my fancy high speed line seems to be slower than my old 10Mbps line.

[watercooled]

Sky are doing fibre now, as long as BT can do it in your area then they should be able to as ALL fibre comes from BT Wholesale who sell it all other ISP's (except Virgin as it's their network)

Yes, I'm splitting hairs, but that's not entirely true - some ISPs like Sky connect to Openreach's access network at the exchange and run their own backhaul independent of BTW, similar to the LLU arrangements.

[TheAnimus]

300Mbps sounds nice, but if my recent experience with my 120Mbps line is anything to go by then it's money down the drain. Got a 60-120Mbps hike with Virgin in April and I can't see any improvement, heck latterly my fancy high speed line seems to be slower than my old 10Mbps line.

Then change, break the agreement, vote with your £££s.

[Tavistock SFB]

Some 96,500 premises in Devon & Somerset are not on any plan or in any funding. These are not difficult to reach, there crime is to be in a commercial viable areas and the UK Government have turned there back on them. There must be a million plus in that position in the UK. Not that the UK Government expect DCMS or BDUK to take proper stock. Just fool people into thinking they will get something by year 2015, no 2016, no 2017, no 2018 or perhaps never.

[Hicks12]

hmm, that map TA shows the southwest (near plymouth) has alot of dots yet I know no one in plymouth who has bt infinity apart from those that live about .5miles from the actual Plymouth City Centre, I am moving house and decided to check if I could ditch virgin and get BT infinity but its not available in my area or where I live currently from a solid 60mb/s virgin to estimated 1 - 5mb/s.... pathetic I dont understand how BT think its ok to just dump some cables into the city then leave and claim they have accommodated the rural areas! Well I am not even rural... only 2.5 miles off the city centre and its not exactly a small area.

It seems bt just lay their cables anywhere in a city and just wait for virgin to actually put their network further, odd considering the amount of money is chucked at BT to do the opposite.

[KrisWragg]

Yes, I think Openreach also offer POTS over fibre, so your phone plugs into the ONT (modem) which is battery backed-up, but ATM it's actually more expensive AFAIK, and yes you still need to pay line rental - you still have a line to maintain.

I think its crazy to have to pay line rental these days if all you want is internet, if you can have fibre to the premises why the need for a copper land line? I have a mobile for calls or skype etc via internet, at home I just want ninja fast internets via fibre as I never use my landline for calls.

[crossy]

(Got a 60-120Mbps hike with Virgin in April and I can't see any improvement, heck latterly my fancy high speed line seems to be slower than my old 10Mbps line.) Then change, break the agreement, vote with your £££s.

Good idea in theory, but in practice the best BT (and Sky) can offer is "up to 3Mb/s" which strikes me as about the same as I could probably get with a decent mobile broadband setup.

Hence my lack of enthusiasm for announcements such as this "300Mbps" one - think I'll be retired by the time that gets around here.

[watercooled]

I think its crazy to have to pay line rental these days if all you want is internet, if you can have fibre to the premises why the need for a copper land line? I have a mobile for calls or skype etc via internet, at home I just want ninja fast internets via fibre as I never use my landline for calls.

The line rental makes up part of the cost of broadband/phone, I've explained it before on these forums - were it not a separate charge, it would just be included in the price anyway. Whether it's copper, glass or whatever, you still have a line which costs a fair amount of money to install and maintain, hence line rental. They don't just charge it for fun.

[hooneyrob]

Have a look at how FTTP exchanges have been chosen:

Hi All, I've found the source of increased traffic today! I wrote the article on the blog so let me know if you have any questions..

We only deal with business clients so I cannot comment on the consumer version. The good news is that we've started to see FTTP on Demand dates showing up for certain telephone numbers so BT are working to increase coverage. As a guide, right now, BT FTTP is available for £0 install and £150 a month at selected exchange locations - 330/30. The FTTP on Demand product will no doubt have a varied install cost since the fibre is to be run where copper is currently into your premises / home. Clearly, this will be more tricky depending on where you are. Another issue for the rural consumer.

We're an authorised BT agent by the way, if any of you would like a quote for BT broadband Infinity business products, let me know. Your contract is with BT and there is no added margins, the costs are directly from BT.

[Output]

Does this mean that those with Exchange Only lines will now be able to get Fibre?