Not many people want FTTP

According to Ofcom "only" 25% of folk take FTTP when its available. I had the impression from hereabouts that 25% was well in excess of expectation.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-59683884

I think it's partly down to a lack of advertising unlike FTTC where stickers are put on the cabinets. There isn't an easy way to know that FTTP is live unless you regularly check checkers and/or have registered interest, which most people don't do.

What makes me cringe, is that the report is using GB/s not Gb/s!

Edited by Grimers (Fri 17-Dec-21 12:20:13)

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

According to Ofcom "only" 25% of folk take FTTP when its available. I had the impression from hereabouts that 25% was well in excess of expectation.

Not a surprise, as the general public (whom don't know about this forum) would assume it would cost more than existing service. Not aware you can order (on BTwholesale at least) the cheaper services and just get the speed you're paying for.

Also have to take into account that many people will still be in contract and most of those on FTTC will be happy with their speed so won't change just for the sake of it.

Areas with slow ADSL speeds see much higher take-up. Some places closer to 80%

Partly BT's own fault for calling FTTC Fibre, why change to FTTP when you are told you have Fibre already. In our local area which is 100% ADSL with an OR van a regular visitor to fix the lines, then everyone you speak to wants FTTP when it arrives next year.

In reply to a post by kitcat:

...most of those on FTTC will be happy with their speed so won't change just for the sake of it.

Very true, I think the only mass market consumer drive for faster speeds will be software (especially game) updates. If it 'works' for video conferencing, TV streaming etc. there is little reason to pay more.

On FTTP, 80/20 will actually be 80/20, which is perfectly serviceable for a few people on average use.

In reply to a post by kitcat:

Also have to take into account that many people will still be in contract and most of those on FTTC will be happy with their speed so won't change just for the sake of it.

Areas with slow ADSL speeds see much higher take-up. Some places closer to 80%

I think this will be key for many built up areas, most will likely have a fast enough FTTC service so won't upgrade. While it's probably cheaper for Openreach to rollout in towns/cities, I think it will probably take longer to get a return than in areas where speeds are relatively poor.

At some point in the future, I think ISPs will just not offer FTTC services if FTTP is available - this will ensure customers are moved across to more reliable connections.

Pretty sloppy excuse for journalism.

…anyway. To early to look at meaningful conversion rates, barely 1/6th of premises passed by OR. VMO2 won’t get going on FTTP until at least the next half of the decade and CityFibre only passed 1M premises…allegedly 🤣

It depends on several things.

For those getting between 40/10 and 80/20 on FTTC with a stable line, then that's good enough for most people. Only a small minority of people want "ultrafast" and are prepared to pay for it.

However in places which are a long way from the cabinet, and can get only very slow FTTC or even ADSL only, then the take-up of FTTP will be higher.

In some places there's a copper "stop sell" which is forcing people over to FTTP - although small at the moment, it will become more significant over time.

However there's one other major factor here, which is the altnets undercutting Openreach. An altnet's business plan is not to mop up the ultrafast demand (of which there is little), but to undercut. If they can supply a service at 50p per month cheaper than the competition, then a sizeable proportion will take them up.

Hence there are people moving to say Hyperoptic, or Vodafone via Cityfibre, not because it's full fibre (they don't care), but simply because it's cheap.

In reply to a post by candlerb:

It depends on several things.

For those getting between 40/10 and 80/20 on FTTC with a stable line, then that's good enough for most people. Only a small minority of people want "ultrafast" and are prepared to pay for it.

However in places which are a long way from the cabinet, and can get only very slow FTTC or even ADSL only, then the take-up of FTTP will be higher.

As this, I have friends who have choice of FTTP, but with speeds that meet their needs why bother changing. Around where I live we where BDUK funded due to poor speeds, there is around 33 to 50% take up (a rough guess from observing poles) but then nearly all the properties are privately rented which might hold back some from ordering.