Broadband Guide

O2 broadband coverage and availability

Wednesday 11 April, 2012

By Helen Thomas

BT (www.BT.com) is the UK’s biggest broadband provider - and more than five million customers and 99% coverage.

O2’s ’own’ network coverage

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O2 uses a technology known as local loop unbundling (LLU) to offer cheap, fast broadband to its customers.

This involves installing its own equipment in the local telephone exchange to bypass the BT network. In this case, O2 shares a network with its sister company BE, which began unbundling exchanges before O2 even started offering broadband.

As a result, the providers now have 1,254 of the UK’s exchanges unbundled, allowing O2 to offer its own LLU packages to 70% of homes.

To find out if your house falls within O2’s own broadband network visit our postcode checker.

Speed

O2 offers speeds of up to 18Mb on all its own packages, but like all broadband connections, a number of different things can slow you down, including your distance from the local exchange and your home wiring.

However, O2 does perform well when it comes to actual speeds. In the May 2011 Ofcom speed test report, O2 averaged download speeds of 10.1-11.7Mb. This put it top of the providers using copper phones lines to get you online, and only second to Virgin Media, which uses a far faster cable network.

Superfast broadband availability

O2 has been talking up plans for superfast broadband. In June, Felix Geyr, O2’s head of home and broadband, announced plans to start trialling fibre later in 2011. Although there have been further details about coverage or packages for O2 fibre, the provider will most likely use BT’s fibre optic network to deliver superfast speeds.

BT currently covers around five million homes and businesses with its fibre network, which other suppliers like O2 can “rent”. It aims to have two-thirds of the UK covered by the end of 2015.

At present, BT’s fibre network offers speeds of up to 38Mb, averaging almost 34Mb in Ofcom’s study, but this will be doubled to a maximum 76Mb by 2013.

Customers outside of the O2 broadband network area

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The provider offers a package called O2 Home Broadband Access to consumers living outside its own network. This uses the BT network to deliver your broadband rather than O2’s LLU service. As with other similar packages that wholesale BT’s network, you’ll pay more for your broadband. In addition to the extra cost, the O2 Access package only offers download speeds of up to 8Mb.

To find out your alternative broadband provider options visit our postcode checker.

Added benefits

If you are an existing O2 customer you get to enjoy £5 off your monthly broadband bill as well as free connection. When you take O2 broadband you also get the option to bundle your internet with O2 home phone - with standalone line rental starting from just £7.50 a month - perfect if you only use your landline to get on the web. McAfee security software comes as standard.

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