BT CEO Gavin Patterson has announced plans to deliver ultrafast speeds of up to 500Mbps to most of the UK within a decade. It will utilise G.fast, a digital subscriber line (DSL) standard, designed for local loops shorter than 250 metres.
The two pilots will start this Summer in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire and Gosforth, Newcastle. Around 4,000 homes and businesses will be able to participate in the pilots which will explore what speeds can be delivered using G.fast at scale. Subject to a successful outcome deployment will start in 2016/17.
The pilots will build on recent tests at BT’s innovation centre at Adastral Park, Suffolk. BT says the tests have shown that G.fast has the potential to deliver significant speed increases from existing and new fibre street cabinets as well as from other points closer to the customer. This is an important development as it means the technology can be deployed in a more efficient and rapid manner than previously thought.
Initial speeds of a few hundred megabits per second are expected to further increase to 500Mbps as new kit is developed. Speeds of 1 Gbps may also be available for business.
“We believe G.fast is the key to unlocking ultrafast speeds and we are prepared to upgrade large parts of our network should the pilots prove successful. That upgrade will depend however on there continuing to be a stable regulatory environment that supports investment,” said Patterson. “The UK is ahead of its major European neighbours when it comes to broadband and we need to stay ahead as customer demands evolve. G.fast will allow us to do that by building on the investment we have made in fibre to date. It will transform the UK broadband landscape from superfast to ultrafast in the quickest possible timeframe.”
BT is likely to deploy G.fast from various points in the network, with the pilots allowing it to assess various roll out options.
Announcing its financials for the last three months of 2014, BT said it had added 45,000 TV customers. Audiences for the Premier League on BT Sport are up 17% this season, helped in part by the December launch of Sky Sports 1 and 2 on YouView.
