Full Fibre Business Broadband
Fibre to the premises – changes that could mean your business gets faster broadband a lot sooner
Business broadband now comes in many shapes and sizes depending on which type of connection you opt for according your bandwidth requirements. Essentially, there is the traditionally copper based technology (ADSL) and the newer, faster fibre network of which there are two main options, Fibre To The Cabinet (FTTC) and Fibre To The Premises (FTTP). Most homes and many businesses are still on a traditional ADSL connection or Fibre To The Cabinet, so a faster, more reliable connection will definitely be something you may need to invest in sooner rather than later, subject to availability.
It has recently been announced that Openreach will be making FTTP (Full Fibre) connections a lot cheaper to aid the roll out of this super-speed broadband for businesses and homeowners alike. This could improve your chances of getting its incredible internet speeds even sooner than before.
The new offer will encourage broadband suppliers to speed up their full fibre rollout. So you might be able to upgrade your connection to full fibre very soon.
What is Openreach’s new full fibre pricing offer?
Openreach’s full fibre pricing offer is basically a long-term price promise. It will guarantee up to ten years of pricing certainty for providers that agree to install its full fibre connections in more homes.
Openreach (which is owned by BT Group) will charge providers a single, nationwide rental fee to use those services. This fee will also be cheaper than the current rate it charges.
Providers that sign up to this agreement will be allowed to offer a range of full fibre deals at many different speeds. So, if this goes ahead, you should have a lot of options to choose from, depending on what speed is best for you.
As more and more of our vital business services are operated on in the cloud we are putting more and more pressure on our broadband connections, and a service that may well have been ample a couple of years back now just doesn’t cut it.
What is Full Fibre & why is it so much faster?
Full fibre is the fastest type of broadband currently available. It uses fibre-optic broadband cables to connect from the broadband exchange directly to your property.
Fibre broadband has existed for years. But in the past, it had only connected fibre-optic cables to a green cabinet on your street. The rest of the journey to your home or business is then completed with copper phone lines. At the moment, this is the most common broadband connection in the UK. And it is a lot slower than full fibre.
Full fibre is a new type of broadband, with only 21% of UK homes and businesses able to access it. Fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) is much better-established, with over 95% of UK coverage.
Internet speeds on FTTC are just about enough for most families at the moment. For example, a few people can stream in HD at the same time and working from home will be fairly hitch-free (unless you’re downloading a large file and on a video call at the same time).
But with more things requiring the internet each year, these speeds may soon struggle to keep up with your needs.
Full fibre can supply speeds over 12 times faster than FTTC, which will future-proof your home or business for decades.
With the rapid increases in remote working in the last 18 months we are also seeing that employees used to a faster, dedicated business broadband service at their office means that the online applications they rely on to do their jobs suddenly do not work as well (or at all) when forced to connect via a much slower home broadband. Whilst FTTP (or FTTH – Fibre To The Home) may be price prohibitive for many home owners, if your role is permanently remote based it’s worth checking with your employer about business provision of a faster connection that can be covered on expenses.
Currently, about five million properties are covered by Openreach’s FTTP network. But BT Group is investing £15bn so that 25 million properties (around 80% of the UK) can access its full fibre services by the end of 2026.
FTTP, FTTC or ADSL, which is best for your business?
Any business with multiple users and a need for a reliable connection is likely to look at a fibre solution for their internet connection, especially if you want to utilise VoIP, cloud-based storage or cloud-based SaaS systems. ADSL still holds the majority of the overall market with ample speeds for most homes. Reliability aside, the main difference for buyers is the speed and cost associated with installation.
These are the approximate download speeds that can be expected for each connection type:
ADSL: 8 to 50 Mbps
FTTC: 80 to 100 Mbps (although distance from cabinet can have huge impact)
FTTP: Up to 1 Gbps
If you’d like a free review of your current business broadband options we’d be happy to support you with a check on which connectivity is currently available within your area. Contact us to book a review.