Da-Chief
07-15-2008, 14:10
http://i.dslr.net/urls/8/4208.gif (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/British-Telecom-Announces-Fiber-To-The-Press-Release-96122)
Last December, UK telco British Telecom called running fiber to the home "premature (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/89904)," instead opting to milk copper for a little longer (like a few baby (https://uverse1.att.com/un/launchAMSS.do) bells (http://www.qwest.com/residential/internet/fiber-optics.html) we know here in the States). But today the telco stated that barring "regulatory certainty" (industry code for government doing exactly what the phone company tells them to) they'll be spending $3 billion to offer a combination of both fiber to the node (FTTN) and fiber to the home (FTTH) technology at speeds up to 100Mbps. As is usually the case, the press release (http://www.btplc.com/news/articles/showarticle.cfm?articleid={efd7b1fa-52ed-45bb-b530-734fac577e94}) gets a little less sexy when you look closely:We will deliver both though the exact split will be driven by the interest shown by government and regional and local authorities. FTTP deployment will be focused primarily on new build sites such as Ebbsfleet and the Olympic Village whilst FTTN will be more prevalent elsewhere. Recent tests show the majority of ADSL2+ customers should enjoy speeds of around 10Mb or above with many getting substantially higher speeds. The technology is also improving all the time.
In other words, the majority of BT customers will still be on copper unless the government ponies up subsidies and passes the laws BT wants. Despite the press applauding this new UK "nationwide fiber deployment," it's not much different from AT&T, who deploys FTTH only to shiny new developments (then caps (http://www.corpsman.com/forum/r19224774-I-got-a-letter-from-ATT) them at DSL speed). One major exception is that BT will give competitors wholesale access to the network, something AT&T and Verizon have yet to do.
British Telecom is promising FTTN customers they'll see speeds of at least 40Mbps, though of course this depends entirely on the customer's distance to the central office. AT&T currently offers FTTN customers just 10Mbps of usable data bandwidth, though sync speeds are higher for shorter loop lengths, and the company has promised faster line-bonded speeds down the road. British Telecom insists 60Mbps FTTN is on their radar.
Of course these half-hearted approaches to network upgrades are in order to please nervous investors, who start fidgeting like children in church when presented with the huge upfront costs of true FTTH (though they have the luxury of bailing when the company is no longer competitive). So companies instead embrace "fiber to the press release," a blend of fiber and pure, refined marketing that allows them to pretend (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/95578) they offer last mile fiber.
Not only is it less expensive than truly future-proofing your network, the telco gets the added bonus of being able to dangle real fiber deployment over the heads of lawmakers every time they want a new law passed.
read comment(s) (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/British-Telecom-Announces-Fiber-To-The-Press-Release-96122)
More...
Last December, UK telco British Telecom called running fiber to the home "premature (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/89904)," instead opting to milk copper for a little longer (like a few baby (https://uverse1.att.com/un/launchAMSS.do) bells (http://www.qwest.com/residential/internet/fiber-optics.html) we know here in the States). But today the telco stated that barring "regulatory certainty" (industry code for government doing exactly what the phone company tells them to) they'll be spending $3 billion to offer a combination of both fiber to the node (FTTN) and fiber to the home (FTTH) technology at speeds up to 100Mbps. As is usually the case, the press release (http://www.btplc.com/news/articles/showarticle.cfm?articleid={efd7b1fa-52ed-45bb-b530-734fac577e94}) gets a little less sexy when you look closely:We will deliver both though the exact split will be driven by the interest shown by government and regional and local authorities. FTTP deployment will be focused primarily on new build sites such as Ebbsfleet and the Olympic Village whilst FTTN will be more prevalent elsewhere. Recent tests show the majority of ADSL2+ customers should enjoy speeds of around 10Mb or above with many getting substantially higher speeds. The technology is also improving all the time.
In other words, the majority of BT customers will still be on copper unless the government ponies up subsidies and passes the laws BT wants. Despite the press applauding this new UK "nationwide fiber deployment," it's not much different from AT&T, who deploys FTTH only to shiny new developments (then caps (http://www.corpsman.com/forum/r19224774-I-got-a-letter-from-ATT) them at DSL speed). One major exception is that BT will give competitors wholesale access to the network, something AT&T and Verizon have yet to do.
British Telecom is promising FTTN customers they'll see speeds of at least 40Mbps, though of course this depends entirely on the customer's distance to the central office. AT&T currently offers FTTN customers just 10Mbps of usable data bandwidth, though sync speeds are higher for shorter loop lengths, and the company has promised faster line-bonded speeds down the road. British Telecom insists 60Mbps FTTN is on their radar.
Of course these half-hearted approaches to network upgrades are in order to please nervous investors, who start fidgeting like children in church when presented with the huge upfront costs of true FTTH (though they have the luxury of bailing when the company is no longer competitive). So companies instead embrace "fiber to the press release," a blend of fiber and pure, refined marketing that allows them to pretend (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/95578) they offer last mile fiber.
Not only is it less expensive than truly future-proofing your network, the telco gets the added bonus of being able to dangle real fiber deployment over the heads of lawmakers every time they want a new law passed.
read comment(s) (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/British-Telecom-Announces-Fiber-To-The-Press-Release-96122)
More...