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BT pledges £6 billion for superfast broadband and 4G upgrades
In its first set of financial results since it absorbed EE, the UK's biggest mobile operator, BT has made a fresh commitment to improving broadband and 4G connectivity across Britain. After seeing profits rise more than nine percent to £3.4 billion, the company says it is to spend £6 billion on improving its services, which will include extending its superfast broadband coverage to 12 million homes and delivering LTE to 95 percent of the UK by 2020.
5Gbps broadband is coming to Britain, for £399 per month
Words like "superfast" and "ultrafast" are thrown around all the time to describe UK home broadband. Of course, what we really want to know are the cold, hard numbers. Download and upload speeds, man. That's why Gigaclear has us champing at the bit with its latest announcement -- it's trialling 5Gbps broadband, right now, with a small group of customers in Oxfordshire. If you've never heard of Gigaclear before, we don't blame you. The company was founded in 2010 and only operates in 36 rural communities, spread across five English counties. You can check your postcode here, but the chances of you falling under its custom fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network are slim. And even if you own one of the 10,000 homes with Gigaclear access, you'll have to pay some serious cash for the faster speeds. The company will be charging £399 per month for homeowners and £1,500 for businesses when the trial expands to all Gigaclear customers next year. Got a Scrooge McDuck pile of cash in your basement? Otherwise, this is all just a pipe dream.
BT kicks off 330Mbps 'FTTP on Demand' trials, reveals pilot locations
Not everyone is apparently in love with British operator BT's green boxes. Still, that isn't stopping the company from serving up its high-fiber diet to those who want to have speedy Internet connections. For its latest project, BT's Openreach division has started offering an "FTTP on Demand" program that provides fiber-to-the-premises at 330Mbps speeds to folks or businesses who order the service. The project will be done in phases at eight locations, starting with High Wycombe, Bristol South and St Agnes, Cornwall in July. Next up is Edinburgh's Waverley exchange in September followed by Watford, Cardiff, Basingstoke and Manchester Central in 2013. Communications providers can decide to cover installation costs by absorbing a one-off charge, having higher monthly fees or passing the whole thing to the consumer. Want to gobble up more info about BT's latest fiber-filled broadband service? Then check out the good, old PR after the break.
BT Openreach launching 300Mbps broadband in the UK - high in fibre, low in fat
You've got broadband, right? Are you sure you do? Well, it turns out that the US might well be slipping further down the international 'what speed can you get' tables as UK telecom giant BT Openreach has just fessed up that it will be rolling out a 300Mbps wholesale network as soon as spring 2012. As the network is FTTP, there shouldn't be any more of the old 'up to' claims that have plagued the UK market until now. Also, since it's wholesale, we've got our fingers crossed there won't be any nasty price hiking either, so no need for other providers to start bumping their gums about how unfair it is. So it might not be a gigabit network, but with the UK joining the broad-band-super-speed-party, the US needs to up it's gross point average of 5.3Mbps soon, or risk being left at the children's table. If you're prepared to pine mournfully for what your UK friends have in store, hit the PR past the break.
Verizon bringing 150 / 35Mbps internet to FiOS customers, enraging customers of all other ISPs
You know, we're pretty stoked for the folks who just so happen to reside within Verizon's relatively minuscule FiOS service footprint, but rather than hooking up those who've already been adequately hooked, why not spread that fiber cheer over to a few extra states? Alas, it looks as if the FiOS rollout is on an indefinite hold, but those lucky enough to have access will soon have the ability to upgrade their existing internet service to this: a 150/35Mbps option. That's 150Mbps down and 35Mbps up, and as far as consumer-grade services in America go, it's pretty much as good as it gets. Verizon is claiming that it'll be available to order by consumers at the end of this year, with small businesses seeing the option shortly thereafter. 'Course, no pricing details are mentioned, but it's not like it matters -- you'll cash in whatever Yuletide gifts you have to in order to get this, right? Update, Verizon pinged us with a few points -- for starters new speed is available today to the majority of our FiOS customers in 12 states and the District of Columbia, with more and more to get it in due time. As for pricing? The 150/35 Mbps residential offer will be available to the majority of FiOS-eligible households, and sold as a stand-alone service starting at $194.99 a month when purchased with a one-year service agreement and Verizon wireline voice service. Not exactly a "bargain," but like we said, you're still finding a way to make this happen.
Google to beta test 1Gbps fiber internet service at Stanford's Residential Subdivision
Right after having a giant Christmas tree as your mascot comes the next best reason to be a Cardinal: the chance to have 1Gbps internet from Google. If you'll recall, the Big G announced earlier this year that it was planning to rollout a 1Gbps fiber connection to between 50,000 and 500,000 homes in a given community, and while the search is still ongoing for the perfect fit (that's expected to be announced by the year's end), Google's using a sliver of Stanford's campus to trial things before heading public. The university's Residential Subdivision -- a group of approximately 850 faculty- and staff-owned homes on campus -- will be the testing grounds for the aforesaid internet service, and the current plan is to break ground on the initiative in early 2011. El Goog chose Stanford for a couple of reasons: first, it's bright enough to realize how awesome of a PR move this is, and second, this chunk of campus is spitting distance from Mountain View. Third, the Cardinal mascot was down with it -- and seriously, who is Google to question that thing?
Chattanooga becomes home to 1Gbps internet service, just $350 per month
It pales in comparison to Sigbritt Löthberg's home internet connection, but it sure makes Comcast's Extreme 105Mbps broadband package look downright sluggish. EPB Fiber Optics (Chattanooga's municipally-owned fiber-to-the-premises network) and Alcatel-Lucent have teamed up to offer America's "fastest" home broadband service -- a service that brings 1Gbps (or 1000Mbps, if that strikes you better) directly to your PC. Best of all, the service is actually on sale starting today, and every single home and business within EPB's 600 square-mile, nine-county service area will be able to access the network. Oh, and in case you're wondering, this actually isn't affiliated in any way with Google's own proposed 1Gbps service, which likely means that this record will only sit in southeast Tennessee for a few months. Still, we hear this place is some kind of beautiful in the fall, but make sure you're cool with a $350 monthly charge before pulling the trigger on a relocation. Update: Tipster Jens notes that he can get a 1Gbps connection for 900 SEK per month in Stockholm, or around $126. Baby steps, we Americans are taking.
Verizon can almost serve GigE on existing FiOS platform, which means you'll soon be relocating
It's not like we're holding Verizon to its word or anything, but the company purportedly decided to shelve all future FiOS rollout plans back in March. Since then, however, Big Red has been talking up its fiber-based services, leaving us to wonder why it would put a stop to laying more of it. Whatever the case, the company is now gloating about hitting "near Gigabit-per-second" speeds on the existing FiOS GPON platform. For those who aren't as technically savvy, that means that FiOS can essentially saturate your Gigabit Ethernet jack, and if things got much faster, you'd need a port that's not even available on consumer machines to handle the extra data. The nitty-gritty details of the test are just past the break, but the long and short of it is this -- Verizon saw speeds of 925Mbps to a local server and over 800Mbps to a regional speed test server located some 400 miles away. Better still, this black magic was all done with very little magic at all, requiring just minor tweaks to the system in order to uncap all sorts of extra headroom. Meanwhile, your YouTube upload is being capped by Time Warner Cable at a speed too sluggish to mention. Awesome.
NAD to Time Warner Cable and Cox: stop lying about your so-called 'fiber' networks
Ouch. For the past few months, both Time Warner Cable and Cox had been airing advertisements that slipped the word "fiber" in there in some form or fashion, and while that's partially true, it's completely bogus according to the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. The watchdog group is now asking both of these cable carriers to drop claims that they each run fiber-optic networks, noting that the accusations could indeed fool consumers into believing that hybrid-fiber networks are the same as a full-fiber one, like -- you know -- Verizon's FiOS footprint. Among the claims being disputed is this gem from TWC -- "Road Runner Turbo is zooming across the advanced fiber network." -- and Cox calling its service the "New Face of Fiber." Needless to say, both TWC and Cox were peeved, and while the former is exercising its right to appeal, Cox is cowering and taking the advice to heart. As you'd expect, Verizon was utterly elated to hear the news, with spokesman Jim Smith stating that the ruling is "great news for consumers, who've been misled for too long by Cox and Time Warner [Cable]'s false and deliberately misleading ads." Ah, nothing like a little drama between a trifecta of carriers who should probably focus their attention on things like Hulu, market slippage and creeping irrelevance. [Image courtesy of Lafayette Pro Fiber]
Verizon hopes to bring 3D programming to FiOS TV customers by year-end 2010
A smattering of pay-TV providers have already announced their intentions to start piping out 3D programming to their users (starting next week with The Masters), but up until now, neither of America's (two) major fiber operators had bit the three-dee bullet. Verizon's own Shawn Strickland, vice president of FiOS product management, has come forward today with a bit of news on the matter, and it's the kind of stuff you want to hear if you're a) lucky enough to already be in a FiOS TV market and b) one who cares about the third dimension. He notes that his company is "monitoring the early sales of 3D TVs and expects to announce a 3D offering well in advance of the holiday TV-shopping season," further saying that Verizon is already in "active discussions with a number of companies in the emerging 3D value chain." He makes no bones about the hurdles along the way, suggesting that "technological challenges remain, as technology that enables TVs and set-top boxes to adjust the set to display 3D content has not been perfected or distributed, causing a major viewing hassle for consumers." That said, we're pretty stoked about having a 3D FiOS TV offering "in the market in time for the holiday," with the company aiming for a product that has "fully automated HDMI format-switching capability that switches between 2D and 3D, not via ponderous access to the TV's setup menu." Now, let's see how many of these wishes come true, cool?
Verizon shelves plans for future FiOS rollouts, relocations to Massachusetts set to boom
'Tis fun while it lasted, yeah? Verizon's FiOS has provided a much-wanted (or much-needed, some would argue) sliver of competition in markets that were previously offered just one or two ISP options, and the wicked fast speeds available through the fiber-based service were just one big stream of cherries-on-top. We've personally noticed that the company has slowed down the rate at which it blasts out releases trumpeting new FiOS and FiOS TV markets, and now we know why: an Associated Press report notes that the operator has canned all public plans about expanding its FTTH home network, though it will continue to build-out where it had previously announced service (Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia, namely). Of course, Verizon never stated that it would be making FiOS a nationwide service, but after hitting at least some sections of 18 states, we had high hopes that it would keep on keepin' on. Unfortunately, it looks like you'll be forced to move to FiOS-heavy Massachusetts, or simply gaze endlessly from your apartment window knowing that you'll never feel the warm glow of a FiOS wire. Sniffle.
Seattle eager for Google fiber, other cities apt to fall in line
Talk about rapid response. Just a day or so after Google blew a few minds by announcing its plans to serve 1Gbps internet to a select group of communities, Seattle mayor Mike McGinn has come forward and confessed that the Emerald City is ready to accept said offer. 'Course, we shouldn't be shocked to hear that one of the most educated and wealthy cities in North America -- as well as (almost) being home to Microsoft -- is up for a little fiber action, but it's certainly interesting to see just how willing the local government is to share its resources with Gmail's creator. We're guessing that other tech-savvy cities throughout the US will be jumping in line as well, so if you'd like to be one of the first, now might be a fantastic time to ping your own mayor and get him / her on the ball.
Verizon FiOS TV contractions: May 13, 2009
This is uh....odd. We've gotten so used to FiOS TV creeping into new areas that we've had to create a weekly roundup just to keep track, but today the company announced it is pulling out of rural areas in 14 states, turning over operations to Frontier Communications. The transition should take place over the next year, and includes around 69,000 FiOS TV subscribers in Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin, plus some in California (Note: FiOS wasn't yet available in all the areas affected by the switch, so this only applies where it was.) Fiber to the premises and video will still be provided after the merger, and the 11,000 Verizon employees in these areas will transfer over as well. The real questions is if affected subs can expect the same packages and level of service they've come to expect, but really it seems we'll just have to wait and see.
Verizon ramps up for 100Mbps FiOS internet in 2009
Verizon has tested the 100Mbps internet waters before back when it was rolling out Actiontec routers in select locales, but now the outfit is gearing up to roll it out en masse. Speaking at the recent Lightwave's Optical Access '08 virtual conference and tradeshow, Vincent O'Byrne (director of FTTP architecture and design within Verizon's Technology Organization) affirmed that the provider would dish out 100Mbit/sec internet service next year. Currently, it offers homes downstream options of 5-, 10-, 15-, 30- and 50Mbits/sec with up to 20Mbit/sec upstream, though trials are already underway to get that maximum doubled in short order. No word on which regions will get gifted first, but we've a sneaking suspicion that Massachusetts has a good chance. The whole "teacher's pet" thing, you know?
FairPoint offering free HDTVs for fiber trials in Portsmouth, NH
Call us crazy, but we suspect these 100 free HDTVs (and DVRs) will be snapped up in no time flat... if they aren't all claimed already, that is. FairPoint Communications is hoping to lure a hundred Portsmouth, New Hampshire homes into testing its new fiber-based (IPTV) programming technology as it looks to compete locally with Comcast. The 90-day pilot program is set to start in January and is open to all Portsmouth residents within the FairPoint fiber-optic service area. Depending on how the tests go, many communities could look to FairPoint to provide video services, though the initial trial will include just 45 channels as critics look to judge quality, not quantity. So, what exactly are you waiting for? Get on the horn and get your name on the list!
WestTel bringing FTTP to Grand Cayman
While we here at Engadget HQ ponder a week-long excursion to the splendorous island of Grand Cayman, we can't help but be swayed even closer to pulling the trigger after reading this news. WestTel, along with suits from WestStar TV and ABC Trenching, has just broke ground on a $15 million, seven-year initiative to bring fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) to the only Cayman island with an international airport. The first phase will focus simply on establishing a fiber infrastructure amongst corporations, initially from Television Centre to Camana Bay, then up West Bay Road to Governors Square. Phase two will see the deployment of HDTV and high-speed internet / voice services to residences along West Bay Road, while followup phases will string it to the rest of the island. We just made your vacation plans a whole lot easier, didn't we?
Aspen Optics boldly predicts massive fiber adoption by 2010
Move over, 2012. 2010 is up first, and Aspen Optics is asserting that it'll be a banner year for fiber. Granted, we're taking all of this pretty lightly given the industry that it's in, but nevertheless, said company is proclaiming that FTTH (fiber to the home) will soon be known as FTEH (fiber to every home) while FTTO (fiber to the office) will morph into FTEO (fiber to every office). The proclamation does note that we're talking about "developed nations" here, and the release does tend to focus on the UAE in particular, but this provides good fodder for discussion if nothing else. Do you see fiber booming in just 18 months? We're guessing it'll take a few more years beyond that for it to really make a play for significant cable market share, but hey, we'd love to be wrong.[Via Developing Telecoms]
Provo, Utah sells iProvo fiber-optic network to Broadweave
iProvo, the largest municipally owned fiber-to-the-premises network in the entire United States, has just been sold to Broadweave Networks. The Provo, Utah-based network actually reaches all 36,000 residents and businesses of the city, and manages to connect homes, businesses, government buildings, schools and even traffic signals. The sale price was $40.6 million, which is plenty to retire the outstanding bonds incurred by Provo to build the system. The City itself seems quite pleased, as it gains the advantage of the sale and it continues to enjoy the benefits of the infrastructure. Under the agreement, Broadweave will act as the network owner and service provider, while Provo retains a license to keep on using the fiber as it has in the past. Best of all, the new owner has already promised to "invest heavily in network upgrades in order to increase capacity, features, and performance for commercial customers," though we aren't sure if that means more HD content is on the way.
48000 more Portland-area homes getting FiOS services
Right before our very eyes, Portland, Oregon is quickly becoming a mecca of all things HD (not really, but you get the idea). Not even a full month after we learned that FiOS TV was coming to the area and its local NBC affiliate started newscasting in high-def, Verizon has now announced that some 48,000 more homes in the Portland Metro area will soon have access to FiOS. You heard right -- hordes of domiciles in the communities of Beaverton, Sunnyside / Damascus, McMinnville, Forest Grove, Gresham, Tigard, Tualatin and Camas / Washougal can look forward to receiving access to FiOS TV and high-speed internet. No word on a launch date for any of the aforementioned locales, but hold tight, VZW is blazing a path to those areas as we speak.
Verizon begins rollout of FiOS Interactive Media Guide
Remember that Interactive Media Guide that Verizon was promising other markets this summer? Even if not, FiOS subscribers located in Indiana, Rhode Island, parts of New Jersey and beyond will soon get acquainted with Verizon's new method of searching for and finding content. Right on schedule, the firm is rolling out the guide to an undisclosed amount of its FiOS markets, and hopes to "erase the lines between TV, internet, and personal media." Best of all, users won't even have to lift a finger in order to experience the upgrade, and it's slated to be delivered via a network download at no additional cost. So, for those fortunate enough to be included in the first wave of updates, give us some impressions, will ya?
