It's been a while since we last provided an update on our fibre trials so as we start 2012 we've decided it's the perfect opportunity to let you know what's going on.
FTTP Trial - Fibre to the Premises
We'll start with our FTTP trial. FTTP currently offers speeds up to 100Mbps and differs from standard broadband by using a fibre line that runs all the way to your property rather than using the normal copper. We now have almost 150 customers on our trial and the areas covered by FTTP are growing all the time. Some areas covered by the following exchanges - Bradwell Abbey, Highams Park, Chester South, York, Ashford (Middlesex), Ilford Central, St Austell, Forest Hill, Leytonstone and Exeter can take part in the trial. More areas are coming soon. From 1st February we'll be making a few changes to our FTTP service. The following trial products and options will be available:
Plusnet Value Fibre 40Mbps Trial - £16.49
Speed - 40Mbps down, 2Mbps up Contract - no change to your existing contract period Usage - 40GB (between 8am and midnight), unlimited overnight (midnight to 8am) Router - free 4 port wireless (currently Netgear WNR1000)
This product is the same as our FTTC Value Fibre product only with FTTP.
Plusnet Extra Fibre 40Mbps Trial - £21.49
Speed - 40Mbps down, 2Mbps up Contract - no change to your existing contract period Usage - 120GB (between 8am and midnight), unlimited overnight (midnight to 8am) Router - free 4 port wireless (currently Netgear WNR1000)
This product is the same as our FTTC Extra Fibre product only with FTTP.
Plusnet Extra Fibre 100Mbps Trial - £34.49
Speed - 100Mbps down, 15Mbps up Contract - no change to your existing contract period Usage - 120GB (between 8am and midnight), unlimited overnight (midnight to 8am) Router - free 4 port wireless (currently ZyXEL NBG4604)
Further details about our fibre broadband packages are available on our website but please note that the pages will only refer to Fibre to the Cabinet at the moment. For an additional £2 per month you can choose to increase just the upload speed to 10Mbps on the two 40Mbps options. As a thank you for taking part in the trial our existing FTTP customers can remain on the product and price point they are on now for as long as they wish or they can switch to one of the new products to take advantage of the usage allowances. Existing Plusnet customers can check if FTTP is available in their area using the BT availability checker here. If it is available and you want to upgrade then please raise a ticket via our trial site here, answer all the questions and we'll start things moving for you. At this stage FTTP will remain as a trial and no commercial launch has been set. Later in the year Openreach are planning to increase the maximum speed of FTTP to 330Mbps, we're hoping to take part in the trial and will post more details later in the year.
FTTC Trial - Fibre to the Cabinet
Two weeks ago we will began a trial of faster FTTC speeds up to 80Mbps down and 20Mbps up. The first phase of the trial is expected to run through to the end of January and has limited availability. We have already asked customers to pre-register in our forum if they wish to take part and applications are currently closed. From early February the 80Mbps/20Mbps trial will be available to all existing FTTC customers. Customers who took part in the original FTTC trial who have yet to upgrade to either our Value Fibre or Extra Fibre products will need to upgrade to one of these first. Those taking part in the trial in January will receive the faster service for no additional charge until 30th April. We have so far seen maximum sync speeds of 80Mbps down and 20Mbps up with speedtest results coming in at a maximum of around 76Mbps. Some results are in our forums here. As with other DSL technologies the up to 80Mbps speeds are distance dependant, although it is distance between property and cabinet that counts rather than property and exchange. As such we have seen sync speeds vary from the mid 50s all the way up to the full 80Mbps, with a mean speed of about 68Mbps.
More info on how fibre broadband works are available in our handy guide about what is fibre broadband
We'll post more details in February about how you can take part in the up to 80Mbps trial. Dave Tomlinson Plusnet Product Team