Sky Connects First FTTP Customers In York

Sky has connected its first customers to its ultrafast broadband serviced in York, offering speeds of up to 940Mbps.

The company is building a city-wide fibre to the premise (FTTP) network in the city as part of a joint venture with TalkTalk and CityFibre, with a view to expanding the model and becoming more independent of BT’s Openreach infrastructure.

Sky has been among those calling for Openreach to be separated from BT, claiming the current structure favours the former, discourages network investment and harms businesses and consumers.

The first customers to be connected to Sky’s FTTP service are triallists and pre-registered their interest. A wider rollout will take place later this year.

Fast & Reliable

“We are proud that these products will be available to our customers in York on our ultrafast and ultra-reliable gigabit network,” said Lyssa McGowan, director of Sky Broadband. “As Ofcom continues its review of the broadband market, we believe that trials like this are a valuable demonstration of the alternative technologies now available. With the right conditions for investment and innovation, consumers and businesses could benefit from more ultrafast connections across the UK.”

TalkTalk has been much more vocal about its planned ultrafast services and connected its first customers last week, claiming the network was now capable of supporting 1,800 homes and businesses in the Rawcliffe, Clifton, Huntington and Groves areas of the city.

Charles Bligh, managing director of TalkTalk Business, has suggested the partners could cover 60 percent of the UK with FTTP, although maintains it is focused making the York joint-venture a success and to test out network design principles, engineering processes and deployment economics.

Nationwide expansion is dependent on the cost of connecting each premise coming under £500 and the combined market share between the partners reaching 40 percent.

One way it is reducing costs is through a ‘micro-trenching’ tool which creates small precision holes that can be easily filled back up again. Work can be carried out on the pavement, eliminating the need for lengthy street closures, which are among the most costly and complex parts of FTTP deployments.

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