BT to speed up 24Mbps ADSL Max broadband penetration
UK telecom giant, BT says that more than three-fourths of UK population will get high-speed broadband (up to 24Mbps) by 2011, if the provider extends its advanced copper wire network based on ADSL 2+ technology across the country.
ADSL 2+ (or ADSL Max) is a type of DSL technology that uses copper wires to bring broadband to homes, however it is capable of delivering much higher speeds (up to 24Mbps) when comparing to the maximum theoretical speeds of 8Mbps by ADSL broadband.
However, both ADSL and ADSL 2+ speeds are found to be dropping rapidly, over distances. As a result, the users who are far away (4+ kms) from the exchanges usually get significantly lower speeds. However, ADSL 2+ broadband network, using specialised copper wires and equipment, can deliver better speeds than ADSL in terms of distance.
Currently, BT Broadband has 99 percent of ADSL coverage in UK and more than 4.5 million broadband connections in the UK. As a part of its plans to deploy next generation broadband networks in UK, BT, the largest ADSL broadband provider has been upgrading its broadband network from ADSL to ADSL Max for the last couple of years. Currently, over 40 percent of Britains (both homes and businesses) are connected by BT’s high-speed broadband networks, it was stated.
BT reveals plans to speed up ADSL 2+ deployment
BT would now double the penetration of its ADSL Max and aim at bringing 20 million UK broadband users under its super-fast broadband network in the first half of 2011, it was reported.
Last week, Bill Murphy, MD for BT Business, in an interview to the website cbronline.com, said that BT would increae the ADSL 2+ penetration from 40% to 55% by next year.
The ISP has also been deploying its fibre based super-fast broadband network (Fibre to the cabinet or FTTC) in many areas in UK. BT’s fibre line broadband network would offer 40Mbps broadband to 1.5 million UK households by 2012, according to BT.
Although the speeds provided by BT’s ADSL 2+ broadband roll out are significantly less than what fibre optic broadband can offer, users would generally get better speeds in future than what they get now. Moreover, if BT’s existing ADSL gets upgraded to high-speed ADSL 2+ lines, it would also benefit BT’s subsidiaries like Post Office and Plusnet and its partners like Vodafone to provide faster connections to their customers.
Cameron Rejali, Managing Director, Products, BT Wholesale has commented:
“The announcement is further evidence of BT’s commitment to deliver next-generation broadband services across the UK. By expanding the footprint and reducing wholesale prices, we are helping communications providers deliver faster speeds to more customers, essential benefits in the tough economic and competitive environment we face today.”
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