Four million people in the UK set to get Fibre Broadband

A new report has found that during the next five years over four million businesses and homes in the UK could be benefitting from broadband connections using next generation fibre optic lines.

The latest forecasts show that by 2013 there will be an estimated 22 million broadband connection in the UK and of these 20 percent will use fibre optic connections according to the report by analysts Point Topic.

On the basis that the Virgin Media run cable network already offers customers speeds of up to 50Mbps, which means the fastest download speeds available, Point Blank has said it will carry on doing well and will hold on about 23 percent of the market.

The use of simple DSL connections that make use of standard telephone lines to access the internet will, however, drop to 57 percent of all lines by the end of 2013 from the current 78 percent, the study predicts.

Point Topic said that most user will get speeds of 20Mbps or higher for download as the majority of connection are to go as far as cabinets in the street, with the remaining distance being covered using high-speed DSL copper cable.

Chef analyst at Point Topic, Tim Johnson said “This is probably the first moment when it has been possible to make a plausible forecast for fibre in the UK, based on some real plans and activity.”

In regards to the provisional plans for deployment of broadband over fibre optic by 2010 to 10 million homes by BT Broadband he said “It’ll probably take a bit longer than that but there are lot of other players coming into the market too. So we estimate there will be over 4.4 million fibre lines by the end of 2013.”

Three years later there will be “well over 11 million” fibre lines predicted Point Topic. Johnson also said “There’s a lot of controversy about whether and why people are actually going to want such high speeds. People will be able to mix video telephony, TV, audio, online games and virtual worlds, all high quality and high resolution, into the total experience they want at that moment. In fact it’s what today’s teenagers are trying to do right now and in a few more years the technology will catch up with them.”

A spokesman for a popular broadband comparison site said “The launch of Virgin Media’s 50Mb broadband package last week marked the first step towards a next generation broadband Britain. As speeds increase and consumers are able to download DVD quality movies, watch high-definition programmes online and share your super-fast connection with your whole family, people will begin to expect even more from their broadband connections, with new applications that make use of a next generation network beginning to emerge.”