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Virgin Media to trial fibre-to-the-home
11 Mar 2010 | 15.04 Europe/London
Several years after it started advertising “fibre-optic broadband”, Virgin Media is actually doing it for real.
The cable TV company’s existing network brings fibre-optic cable to street cabinets where the signal is converted into electronics for distribution to homes via coaxial cable. Now the operator is proposing to bring optical fibre all the way to the front door by stringing it up from telegraph poles.
Virgin Media says it plans to run a trial to learn about the technical, operational and commercial viability of such a solution. Chief executive officer Neil Berkett says the trial will help the company "to understand the possibilities of aerial deployment and may provide an exciting new way to extend next generation broadband services."
Recruitment for the trial will start in just a few weeks. The lucky people who will able to sign up for the trial live in Woolhampton, a Berkshire village of approximately 1700 homes which happens to be on the edge of Virgin Media’s existing network footprint.
The consumers on the trial network will be able to receive regular Virgin Media services, which currently include a range of TV programming along with 50 Mbps internet – around ten times faster than the average speed available in the UK today.
The news that Virgin Media wants to expand its network using telegraph poles comes after BT chief executive Ian Livingston said that the company plans to open up its ducts and poles to rivals. Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times last month, Livingston said: "We told Ofcom last year we're willing to provide open access to ducts . . . and we are working with them on how to achieve it."
Virgin Media has identified more than one million homes in the UK that could be reached by deploying fibre over telegraph poles. This could indicate that the operator is getting more ambitious about extending its network – last year the company said it planned to add another 500,000 homes to its network, which today passes 12.6 million homes.
Although Virgin isn't planning to upgrade its existing network to fibre-to-the-home, it is rolling out speeds of 100 Mbps to its existing customer base, and is testing 200 Mbps speeds in Coventry.
The cable TV company’s existing network brings fibre-optic cable to street cabinets where the signal is converted into electronics for distribution to homes via coaxial cable. Now the operator is proposing to bring optical fibre all the way to the front door by stringing it up from telegraph poles.
Virgin Media says it plans to run a trial to learn about the technical, operational and commercial viability of such a solution. Chief executive officer Neil Berkett says the trial will help the company "to understand the possibilities of aerial deployment and may provide an exciting new way to extend next generation broadband services."
Recruitment for the trial will start in just a few weeks. The lucky people who will able to sign up for the trial live in Woolhampton, a Berkshire village of approximately 1700 homes which happens to be on the edge of Virgin Media’s existing network footprint.
The consumers on the trial network will be able to receive regular Virgin Media services, which currently include a range of TV programming along with 50 Mbps internet – around ten times faster than the average speed available in the UK today.
The news that Virgin Media wants to expand its network using telegraph poles comes after BT chief executive Ian Livingston said that the company plans to open up its ducts and poles to rivals. Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times last month, Livingston said: "We told Ofcom last year we're willing to provide open access to ducts . . . and we are working with them on how to achieve it."
Virgin Media has identified more than one million homes in the UK that could be reached by deploying fibre over telegraph poles. This could indicate that the operator is getting more ambitious about extending its network – last year the company said it planned to add another 500,000 homes to its network, which today passes 12.6 million homes.
Although Virgin isn't planning to upgrade its existing network to fibre-to-the-home, it is rolling out speeds of 100 Mbps to its existing customer base, and is testing 200 Mbps speeds in Coventry.
I am confused, you say "Now the operator is proposing to bring optical fibre all the way to the front door" and then "Although Virgin isn’t planning to upgrade its existing network to fibre-to-the-home" - so whichj is it ?
Virgin's lies about fibre optic broadband have obscured the facts beyond comprehension.
14 Mar 2010 | 12.41 Europe/London