BT Openreach Boosts FTTP Speeds From 330Mbps To 1Gbps

Steve McCaskill,

BT continues its rollout of FTTP broadband and will let other providers offer businesses up to 1Gbps

Openreach is increasing the maximum speed of its fibre to the premise (FTTP) network from 330Mbps to 1Gbps, allowing BT and its partners to offer the same speeds to businesses as providers using other networks, such as CityFibre.

Plans to offer 1Gbps in nine cities from December were unveiled in June but BT has gone one step further and expanded this plan nationwide. Third party communications providers like TalkTalk and Sky will be offered two packages – 500Mbps and 1Gbps – to present to customers from 6 December.

BT’s open access network currently reaches more than 327,000 premises and is expected to double over the next year. By 2020, it is set to reach two million properties as part of BT’s wider rollout of ‘ultrafast’ broadband.

Read More: Openreach CEO says it’s time to go from superfast to ultrafast

Openreach FTTP

BT broadbandThis rollout will reach ten million premises by the end of 2020 and the ‘majority of the UK’ within a decade. However most of this will be through the use of G.Fast technology, which speeds up copper connections.

Earlier this year, Openreahc CEO Clive Selley confirmed the FTTP rollout will “disproportionately” target businesses rather than consumers and the initial phase will target business parks, high streets and ‘notspots’ not already connected to Openreach’s fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) infrastructure.

“We’re committed to taking the UK from being a superfast to an ultrafast nation, and whilst we’re extending the reach of our Fibre-to-the-Premises network, we’re also boosting the speed and variety of the services we can offer over it,” he said today.

“We’ve been working closely with our wholesale CP customers to develop these new ultrafast products, and we expect the new higher speed services will be of particular interest to small and medium businesses.

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“This is another example of how our mixed technology approach is getting the fastest possible speeds to the largest number of people in the shortest possible timeframe.”

BT’s use of fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) technology to power its superfast broadband has attracted significant criticism from those who feel it is ‘sweating’ its copper assets rather than investing in future proof infrastructure.

Just two percent of the UK can access FTTP, although BT is the largest provider, serving more than 300,000 premises. Virgin Media says it will connect at least two million homes and businesses to FTTP as part of its wider network expansion, while CityFibre, Hyperoptic and Gigaclear are also investing.

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