Broadband News
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Faster broadband for three in four by next Spring, BT promises
23 Apr 2010 | 15.07 Europe/London
BT wholesale has announced it is due to roll out its ‘up to’ 24Mb Wholesale Broadband Connect (WBC) service to 16.8m homes by Spring 2011, roughly two thirds of the country’s exchanges.
It confirmed 150 exchanges for the roll out last week which, when added to the 148 already announced, will cover roughly 16.8m homes, it believes.
Additionally, Emma Elshof, BT’s Wholesale General Manager of Broadband Product claims there will be further exchange announcements in the summer that will ensure more homes will have ADSL2+ by next spring.
“We expect to announce more exchanges this summer as we remain fully committed to our intention to deliver WBC services to up to 75 per cent of UK homes and businesses by Spring 2011,” she said.
BT claims that there are already 1.1m users of the improved WBC product which it claims, through its 55 wholesale customers, is connecting around 20-30,000 new users ever week.
At present more than 55% of UK homes and businesses have been enabled, it claims, including all lines in Oxford and 90% of lines in London, Manchester and Brighton and Hove. Plymouth, Leeds, Northampton, Bournemouth and Southampton each have 80% of lines enabled.
From June onwards, Elshof has promised, those on WBC lines who have experienced a service below BT’s anticipated threshold will be able to report problems online for the telecommunications provider to investigate.
It confirmed 150 exchanges for the roll out last week which, when added to the 148 already announced, will cover roughly 16.8m homes, it believes.
Additionally, Emma Elshof, BT’s Wholesale General Manager of Broadband Product claims there will be further exchange announcements in the summer that will ensure more homes will have ADSL2+ by next spring.
“We expect to announce more exchanges this summer as we remain fully committed to our intention to deliver WBC services to up to 75 per cent of UK homes and businesses by Spring 2011,” she said.
BT claims that there are already 1.1m users of the improved WBC product which it claims, through its 55 wholesale customers, is connecting around 20-30,000 new users ever week.
At present more than 55% of UK homes and businesses have been enabled, it claims, including all lines in Oxford and 90% of lines in London, Manchester and Brighton and Hove. Plymouth, Leeds, Northampton, Bournemouth and Southampton each have 80% of lines enabled.
From June onwards, Elshof has promised, those on WBC lines who have experienced a service below BT’s anticipated threshold will be able to report problems online for the telecommunications provider to investigate.
excellent, so the cities get their 'up to 20megabits' on copper. The villages still on dial up ie the final third need government intervention now to remove the fibre tax and cut out all the crap that is stopping community digs and private investment. Once we get fibre out to the rural areas BT will soon stop milking the copper and invest in decent infrastructure that is futureproof. Then the cities will get what they need, which is fibre. Fibre will help everyone compete in the global marketplace with an abundance... as opposed to the scarcity model which is helping them pay back their £9billion pension deficit?
23 Apr 2010 | 15.57 Europe/London
Chris - What bandwidth do 'people' want or need? Does not matter if it's provided on fibre or copper.
24 Apr 2010 | 08.21 Europe/London
Bt state that installing fibre optic-cable in rural areas will be prohibitive.
This is not true, in many rural areas their U/G cabling is in ducts, if they were to bite the bullet they could remove the multitude of cable in these ducts and replace them with a fraction of the number.
In my village Openreach are here almost weekly with their heads down one or more inspection chambers tracing faults on the cables.
If these cables were replaced it would save them a fortune. I am sure this is the same in many parts of the country.
Much of their U/G infrastructure is almost 50 years old having been installed in the 1970s when there was a programme of placing the old O/H lines on poles underground by "Post Office Telephones".
In more rural area where there is still O/H cabling it is multi core cables strung on the poles, this also could be changes to Fibre-optic cabling
25 Apr 2010 | 18.54 Europe/London
"in many rural areas their U/G cabling is in ducts" and in many other rural areas it is buried directly. Whoops.
28 Apr 2010 | 14.02 Europe/London
This will not help rural areas. Anyone more that 2 miles from the exchange or a fibred cabinet will not see more than 2Mbps. The bandwidth physically will not go down the copper/aluminium wires unless some other provision is made.
28 Apr 2010 | 15.40 Europe/London
Unless BT Significantly improve things, upgrading the exchanges to 20Mbps will make no difference if your still living the same distance to the exchange!
You will just be more disappointed by the fact that instead of recieving 2Mbps form a potential 8Mbps you will npw get 2Mbps from 20Mbps... LOL
This country makes me laugh, we are so far behind the broadband supplied in other countries they must look back and fall on the floor laughing.
One friend of mine lives on a riverboat in Singappore and he gets 50Mbps to his boat!
Some dutch and swedish friends have had fibre ethernet since 1997!!
They all have over 50Mbps services and are provided cheaper than BT for a 2Mbps service.
Unless BT Are prepared to go all the way and replace the street cabling with Fibre we will never move forward.
BT are a dinosaur of a company.
03 May 2010 | 15.33 Europe/London
cyberDoyle says, "so the cities get their ‘up to 20megabits’ on copper." Oooh, really? You promise?
I currently live less than 3 miles from the centre of a provincial capital (Newcastle upon Tyne). My "official" rate from BT, on ADSL2+ is "~6Mbps".
Cable does not come to this corner of a prosperous suburb.
I sympathise too with those who want villages to get proper broadband. We looked at a house recently which was only about 10 miles from Newcastle, where the broadband is about ~0.5 Mbps. And cable is not available up the Tyne valley either.
I'm distinctly p***ed off about all of this. If they said, "Listen you're too far North for us to give diddly squat about your broadband speed." Well, I'd be furious, but not quite as furious as I am now.
It's the presentation of the new package as being something which will be of benefit to large swathes of the country. In fact, for most people, it will mean that those who already have fast bb, will get faster bb.
If you're too far from an exchange, or if your exchange is a decrepit remains of some former era, then nothing is going to change.
Even in some cities.
20 May 2010 | 04.53 Europe/London
following on from cyberDoyle and Northumbrian...
I live in Milton Keynes, only a mile and half from the city centre, yet because of where it is I'm over 5km from the exchange. i barely get 1.5mbs. it's ridiculous. Milton Keynes is unfortunate to have aluminium cabling that BT decided to try and it's useless.
24 May 2010 | 15.51 Europe/London