Need for Speed: Kat’s troubles with fibre-to-cabinet broadband provision
ISPs' slow uptake of BT's 40Mbit/s ADSL is giving Kat the opportunity to whine about things she could never have dreamed of in the days of 56kbit/s modems.
A key reason that so few ADSL resellers are jumping on the FTTC bandwagon comes down to its cost. Not only do end users have to pay a fair sum for the service but the DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) units that must be installed in each street cabinet don’t come cheap.
Andrew Saunders, Zen Internet’s Head of Product Management and Marketing, notes that “the rental cost of the [FTTC] circuit is considerably more than for [conventional] ADSL and having a faster service means that people use it more. Capacity costs: it drives an increase in usage, which means we need to put more capacity on our networks. FTTC costs more to provide but it is a great service, which is why we positioned it as a premium price product.”
Uptake of FTTC ADSL by most ISPs has been slow in general. Part of the reason for this is that it’s not universally available, even within the area covered by a single exchange. The rollout is massively complex and expensive, involving tens to hundreds of cabinets, which can’t all be upgraded at once. This means that companies like Zen have to check not just availability at the exchange, but also for availability on each individual line via the cabinet it’s connected to.
VIRGIN TERRITORY?
In Virgin Media’s case, there’s the added issue of potential confusion. Press Executive Ashley Scott told us that “[FTTC ADSL from Virgin] is possible, but we wouldn’t be able to deliver a service that’s in line with what customers would expect from a Virgin fibre product.” She also noted that most FTTC rollout areas to date are in large cities that are already well covered by Virgin’s cable service – the rural areas most in need of fast broadband have yet to see the benefits. Virgin’s official stance is that the company is looking into FTTC and will post an announcement as soon there’s news.
From a purely selfish perspective, I’m not happy. With Virgin Media currently unable to provide me with an equivalent fast FTTC ADSL service to replace my 30Mbits/s cable, I’ve looked into breaking my contract – with the associated painful cost – in the hope of finding another ISP: one that will offer me connection speeds that are up to the demands of a house full of data-hungry IT professionals with a net fixation.
Alternatively, we could view this as a valuable opportunity to go outside and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine…
