BT To Launch 1Gbps Fibre Broadband Trial In Suffolk

BT has announced it will launch a 1Gbps fibre broadband trial in Suffolk and include 40 rural market towns in its fibre rollout next year.

The announcement ties in with the UK government’s plans to make Britain the best broadband network in Europe by 2015, reiterated in its broadband strategy published today.

The super-fast broadband trial in Kesgrave, Suffolk, will start early in 2011, using BT’s Fibre to the Home (FTTH) technology.

Fibre optic cables will be installed to replace existing copper wire, resulting in a swift data transfer from the telephone exchange to the home.

Super-fast broadband in 40 rural towns

BT also plans to provide 40 market towns in rural Britain with fibre optic broadband upgrades. The selected towns have not yet been named, but they will be in areas where premises and cabinets are “suitably clustered”.

Meanwhile, the company has been criticised for its limited FTTH service, as only a quarter of the homes it intends to offer fibre to will be connected using FTTH, according to the BBC. The rest will be served by fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) technology, which offers a substantially slower download speed.

Telecoms watchdog Ofcom recently reported that less than one percent of UK households had access to a super-fast broadband connection at the end of 2009.

In an attempt to boost next-generation broadband rollout, the UK government plans to offer £830 million to private companies capable of providing the super-fast connection in rural areas.

In his statement, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the government can encourage broadband rollout by “stimulating competition and creating an environment in which business can flourish by removing barriers and cutting costs”.

BT said if it could win the government’s funds, it would be able to provide fibre service to 90 percent of the UK.

“We intend to continually push the limits of our super-fast broadband programme in terms of the technology and the geography,” said Olivia Garfield, BT’s director of strategy. “While everyday consumers don’t require Gigabit speeds today, it’s important that we test the maximum speed capabilities of our fibre broadband product to ensure that it is fully future proofed.”

Race to Infinity

BT also announced the five front-runners in its nationwide “Race to Infinity” competition today, designed to assess the demand for fibre optic broadband in different areas of the country.

The top five leading the field now are Blewbury in Oxfordshire, Caxton in Cambridgeshire, Castleton in Newport, Madingley in Cambridgeshire and Whitchurch in Hampshire.

More than 290,000 votes have already been cast across the UK, according to BT. The five winning areas will be upgraded to a new 100Mbps fibre optic service by early 2012. BT is also pledging to engage with any community not winning the competition where at least 75 percent of homes and businesses have voted for super-fast broadband.