What is the difference between BT (FTTC) fibre/telephone wire and Full Fibre (FTTP)?

What is fibre broadband?

Fibre broadband uses fibre optic cables to help increase the speed of your broadband connection. It is often referred to as 'super-fast broadband' or 'next-generation broadband'.

There are two types of fibre broadband connections

Fibre-to-the-Cabinet involves running fibre optic cables from the telephone exchange to the street cabinets which then connect to a standard phone line to provide broadband.

FTTC works well in urban areas with short distances from the fibre to the home.

In rural areas the speed drops off very quickly with distance. With 1,000 metres of connecting wire the maximum speed is 24Mbps but this is reduced by the number of users connected . At 1,500 metres the best speed is 15Mbps , again this will be less as more users are connected . Most connections in rural areas are over 1,000metres.

If you pay for a 74Mbps download service only a few people have to be able to receive this speed. The "Assured speed" - the minimum speed you will get under contract is 13Mbps. There is no guaranteed upload speed .

FTTP uses fibre optic connection from the exchange to the building and can deliver faster speeds than FTTC as there is no standard phone line . It has been used in Sweden for over 25 years but started being installed in the Uk about 10 years ago. It uses the same technology as the fast connections needed by most businesses.

FTTP delivers guaranteed download speeds of 30 Mbps and 100 Mbps . Extra users have little effect on speed. In our scheme FTTP will be available to most homes in our area .

FTTP is capable of delivering speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps as soon as there is a need .

source http://www.thinkbroadband.com/guide/fibre-broadband.html

Raveningham Broadband only use Full Fibre ( FTTH ) We guarantee either 30 Mbps download AND 5/10 Mbps upload speed, dependant on which package you buy.