BT are going to extend the availability of it’s “up to” 20Mb broadband service to 80% of UK homes by the end of 2011.
The next generation copper network is better known as ADSL2+ or Wholesale Broadband Connect (WBC) which can offer broadband speed of up to 20Mb which is theoretically over twice as fast as the standard “up to” broadband speed of 8mb.
Currently BT have enabled 1017 exchanges to this technology which makes it available to 15.5 million premises. There are currently 2.25 million customers who are using the service with BT upgrading around 30,000 lines per week to it.
Although the broadband speed from ADSL2+ is advertised at up to 20-24Mb, Ofcom found the average broadband download speed was 6.2Mb.
BT’s standard broadband offer “up to” 8Mb broadband speeds and is available to 99% of UK homes but the average speed delivered according to Ofcom was 3.4Mb.
Cameron Rejali form BT Wholesale said:
“Running over BT’s 21st Century Network, WBC offers communications providers the ability to provide their broadband customers with greater control, choice and flexibility as well as higher speeds. It supports the growing demand for high-speed broadband access to a range of online services – including TV, gaming online and multiple voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services.
BT’s Ethernet deployment has advanced from an early adopter to a mainstream purchase for businesses looking for a cheaper, faster and more versatile single platform solution for their wide area networking or local area networking needs.”
BT are also investing heavily in their fibre broadband network “BT Infinity” and are aiming to offer FTTC (Fibre To The Cabinet) broadband with speeds up to 40Mb to around 66% of the UK by 2015 with an investment of £2.5bn.
The usage allowance has been changed from Unlimited to 40Gb, but for most 40Gb should be more than enough per month for most. This is the reason for the drop in price, customers had told