BT To Go Fibre Optic - FINALLY!!

Quote :

Following months of hearsay and conjecture BT has finally confirmed that it'll be digging up roads this year to kick-start plans to lay down fibre optic cables so it can offer super-fast broadband.

The £1.5bn project should offer top speeds of 100Mb/s and it claims has the potential to reach over 1,000Mb/s in the future.

Quote :

Ian Livingstone, BT's chief executive enthused "Broadband has boosted the UK economy and is now an essential part of our customers' lives. We now want to make a step-change in broadband provision which will offer faster speeds than ever before. This marks the beginning of a new chapter in Britain's broadband story."

About time really, since we're already behind much of the rest of Europe in the speed stakes, but Virgin Media seems to have a face-on about it since it points out that it already has a nationwide fibre optic network in place.

Admittedly Virgin's speed isn't as fast; it plans to offer a 50Mb/s service later this year to 12 million UK consumers, but when you bear in mind the unlikeness of BT actually getting close to 100Mb/s as a sustainable rate, along with the fact that it won't be available until 2012, it makes you wonder if they can't work together a bit more effectively to spread the cost.

About bloody time too.

http://www.btplc.com/news/articles/showarticle.cfm?articleid={efd7b1fa-52ed-45bb-b530-734fac577e94}
http://uk.gizmodo.com/2008/07/15/bt_confirms_plans_for_fibreopt.html

My thoughts exactly Tony, this has been far too long in coming.

About time they caught up with the rest of the world.

Ah great I have just gone over to sky broadband arghhhhhhh

BT seem to be actually trying to move away from the Victorian phone network which lucky people like me whizz along at 1-2 meg on, if you live in these places

Quote :

Muswell Hill, London or Whitchurch, South Glamorgan

well done, you are first!!!

Quote :

If so, you are lucky sods because you've been chosen by BT as the latest pilot sites for fibre optic broadband which will see homes in the area getting broadband speeds of up to 40Mbps.

BT's local access network division, Openreach, will be in charge of upgrading the exchanges in both areas and up to 15,000 homes will be able to speed through the Net like never before from next summer.

Hurry up and do DORSET!!!

Quote :

A planned technical trial in the Foxhall exchange area of Kesgrave, Suffolk is also expected to go live in early 2009, while 10,000 homes in Ebbsfleet Valley, Kent now have a fibre optic network capable of [theoretically] delivering up to 100Mbps broadband.

Rollout of fibre optic broadband services to the rest of us surfers is expected to get underway in 2010.

http://technorati.com/posts/ZaD0Kbof_VcuMyPlXWvv90%2BB2M2j1UrS35fzshaHLgU%3D
http://uk.gizmodo.com/2008/10/14/bt_reveals_new_fibre_optic_pil.html

I cant see if I would go back to BT even thought they are doing this because it wasnt just the outdated network infastructure that sucked there customer support isnt anything to brag about in my books.

Agreed. On the several times we have rung them we have ended up calling India and thereafter the service itself is utter crap. They were a landmark British firm a few years back, look at them now?

Completely agree with you mate, I am tempted to switch to virgin broadband... fair enough BT have now jumped up there game but they are proberly always going to be 1 step behind the leaders whoever they may be at the moment BT does there big roll out, and great roads most proberly going to get ripped up more so they can lay down the MMF.

I used Virgin when they were NTL when in Tidworth, and the speds were great. Though TBH their after-sales stuff, support and such, was even worse than BT. For example i sat on hold for almost 90 mins once and when i complained they told me "its a free call, what you moaning about?"

Jeez lol! That is taking the biscuit a bit.... who you with at the moment I have orange *cough* on 1 mb which seems more like 1 kb line... haha.

BT at home as basically there isnt much option, and Orange for my laptop, which to be fair, i havent used that much yet.