Compare Fibre Optic Broadband

Maximum broadband speeds have increased tremendously over the past few years, which has led to the situation at the moment with Virgin Media being able to advertise an up to 50 MB broadband service. This change in speeds has been due to improvements in technology in the network infrastructure, and has been the result of heavy investment by the network owners.

Broadly speaking, there are two separate networks operating nationally in the UK for delivering internet services. The oldest, and best known, is BT's network. BT has a universal service agreement throughout most of the country (although some places, such as Hull, have an independent network owner), which means that BT are responsible for making sure telephone infrastructure is in place to those addresses.

Users no longer have to pay BT for telephone or internet services, however, which is how companies such as Sky, Tiscali, Orange and Talk Talk are able to offer fixed line broadband services.

This older infrastructure has been upgraded to use technology known as ASDL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), which transmits data more efficiently, so that voice data can be transmitted at the same time as internet data (i.e. the phone is not tied up whilst browsing).

This has been improved to the current standard of ASDL 2+, which offers speeds of up to 20 mbps, and is available only at certain locations. However, the problem with ASDL remains in that speeds reduce dramatically the further a customer is from the local network interchange, and this problem still exists with even the latest ASDL technology.

The other national infrastructure is the cable network, owned and operated by Virgin Media. This is the result of many smaller, local cable networks amalgamating, eventually leading to NTL and Telewest in the early 2000s.

These merged together to form one national provider, which later merged with Virgin Mobile, creating Virgin Media. Because Virgin has full control over its network, it has been quickest to upgrade its network to very high speeds.

There have been calls from BT to the government to require Virgin Media to open up its network to other internet providers, in the same way that BT does. This is because BT is currently investing 1.5 billion in installing its own fibre optic network across the country.

Tests have already been successful in parts of London and Wales, and BT estimates maximum speeds available on their upgraded network of 100Mbps. The company aims to have its new network available to over 10 million homes by 2012, and the majority of first installations have been to areas with new housing developments.

There has been some criticism, however, in the reality of the current 'fibre optic network' and the marketing of fibre optic services. Due to the cost of replacing 100% of the network, fibre optic from Virgin Media is currently only offered to street level, with the 'last mile' being down standard cable lines, limiting maximum speeds.

Similarly, BT's new network, once rolled out nationally, will only offer 'fibre to the cabinet', and it is expected that the final development will be providing fibre optic directly into each individual property. However, this is unlikely in the foreseeable future, until the majority of the population has fibre optic available to street level.

Fibre Optic Broadband Pros and Cons