BT's 100 Mbps FTTP service trial hits installation speed bump

BT (NYSE: BT) may be excited to roll out 100 Mbps-capable Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) service, but it looks like that effort is being held up by longer service installation intervals.

This latest revelation comes not long after BT set a goal of bringing FTTP to about 270,000 homes by September 2011 with the caveat that it would take two engineers seven hours to install the service at one home.

Before launching it on a commercial basis, BT said it would like to drive down installation time to 2 hours. However, about one quarter of BT's FTTP trial home installations were taking two days.

Leveraging what it calls a "mixed economy" approach that incorporates both Fiber to the Cabinet and FTTP, the service provider has set an ambitious goal to bring its FTTX network to two-thirds of households and businesses in the UK by 2015.

What's been hampering BT's FTTP installation effort is twofold: cable duct blockages that need to be cleared so it can blow fiber through them and that five percent of home owners wanted to be present during the installation.

"FTTP is a complex technology which we are currently trialing at scale," said a BT spokesperson. "We are pleased with how the trials are going, but have always been very clear that we will only launch it on a commercial basis once it has been fully tested and is ready for the market."

For more:
- The Register has this article

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