BT rolls out fibre broadband in Herts and Essex

by Sarah Griffiths on 7 September 2010, 12:22

Tags: British Telecom (LON:BT.A)

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Fibre fantastic?

BT has rolled out its super-fast fibre broadband across Hertfordshire and Essex, installing heaps of new street cabinets and loads of fibre cable.

People living in Hoddesdon, Waltham cross, St Albans, Lea Valley and Watford, Hertfordshire will soon be able to access BT's broadband service with download speeds of up to 40Mbs, with the prospect of 60 Mbps in the future, said the company.

BT said around 77,000 Herts homes and businesses will now be able to access their speediest service, which incidentally still lags behind Virgin Media's top speed offering.

Meanwhile, engineers have also been busy in Essex's Billericay, Braintree, Brentwood and Stamford Le Hope so 76,000 businesses and homes can also access the up to 40Mbs service, according to BT.

The company said upstream speeds will also be faster allowing customers better access to bandwidth-hungry tasks like downloading films and watching TV online, while businesses will be able to enjoy higher quality video conferencing.

BT said it plans to invest up to £2.5bn in fibre broadband, which could become available to around two-thirds of UK premises by 2015 if investment conditions are favourable.

The company has recently announced it plans to introduce faster broadband to thousands of homes and businesses in South West England and Wales next spring using its 21st Century Network (21CN).



HEXUS Forums :: 7 Comments

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I've got it here, but I won't bother with it as their top fibre package has a stupid download cap on it.
Singh400
I've got it here, but I won't bother with it as their top fibre package has a stupid download cap on it.
How is it for gaming? Any noticeable differences?
Odc
How is it for gaming? Any noticeable differences?
Sorry, I meant “I've got it here” as in it's available to me to sign up and get it. But I don't actually have it due to the stupid download cap.
I wish they'd do something about the pathetic speeds in the north. They only ever do anything worthwhile in the south!

We deserve something in return for being your freeview guinea pigs :P.
Singh400
But I don't actually have it due to the stupid download cap.

You mean their fair usage policy? Well thats at 100gb (ish) as far as I know , which is fairly reasonable to be honest unless you are doing anything illegal..thats 300 odd hours of iplayer and other streaming services, mp3 downloads from an mp3 store, even a few linux/MSDN ISOs..

If you can't get cable and/or don't want to do business with Virgin (and really you don't in the north - they are still NTL in terms of service levels) then BT infinity is your best option if you want > 24MB.

It's enabled at the Failsworth exchange in Manchester, and thats where i'll be connected to when I move in December..at the moment i'm planning to take the top Infinity package. Can't wait for it - insane upload/download ratios for a home connection!

There is a prospect of the top speed moving to 60mb soon too, and with that higher FUPs anyway. I agree that its a pain having a FUP on there but if it helps keep speeds actually at 40mb then i'm not too concerned. Best alternative would be Be* I guess but i'm not at all fond of LLU and upload rates are very poor in comparison.


NB: It appears BT's current FUP doesn't actually state this 100GB limit anymore..just that they will limit “heavy users”..bit dodgy imo to have such a blanket statement without a definition. Must get in touch with them and ask for more clarification..

Edit: I'm told that they have increased this 100GB “heavy user” limit to 300GB now! Vast improvement, surely enough for any legitimate user..makes me happy :)

For further proof - read this thread:

http://community.bt.com/t5/BB-in-Home/BT-Clarity-on-Fair-usage-policy/td-p/43121/page/2