| BT to launch 100Mb broadband trial in Kent |
|
|
| Tuesday, 15 January 2008 | |
|
BT’s local access network business has announced further details of its deployment of fibre at Ebbsfleet Valley in Kent.
Fibre-optic cable will be used instead of traditional copper to connect homes on Land Securities’ 1,000 acre new build project from August 2008. Approximately 10,000 homes will be built at Ebbsfleet Valley, along with six million square feet of commercial space and three million square feet of retail, leisure and community facilities. Wholesale basis From August, Openreach will offer industry a fibre based broadband product at Ebbsfleet Valley that can support data at speeds of up to 100Mbit/s – the fastest headline speed available to residential customers in the UK. This would allow multiple HDTV channels to be watched simultaneously, HDTV gaming, and near instant music downloads. Openreach will offer all its products on a wholesale basis to all UK communication providers allowing for competition at a retail level. BT already provides some 120,000 businesses across the country with fibre connections. Steve Robertson, chief executive of Openreach, explained that this is BT's first deployment of fibre rather than copper to residential customers on a new build site. He added that it would enable communication providers to gauge what demand exists for very high speed broadband, and to assess what commercial models may be appropriate in the future. High-speed broadband access has become increasingly important in residential properties as more and more people have swapped the office commute for tele-working and self-employment. At the same time there has been a noted decrease in the distinction between work and private, home and office in the UK, with many accessing office files and emails outside office hours. Agreement with Ofcom Andy Freeman, head of project management at Land Securities, said that Ebbsfleet Valley, which has been identified by the Government as one of four key ‘transformational’ projects in the Thames Gateway, is the first development site in the UK to initiate fibre to the premises technology to all new homes. BT said it would like to make greater use of fibre in suitable new build sites in the future. A significant opportunity is presented by the Government’s plan to build three million new houses by 2020. This investment critically depends upon an agreement with Ofcom which is currently engaged in consultation about how best to extend the regulatory framework to accommodate future fibre deployment. All current regulation is based upon BT offering wholesale products over copper. BT said it was also committed to increasing broadband speeds over copper, introducing services of up to 24 Megabits from Spring 2008. Related articles
Related links |
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for top jobs, news and more 
Digg it! 
del.icio.us 
Newsvine 
Reddit 
Stumble It! 
We look at the glass ceiling, and importantly hear from those women that have shattered it on their own terms.