Broadband Guide

100Mb broadband

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While it may not be here yet, 100Mb broadband is set to land in 2010 as Virgin Media (www.Virginmedia.com) prepares yet another breakthrough in UK broadband speeds. (updated 09/03/2010)

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100Mb broadband providers

Virgin Media announced in February 2010 that it would start offering 100Mb broadband to its 12.5 million cable customers later in the year.

Superfast broadband is the way of the future, and Virgin Media, which already offers 50Mb broadband to more than half of the UK, is perfectly placed to lead the way. It has even been trialling 200Mb broadband, which it says it can deliver over its existing network.

However, Virgin Media isn’t the only supplier to be developing such eye-wateringly fast speeds.

BT Broadband (www.BT.com) has developed its own network, and offers 100Mb broadband using fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) technology that runs fibre optic cables into homes. While this is only in selected areas - such as new build houses and businesses - BT also launched fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) packages in February 2010.

Running fibre optic cables to street telephone cabinets, BT can deliver speeds of up to 40Mb broadband on its new BT Infinity packages.

Independent fibre optic broadband suppliers

Some cities around the UK have developed their own fibre optic cable networks, and companies like Fibrecity, which has networks in Bournemouth and Dundee, are already capable of delivering speeds in excess of 100Mb, “with some packages offering the ability to boost speeds to 1Gb, a first for the UK residential market,” says Fibrecity.

Superfast broadband packages

Virgin Media currently offers the fastest, widely available broadband package in the UK with its XXL 50Mb broadband, while BT offers 40Mb in selected areas and up to 20Mb broadband across the country.

If you don’t live in a fibre optic cable area you might still be able to sign up to one of the faster copper wire ADSL packages offered by ISPs like O2 Broadband (www.O2.co.uk) and BE Broadband (www.Bethere.co.uk), which deliver speeds of up to 20Mb and 24Mb broadband respectively.

While ADSL packages are generally cheaper than fibre and definitely more widely available, they are also far more susceptible to speed reducing factors like distance from the exchange and congestion than fibre optic connections.

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