TV and Video Will Triple Average Home Monthly Internet Usage to Beyond 1 TB By 2025

Figure 1: Forecast for Average Monthly Home Internet Use (2013-2025) Over the next five years, average home monthly Internet usage in the UK will triple from its 2019 level, surpassing 1 TB per month by 2025, as shown in our forecast shown above. This growth, which is in line with usage growth predicted for the … Read more

Disney Plus in the UK Finally Matches Bit Rates in the USA

The exciting launch of Disney Plus in the UK in March 2020 was sadly hampered by the widespread reduction in bit rates among streamed TV providers requested by the European Commissioner Thierry Breton due to the coronavirus pandemic. This resulted in 4k content not being delivered in true 3840 x 2160 resolution and the removal … Read more

Chart of Fibre Broadband (FTTC) Speed Versus Distance From the Cabinet

‘Fibre broadband’, or Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) as it is more formally known, is the technology that delivers the vast majority of superfast broadband connections in the UK currently. Often, the term ‘VDSL2’ is also used. The technology has two major weaknesses – by using the copper wires between you and the street cabinet, speeds diminish the further … Read more

Review of Apple TV+: Apple’s Streamed Service Leads the Pack in Picture Quality

Apple launched its new TV streaming service in the UK on 1st November 2019, to compete with rivals Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Pricing is certainly aggressive. Apple TV+ currently costs £4.99 per month although there is a cheaper way to subscribe for buyers of Apple products. Apple offers a year-long trial for buying a … Read more

BBC iPlayer Ultra HD (4k) Demonstrates Amazing Picture Quality

  You may also be interested in: ‘A Perfect Planet’ and ‘Dr Who’ Demonstrate 4k HDR at Its Best in BBC iPlayer (Jan 2021). What a pleasure it was this Christmas and New Year period being able to watch the complete series of ‘Seven Worlds, One Planet’ and ‘Dracula’ on BBC iPlayer in Ultra HD … Read more

Superfast Broadband Fuels Streamed Video-on-Demand Services

We enjoyed a fantastic Christmas period making the most of the large amount of Ultra HD 4k content that is now available across the streaming platforms in the UK, including ‘Seven Worlds, One Planet’ from the BBC (shown above). High-speed broadband has been making a dramatic impact on television production and consumption. It is allowing a … Read more

BT Trials Long Reach VDSL (LR-VDSL)

Fibre cabinet

Update: Sadly, BT has stopped trials of LR-VDSL as the technology has not proved as effective as it originally hoped. We think it’s best that BT focuses on bringing Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) to everyone as soon as possible. A major weakness of the Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) technology that BT is currently deploying for superfast broadband … Read more

HD and 4k TV Delivered by Fibre Broadband

tv image

Read our latest articles: Blog articles related to streamed TV In this blog, we look at the delivery of TV services, including the very latest Ultra HD (sometimes termed ‘4k’) services from Netflix, Amazon and BT. Superfast broadband brings consumers the opportunity of enhancing TV delivered by traditional satellite (e.g. Sky HD and Freesat) and … Read more

G.INP, the New Fibre Broadband Enhancement Arrives

Engineer at BT street cabinet

Updated February 2021. A major enhancement called G.INP has been introduced to my fibre broadband FTTC connection, as part of BT’s rollout of a new technology aimed at improving fibre broadband speeds and reducing errors. In this article, I look at G.INP and its benefits, and show how you can tell if this technology has been … Read more

BT Fibre Broadband Take-up Creeps Up to 15%

Superfast broadband

On the 31st July 2014, BT announced its financial results for the quarter ending June 2014. It announced that its fibre broadband network covered about 20 million premises, and that about 3 million of these had signed up, making take-up about 15% of premises. As shown in the figure below, while the results indicate steady … Read more

Early Deployment of Vectoring is Essential to Avoid a Crosstalk Crisis with FTTC Fibre Broadband

Fibre street cabinet

Read our more up-to-date article: Fibre Broadband VDSL2 Vectoring Arrives (Nov 2017) We have just been connected to FTTC fibre broadband, giving us the opportunity to observe the adverse effects of crosstalk interference on speeds and Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) margin at first hand. As the penetration of fibre broadband increases, so the likelihood of being adversely … Read more

Fibre Broadband (FTTC) Self Install and the Risks to Broadband Speeds Without a VDSL Faceplate Filter

Openreach van

The accountants seem to have been actively working in BT recently, with a number interesting, financially-motivated decisions taken. These revolve around optimising BT’s services to better reflect the practical costs of installation of fibre-optic cables for FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) on Demand and FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) equipment in residential and business premises. … Read more

Latest Pricing Positions FTTP as a Niche Product

Superfast broadband

BT’s Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) on Demand service has been surrounded by a great deal of mystery. While some critics have pointed to Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) technology adopted for BT’s mainstream roll-out as not providing the best long-term, future-proof architecture for superfast broadband, BT and many BDUK-related superfast broadband projects have emphasised … Read more