though I thought G.fast was to be used on FTTC and not FTTP, so if that is the case, then no gain in G.fast for us.

If they start selling a 500Mb/s G.Fast option then they will almost certainly do a similar option for FTTP. As it is though you already can get 330Mb/s and it is those of us on FTTC playing catch up.

In reply to a post by ian72:

though I thought G.fast was to be used on FTTC and not FTTP, so if that is the case, then no gain in G.fast for us.

If they start selling a 500Mb/s G.Fast option then they will almost certainly do a similar option for FTTP. As it is though you already can get 330Mb/s and it is those of us on FTTC playing catch up.

Yeah, just saw copper in the quote below and thought FTTC, and the thought of the 800Mbps over FTTP just didn't register

During the G.FAST trials, downstream speeds of around 800Mbps were achieved over a 19m length of copper, combined with upstream speeds of more than 200Mbps

Paul

In reply to a post by Bob_s2:

The VM rollout will also force BT to look at its roll out and in particular its roll out of fibre. It has to look at bringing fibre nearer to the home or VM will run rings around BT as they can win hands down on speed

Will it? Last I heard VM didn't have market dominance in the areas that it currently does cover. If BT has been able to retain market dominance in established cable areas I can't see it losing it in new areas. Time will tell I suppose. BT is still ahead on upload speed. There's also the perennial question of downstream bandwidth contention that cable operators have to deal with.

Still, it can only be good news. A further spur to BT and continued interest in investment helps us all.

Edited by Andrue (Fri 13-Feb-15 16:36:52)

In reply to a post by Bob_s2:

The VM rollout will also force BT to look at its roll out and in particular its roll out of fibre. It has to look at bringing fibre nearer to the home or VM will run rings around BT as they can win hands down on speed

Headline download speed is not our primary purchasing criterion. Minimal visible contention, low jitter, high upload speed and availability of routed IPv4 on "prosumer" products matter more to us than the availability of expensive tiers with high headline download speeds, which is why we're on Zen's FTTC service.

We are fortunate enough to have Openreach FTTC that has, so far, been completely stable at 80/20 sync speed fast path. Virgin is available here - indeed, we have Virgin TV and had a cable modem long ago in the days before there was any DSL in this area. As things stand, we are simply not interested in Virgin broadband.


I realise that there are many people who are not in such a fortunate position. This post is simply to join the other voices refuting Bob's facile reduction of the issues to "highest download speed wins". We don't currently have any application that is limited by the download speed of the FTTC we have, and by the time we outgrow that limit, Openreach's offer is likely to have moved on using technologies such as G.Fast.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Difficult to find a place where BT is not

Actually, a lot of Virgin's expansion at the moment is new build estates where they tie up with the developer and lock Openreach out.

In reply to a post by partial:

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Difficult to find a place where BT is not

Actually, a lot of Virgin's expansion at the moment is new build estates where they tie up with the developer and lock Openreach out.

I'd be pretty unamused if my choice of provider was frustrated in this fashion.

Though the thread is about a company other than Virgin Media, I think this recent thread is an example of a new build developer freezing out Openreach.

I'd be surprised if there is a legal restriction on choice of provider in that case, as it would be difficult and expensive to enforce a restrictive covenant. An exclusive contract between the communications company and the developer that requires the developer does not install any Openreach infrastructure should be enough to lock out Openreach. The wayleave problems over the roads whilst they are unadopted and the huge construction costs of bringing a connection from outside the development means no Openreach based provider can offer an affordable connection charge.

Well I know all citys from Dundee upwards don't have any VM cable network

so they could expand up here.

My friend told me that they read in the newspaper that Selby is getting faster broadband soon, I asked if it said which company but they had thrown the newspaper away when I was told and they couldn't remember. Mr Saffron or anyone else do you know of any new faster broadband coming to the Selby area? Could it be Virgin Media?

In reply to a post by Bob_s2:

BT is now facing a serious challenge

Now Virgin are expanding after years of stagnation, the question is not whether BT can compete with a prospective resurgent Virgin. It's whether Sky, TalkTalk and the myriad of smaller providers on the Openreach platform can.

BT have history of competing with a serious cable player. I'd expect Sky and TalkTalk to do okay. They are big boys in the big world and won't watch their customers walk without a serious fightback.

I would expect the real losers will be the smaller firms, the Zens and Entanets etc of this World. Shrinking market share on the Openreach platform which is under attack and locked out of the Virgin platform.