uk BT considering trial of gigabit speeds over FTTC

[Crisp]

BT considering trial of gigabit speeds over FTTC fibre broadband with G.fast

BT is considering trials of gigabit speeds over FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) lines.

Bill Murphy, managing director of NGA (Next Generation Access) for BT told Recombu Digital that deployment of G.fast standard technology could see customers getting 1Gbps speeds on FTTC lines over distances of 100 meters from a street cabinet.

While this wouldn?t be helpful to everyone, as not everyone lives within a stone?s throw of a BT cabinet, this could see some customers getting 1Gbps without having to resort to FTTP ON Demand.

If the view out of your bedroom window is similar to this, you could get 1Gbps for less

Initial prices released for FTTP On Demand show that upgrading an FTTC line to a faster FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) type connection isn't going to be cheap. So a way in which customers could get FTTP-type speeds without necessarily forking out for a last mile upgrade is likely to be well received.

Murphy told us that plans to implement G.fast on BT FTTC lines were very much ?on the horizon.? It?s something that BT is looking alongside trials of vectoring, which could see speeds of up to 100Mbps arriving on FTTC, are taking place. Murphy told us:

?This is part of a long-term plan about how to evolve the network and how we can still deliver prices and speeds that will people pay for and deliver services that people will need.?

The idea of gigabit speeds over FTTC might seem like a pipe dream. The last mile of BT?s FTTC lines are made up of copper and as such are subject to interference. This makes delivering hyperfast speeds over long distances difficult, compared to a pure fibre connection.

However back in 2011, Huawei announced prototypes of Giga DSL technology, which promises to reduce interference to the point where download and upload speeds of 1Gbps are possible within 100 meters and 500Mbps and faster can be achieved within 200 meters.

BT's vectoring trials, which are testing out 100Mbps speeds over FTTC, will take place across a number of areas this summer.

Source

[Gaffney]

How much would you pay to get a house next to a street cabinet with this? Remember these speeds probably won't be going nationwide for at least a decade.

[Aergan]

My cabinet is almost 1,400 metres away, I don't think it's going to get a trail in my street.

[grabageek]

I already have a 120mbit connection through VirginMedia Cable however if the price was right (and I am within 100 meters of a fiber enabled box) then I would consider it.

[FlintyV]

I'd see anything greater than my current 8Mbps as a god-send.

[Raa]

Australia will be watching this in anticipation for the next few years...

[+John Teacake MVC]

So you get Gig Speeds to Cab after that you have to deal with Contention Ratios, Throttling and other crappy BT Infrastructure. *sigh*

[n_K]

So you get Gig Speeds to Cab after that you have to deal with Contention Ratios, Throttling and other crappy BT Infrastructure. *sigh*

Sorry I think you're getting confused between BT and VM there. BT doesn't do throttling UNLESS you download torrents. VM on the other hand throttles you to 30% of your connection speed if you download so much within peak times.

[FloatingFatMan]

Sorry I think you're getting confused between BT and VM there. BT doesn't do throttling UNLESS you download torrents. VM on the other hand throttles you to 30% of your connection speed if you download so much within peak times.

Small correction. VM do not throttle people on their top tier of service.

[hjf288]

Wrong fat man they throttle all.

Also n_k they reduce your speed by 30% not to 30%

[technord]

So you get Gig Speeds to Cab after that you have to deal with Contention Ratios, Throttling and other crappy BT Infrastructure. *sigh*

This is fibre not ADSL. Different technology.

Funnily enough I was on a course last week covering this and technically there should be no slow down no matter how many people are connected to the cab

[+John Teacake MVC]

This is fibre not ADSL. Different technology.

Funnily enough I was on a course last week covering this and technically there should be no slow down no matter how many people are connected to the cab

Explain how that works? Its got to connect to a router or switch sooner or later. There is no technology in the world (Yet) that would not produce slowdowns if it is getting hammered by a number of users.

This is fibre not ADSL. Different technology.

Funnily enough I was on a course last week covering this and technically there should be no slow down no matter how many people are connected to the cab

Explain how that works? Its got to connect to a router or switch sooner or later. There is no technology in the world (Yet) that would not produce slowdowns if it is getting hammered by a number of users.

This is fibre not ADSL. Different technology.

Funnily enough I was on a course last week covering this and technically there should be no slow down no matter how many people are connected to the cab

Explain how that works? Its got to connect to a router or switch sooner or later. There is no technology in the world (Yet) that would not produce slowdowns if it is getting hammered by a number of users.

[watkinsx2]

Contention wont be at the cabinet but further up.

[MightyJordan]

Sorry I think you're getting confused between BT and VM there. BT doesn't do throttling UNLESS you download torrents. VM on the other hand throttles you to 30% of your connection speed if you download so much within peak times.

Small correction. VM do not throttle people on their top tier of service.

Two small corrections. Virgin Media throttles users to 70% of your connection speed if you download above a certain amount in an hour, then to 60% if you go above another amount in the next hour. And Virgin Media do throttle people on the top tier (120Mb): http://my.virginmedia.com/traffic-management/traffic-management-policy-thresholds.html

[n_K]

Wrong fat man they throttle all.

Also n_k they reduce your speed by 30% not to 30%

From what I remember I looked into the small print (this was on their business service) and it stated being limited to 30%.

Found the page for residential VM throttling, HAHA thank god I left that god awful company, what an utter con;

Level of speed reduction? The 1 hour reduction on the downstream is 30%

The 2 hour reduction on the downstream is 40%

The 1 hour reduction on the upstream is 60%

The 2 hour reduction on the upstream is 75%

[FloatingFatMan]

I don't recall them changing that... Last time I checked, XXL customers were not getting throttled and, from the contract I signed, would not be so in the future.

Methinks a phone call is in order.

[n_K]

I don't recall them changing that... Last time I checked, XXL customers were not getting throttled and, from the contract I signed, would not be so in the future.

Methinks a phone call is in order.

Funny you should mention that, I had the same thing with their business line, when I got it installed, they were adament that there was no throttling or speed restrictions on the business line, then a few years later I really noticed sudden slowdowns and emailed them about it and they said network throttling was on all business packages...

VM are, in my mind, a scam company that if properly investigated could be sued for a lot of money and dodgy dealings.

[MightyJordan]

I don't recall them changing that... Last time I checked, XXL customers were not getting throttled and, from the contract I signed, would not be so in the future.

Methinks a phone call is in order.

It was fairly recent; only last month it was changed: http://www.cable.co.uk/news/virgin-media-overhauls-broadband-traffic-management-policy-801571837/

VM are, in my mind, a scam company that if properly investigated could be sued for a lot of money and dodgy dealings.

Personally, I'd want BT investigated as well for similar practices. My family considered switching to them a couple of years ago (around the time they were first introducing BT Infinity), but they wanted to charge us ?150 just to switch back to them, even though our house still has a BT phone line; it was never taken out, simply switched off, so they want to charge us ?150 to effectively switch a box on! :angry:

If there's a way to get around that extortionate fee, then my family might consider switching back, as the prices have gotten better recently (it may actually work out cheaper than Virgin Media now), and my dad and brother will probably be swayed by BT Sport, as they're both football nuts.

[n_K]

?150 to get it switched on? Must be something more than that. We applied in some holiday offer when the line setup was free, which was good for us as out actual BT line from the street to the house was cut and needed to be put back, saved us a lot of money that did :D.

[Sylar0]

Lol I wish I could get normal CABLE or fibre first its not like I live in the middle of nowhere... come on BT coverage over speed.... I literally get around 2.5 meg on a good day on DSL no choice with the BT monopoly.

[Crisp]

I can't see how BT will meet their target of 70% of the UK by 2015...

http://fttc.eclipse.net.uk/

There's so many missed areas, not to mention not all cabinets will get FTTC within an area of an enabled exchange - example being my cabinet, which is connected to an enabled exchange, but can't get it.

[SuperKid]

The virgin box is directly opposite my house, just wish Virgin would increase there speeds even more now!!!

[Sylar0]

I can't see how BT will meet their target of 70% of the UK by 2015...

http://fttc.eclipse.net.uk/

There's so many missed areas, not to mention not all cabinets will get FTTC within an area of an enabled exchange - example being my cabinet, which is connected to an enabled exchange, but can't get it.

Yep time to end the BT monopoly. Or privatise it I don't mind just sort it BT.

[theyarecomingforyou]

I get 30-40Mbps down / 8Mbps up without any throttling or bandwidth caps, which does me just fine. That said, I'd love to get a faster connection if it is reasonably priced.

[MightyJordan]

Yep time to end the BT monopoly. Or privatise it I don't mind just sort it BT.

BT was privatised in 1984.