Analysis - Next gen UK broadband battle hots up

[HEXUS]

As BT announces the roll-out of its ?super fast? broadband, is it doing enough to catch up with Virgin Media?

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[Defiant]

Hahaha

That Virgin map is crap, Im well with in the Red area in one of there zones and they dont have cable anywhere with-in town. The town isnt small either at 30000 people living in and around it.

About time we had a universal network run by a third party that simply does nothing but run the infrastructure and make money and invest in its growth.
BT and Virgin are simply self serving rather than serving the UK population as a whole.

[pollaxe]

As a poor sod stuck in the sticks on 512 kpbs I most heartily concur on the third party/self-serving arses points.

[McEwin]

Back in 1995 the then local cable company (Diamond Cable anyone??) promised us cable internet that would out perform dial up by some margin when they launch it - really soon. 14 years and 3 take-overs later and Virgin Media finally has something in place. That's how fast we're moving here.

[davidcrofter]

Well I think we have all heard of the phrase "North South Divide" but I think that map is not something that Virgin should be proud to show off ...

[Powderhound]

If that map is anything to go by, can someone please alert Virgin to the fact that a county actually extends beyond the towns within it?

[scaryjim]

Given that I live within 2 miles of Manchester City Centre and *still* can't get Cable, I think Virgin need to revise their estimates somewhat...

[Stoo]

If that map is anything to go by, can someone please alert Virgin to the fact that a county actually extends beyond the towns within it?

That's a little unfair given that VM is basically what was a bunch of completely separate cable companies, joined together at the hip. They've spent billions on joining it all together over the past few years, and I'm sure you will agree, that it's better to get what they have now working together properly, than trying to expand the network further, without the core being in place to support it..

If you're expecting cable to extend into the countryside then you're going to be disappointed - they'll cater for you with adsl, and perhaps wireless tech, but it's simply not cost effective to extend cable into areas of low population density.

Don't forget that its *much* more difficult for a cable company to expand it's network compared to BT - they have to dig up roads and pavements all over the place (BT can use it's existing cable ducts & overhead lines) - and some places simply won't allow it (planning permission), or it would cost far too much (areas with brick-work paving for example).

Yes, it will expand expand eventually, but not before the core infrastructure is up to scratch, and not beyond towns or large villages, unless they are given a sizeable subsidy by the government..

Unfortunately C&W stopped their roll-out just outside my town, they even got to the leaflet stage, but then the company died on it's feet, and telewest/VM inherited it - I've spoken to VM core network engineers about it (they provide my employer with a leased line solution) - they'd dearly love to expand further, but they're just not in the position to at the moment.

[mayhem]

and here is a photo virgin media sent us of the people that got throttled down to 1mb last night after watching BBC I Player ---



All the rest were on SKY .....

[TAKTAK]

Wow, what Virgin say and do, differs considerably.

That map is a prime example, i take it for a whole county to be shaded red it only needs one small area to have a connection?

Because there is no way that Virgin covers a high, or even moderate, proportion of my area...
Hardly any/none of the local towns that i know of have widespread cable access... (i.e. large businesses that are willing to pay the full cost of installation...)

And another thing, BT are eedjits, their cable rollout is no better, they dug up all of the roads around here and laid down a fibre line (FTTC), and at the same time a secondary copper line, and then everything was split between the 2 (long ~5.97km straight line) copper lines, and the fibre has laid redundant since (IIRC) 2006, whats the point? surely it is better to connect as you go (i.e. concentrate on small areas), rather than have one 'big' 'switch-on'?

Also, there are still no-end of people that can't get onto broadband anyway (e.g. my grandparents), why, because instead of using the nearest exchange, BT saw fit to run a super duper long cable, and even though all of the databases show that it is [broadband] available, they always turn around and say it is not possible due to the line structure, as it has booster stations on the line to keep it alive...

[Crevan]

So when I finally get 50Mbps to my home, I'll be able to go over my so-called "fair use" limit 6 times faster. Yay for that!

[moogle]

So when I finally get 50Mbps to my home, I'll be able to go over my so-called "fair use" limit 6 times faster. Yay for that!

Well you'll at least have 10mB minimum maybe...

[Lee H]

So when I finally get 50Mbps to my home, I'll be able to go over my so-called "fair use" limit 6 times faster. Yay for that!

Fun isn't it ?

It's just like us all going to get a new car to be told we can travel at 70 mph on the motorway for an hour a day. After that we are going to have to drive at 30 mph no matter where your driving.

[WoLFe]

Well I think we have all heard of the phrase "North South Divide" but I think that map is not something that Virgin should be proud to show off ...

More like London/Greater London Vs everyone else.

[baius]

So when I finally get 50Mbps to my home, I'll be able to go over my so-called "fair use" limit 6 times faster. Yay for that!

Yeah, fair use policies. That's the first thing I'd look for in a broadband package.

The second (which I'm suprised nobody else has mentioned) is upload speed.

Remember what InterNet is? International Network. Remember what a Network is? A communication system. Finally (in this rant), communication is two-way.

Why is it that the upload speed is never mentioned? How will next-gen Skype work, for instance, if there isn't sufficient speed? As it happens, BT's FttC strategy (which enables 50mbps DL) lets you obtain 10mbps upload. So
DL: 8 -> 50 = 7.5x increase.
UL: 1/4 -> 10 = 40x increase.

"Well, when you put it like that, baius."

[Funkstar]

But as a ratio, it isn't as good at when ADSL first launched in the UK. 512k down and 256k up.