BT Openreach to deploy fibre network in Ebbsfleet

According to the Guardian, BT Openreach will begin the task of deploying fibre optic network at the Ebbsfleet site and offer fibre based broadband to more than 10,000 homes from this August. The proposed fibre network is expected to offer speeds up to 100 Mbps which is 20 times faster than the average speed that is currently available in the UK. Once the installation work is completed, BT will offer the network to other ISPs like BT Retail, TalkTalk and BSkyB and other media companies on wholesale basis. The faster connections provided by these companies will enable their customers to have better experience when they access services that demand high-bandwidth like VoD (Video on Demand) and P2P sites.

Steve Robertson of BT Openreach said:

"Openreach will provide the basic infrastructure and service providers will have the opportunity to build their own services on the back of it,"

The new fibre networks will make UK to be one of the developed broadband nations like Japan or South Korea or France which provide highspeed broadband (with speed over 50Mbps) using the fibre optic network.

"Ultra fast broadband is a key future technology that will allow our businesses to innovate, grow and create wealth as well as providing even greater options for consumers," Steve Robert further said.

Regarding the price of the fibre based broadband available in Ebbsfleet, Openreach said it will be between £100 a year for a basic connection and £530 a year for the fastest connection with download speeds up to 100Mbps. However, the final price will be decided after a discussion with the potential customers of the area and the service providers who deliver these services, according to the statement from Openreach.

BT’s project to launch fibre based broadband in Ebbsfleet will be extended to other areas across UK in near future. It should be noted that replacing the existing copper phone lines with fibre optic wires will cost over £10 billion. It seems that a part of the cost will be passed to the customers who may have to pay over £40 to get broadband connection via fibre network.