After finding out that the expense would be less than it originally expected, BT Openreach said it will double the reach of its Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) network. Initially set to pass 1 million homes, BT Openreach will now expand its Fiber to the Premises via an open access network to other competitive providers. It will pass about 2.5 million homes and businesses by 2012. Initially delivering 100 Mbps speeds, BT said the network expansion allows it to deliver up to 1 Gbps if the demand dictates the need for higher bandwidth.
Previously, BT planned to offer FTTP-based services to about 1 million premises, while the remaining homes and businesses would get Fiber to the Cabinet (FTTC) services with initial speeds of up to 40 Mbps. Instead, BT will roll out FTTP services in various markets where copper services are already being offered. Overbuilding its copper plant with fiber is a change from BT's initial strategy, which called to deploy FTTC in existing Brownfield markets and FTTP only in Greenfield sites.
This latest development comes on the heels of Openreach designating Bradwell Abbey in Milton Keynes and Highams Park, London as its initial Brownfield trial FTTP markets. By March 2010, BT said 20,000 homes and businesses will be able to get up to 100 Mbps speeds. BT Openreach wants to leverage the trial to better understand how it can deliver FTTP services to homes where it currently offers copper-based services.
For more:
- Reuters has this article
- see the release here
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