Broadband Guide

Plusnet fibre optic broadband

Wednesday 04 April, 2012

By Helen Thomas

Plusnet (www.Plus.net) is owned by the BT Group, allowing it use of the BT fibre network through which it supplies its own superfast broadband service.

Plusnet’s superfast broadband now

Plusnet’s superfast broadband packages are delivered via BT (www.BT.com)’s fibre optic broadband network, enabling Plusnet to benefit from the investment and developments BT is making to its fibre network. The network currently uses fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) technology in which fibre cables run from the local telephone exchange to the green cabinet on your street. Traditional copper telephone wire is then used for the “last mile” - covering the connection from the cabinet to your house.

Plusnet offers two fibre packages: Value Fibre and Extra Fibre. The Value Fibre package comes with a 40GB monthly download allowance, while the Extra service comes with a more generous 120GB limit.

Planned fibre network expansion

Plusnet is keen to deliver fibre products to its customers and on top of its FTTC products it is trialling fibre to the premises (FTTP) technology.

Plusnet says: “Plusnet is passionate about technology and providing quality services to our customers. We were one of the first companies to bring FTTC to the market and have been trialling FTTP for several months now. We are always looking to offer new and improved services as new technologies become available.”

Use our postcode checker to see if Plusnet has fibre broadband coverage in your area.

Future speed developments

Plusnet superfast broadband is currently available to 20% of the population, but through its relationship with BT it could benefit from the massive investment BT is currently making in its fibre network.

In 2011, BT, which owns the fibre cables used by Plusnet, announced a triple transformation of its fibre network. Developments include:

• “Up to” speeds will double from 38Mb to 80Mb in 2012
• The launch of its 110Mb fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) service
• Utilising the same FTTH technology to deliver download speeds of up to 300Mb by spring 2012, three times those currently offered by its competitors.

Benefits of fibre

As it is designed for purpose, fibre brings a range of benefits over its traditional phone line predecessor:

• Unlike broadband delivered via phone lines, a fibre connection will not result in buffering so users of BBC iPlayer, YouTube and other video services can say goodbye to irritating streaming interruptions
• Multiple users can be online at the same time with no reduction in speed - perfect for families or student households
• With fast AND consistent connections, film buffs will be able to download a high-definition (HD) film in just minutes, and gamers will no longer be able to blame losing a life on “connection lag”.

£830 million government investment

In 2010, culture secretary Jeremy Hunt announced an £830million, five-year strategy to deliver the best broadband network in Europe. Plans include the development of a “digital hub” in every UK community by 2015.

This is particularly good news for rural communities, who are often bypassed entirely by superfast broadband developments.

Traditional phone line vs fibre optic broadband

Copper wire is subject to a range of negative effects which cause a dramatic slowing of connection speeds, including distance from exchange and quality of the line.

Glass fibre optic cables are considered to be “future-proof” as they are purpose made to deliver immense amounts of information at lightning fast speeds of up to 38Mb and beyond.

Although there are still some negative factors which can affect your speed, these are all relatively minor. As a result, broadband providers are able to deliver actual speeds much closer to the “up to” speeds they advertise.

Coverage is less extensive than traditional broadband, but as the government and providers focus their broadband investment in fibre, the gap is gradually closing.

Plusnet broadband packages