I don't get it: "fibre broadband"

Why are UK providers allowed to sell "optics fibre broadband" when in fact no one receives the fibre in their homes?

The worst offender here is Virgin as they can sell you their fibre in the same web where they tell you how their copper cables are so much better than those of BT or sky !! Check out the Virgin Media VIVID website !!

I think that unless customers demand real fibre, it will never happen.
UK is lagging behind most European countries now when it comes to internet speeds and technologies that reach final customers.

Before I moved back to the UK I had 100mbps FTTH in Spain and that was 5 years ago already.

What percentage of households in Spain could/can get that?

I know, its all bull mate, but it all started many years back when ADSL was being sold a fast broadband and then they needed a catchy new advertising name for the faster speeds after that and here we are with Fibre Optic Broadband...

In a few years it will probably get changed to Fibre Based broadband as Advertising for FTTH/P may increase, thought Openreach are looking to start rolling out even faster speeds using the same FTTc/dp in the coming years and thats going to need something to keep customers upgrading and ordering...

A lot of complaints have been made about the latest Virgin Media VIVID advertising, this is due to them calling there 100&200Mbps services "next generation fibre" and the "runt" 50Mbps being only standard fibre... however nothing has changed in the network but a configuration file....

This was reported to the ASA by myself and a couple others that I know of, but heard nothing yet... I suppose we need to let them have some time to pull the custom before its quietly pulled eh! :/

I would like to know though how the service you had in Spain was advertised when you got it and how it is advertised to this day... I'm sure there all the same, hell I bet some are kicking themselves that they didn't call one of the variations of ADSL Fibre Broadband as the exchange had a fibre hehe

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

What percentage of households in Spain could/can get that?

Currently close to 40% of all households but probably close to 99% in the big cities.

Telefonica has even begun shutting down copper telephone exchanges.

In reply to a post by mlmclaren:

I know, its all bull mate, but it all started many years back when ADSL was being sold a fast broadband and then they needed a catchy new advertising name for the faster speeds after that and here we are with Fibre Optic Broadband...

In a few years it will probably get changed to Fibre Based broadband as Advertising for FTTH/P may increase, thought Openreach are looking to start rolling out even faster speeds using the same FTTc/dp in the coming years and thats going to need something to keep customers upgrading and ordering...

A lot of complaints have been made about the latest Virgin Media VIVID advertising, this is due to them calling there 100&200Mbps services "next generation fibre" and the "runt" 50Mbps being only standard fibre... however nothing has changed in the network but a configuration file....

This was reported to the ASA by myself and a couple others that I know of, but heard nothing yet... I suppose we need to let them have some time to pull the custom before its quietly pulled eh! :/

I would like to know though how the service you had in Spain was advertised when you got it and how it is advertised to this day... I'm sure there all the same, hell I bet some are kicking themselves that they didn't call one of the variations of ADSL Fibre Broadband as the exchange had a fibre hehe

Thanks for that info.. the VIVID campaign I found truly astonishing.

As I see things, current technologies will just get stuck. Market saturation just means everyone who needs broadband already has it, and generates a lot of data at peak times. Meaning, last mile (from post/cabinet to the home) will only get more and more congested.

Virgin's network is just a mess. They just can't cope. Months and months of saturation unanswered and unresolved.

FTTC has speed limits .. there's only so much VDSL can do. And if they come up with something, cost might not be that different to upgrading that last mile to real FTTH.

In Spain things got interesting 10 years ago when Telefonica started rolling out FTTH. Until that point everything was just "ADSL", then "ADSL2+".

Each region had its own cable operator, and mergers and market consolidation lead to a few bigger companies, mainly Ono.

When Telefonica began FTTH, Ono announced "Ono Fibra Optica" just like all carriers do here. However the difference was that for some it was actually true!
Ono was banned from using that phrase and their marketing people found a loophole.. they now sell Ono Fibra.. because in Spanish you can argue that a fibre is a thread and a copper cable has threads of copper inside. Utterly ridiculous but basically Ono has made a niche market in those areas where Telefonica still can't reach with FTTH, so at the end everyone is happy and when Telefonica rolls out FTTH there's a mass migration of customers

In reply to a post by jmmo20:

Why are UK providers allowed to sell "optics fibre broadband" when in fact no one receives the fibre in their homes?

Just a slight correction.
Increasing numbers do get FTTH/FTTP
I do - I'm on a Gigaclear true FTTP connection and so are around 40% of my village: it is available to the remainder should they wish to sign up.

This has all been gone through with the ASA
Some people who know a lot about the industry (ie insiders) have made formal well argued complaints to the ASA in 2014.
Sadly the ASA ruled against the complainers
Also the independent appeals panel upheld the ASA's decision.
It is a closed issue - probably until such time in the future when the majority of the UK has the option of both FTTH and FTTC.
Forget it and move on
Here is a link to the ASA decision.
ASA FTTP ruling

Edited by deleted (Fri 30-Oct-15 11:13:09)

And a small but increasing number have access to BT Infinity 1, 2, 3 & 4 via the Openreach network.

Openreach is around 250,000 premises coverage of FTTH
Hyperoptic 110,000 to 120,000
KC ~40,000
Gigaclear 10,000
IFNL ~5,000
B4RN ~1,200
CityFibre (~20,000 in Bournemouth and another 20,000 on the way in York)

Did I miss anyone with more than 1,000 premises passed?

The total is small but enough that you cannot say no-one, and the Openreach total in the ASA ruling was out of date even when it was published, i.e. those rulings take ages to go public.