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Ebbsfleet will be the first UK
fibre connected community
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BT’s fibre trial questioned by experts
Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk
The speeds to be offered by BT’s “super-fast” fibre trial have been criticised by industry experts for being too slow (13-06-08).
Fibre-to-the-home will be offered to 300 new-build homes in Ebbsfleet, Kent - a service that could be free for consumers on the trial.
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"These speeds make it the slowest fibre service in Europe"
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However, BT's (www.BT.com) announcement that speeds will start at only 2.5Mb - using next generation broadband technology that offers speeds of up to 100Mb - with only “bursts” of 100Mb has prompted experts to question the trial.
“These speeds make it the slowest fibre service in Europe,” Ian Fogg, Jupiter Research analyst told the BBC.
“I am surprised. This is a trial and I see no reason why they aren’t trialling the highest speed the technology can deliver. What is the point of a trial if you don’t really test things?” he said.
However, BT countered the criticism and a spokesman said that the speeds were “higher in fact that anyone currently needs” and pointed out that customers would still get “super-fast” speeds when needed.
Four packages will be available, with speed “bursts” when customers need them - for example when downloading a movie.
- 2.5Mb download, 0.5Mb upload
- 10Mb download, 2Mb upload
- 10Mb download, 2Mb upload, with a burst to 30Mb for downloads
- 10Mb download, 2Mb upload, with a burst to 100Mb for downloads
Under plans yet to be approved by Ofcom, BT is hoping to offer its trial for free to all 10,000 Ebbsfleet homes - though they are not due to be completed until 2010.
Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said: “This is somewhat disappointing, but whether it’s an old copper line or a fibre-to-the-home connection, consumer broadband is a shared service and BT would not realistically be able to actually offer its customers 100Mb download speeds.
“That said, both the download speeds and the upload speeds on offer are very low considering that it is a trial, and that cable provider Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) is currently trialling 50Mb,” he added.
Related article - Boost your broadband.
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