Broadband bonanza?
The number of telephone lines carrying super-fast next generation fibre broadband access could soar to over 600,000 by the end of 2011, according to a survey by telecoms analyst Point Topic.
ISPreview reported that around 45,000 telephone lines carried superfast broadband at the end of 2010 but by the end of this year around 3 percent of all broadband lines in the UK will be able to receive speeds of at least 25Mbps via BT's 40Mbps Fibre-to-Cabinet (FTTC) or 110Mbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology.
Point Topic's report is also believed to predict that another 200,000 lines (accounting for 1 percent of the UK's broadband lines) will be using Virgin Media's 50Mbps services via its cable modem network, although it is not forecasted how many people will splash out on the firm's super-speedy 100Mbps package.
Tim Johnson, chief analyst at Point Topic, reportedly believes BT needs some impressive uptake figures to prove its investment in fibre broadband is paying off.
"They have to show both that the demand is there and that they have the technology to supply it," he reportedly added.
Justifying Point Topic's predictions, he said the firm is ‘sticking its neck out' with the forecast. Johnson reportedly believes BT can achieve a big increase in its superfast rollout this year but warned the forecast "is still very vulnerable to a wide range of potential problems. It could be hit by anything from the weather to a double-dip recession."
It is expected that BT's fibre rollout will cover some 6 million homes and businesses by the end of 2011, which should prove pretty impressive if achieved as around 600,000 homes are said to be connected in mid 2010.
Currently, BT Retail is reportedly hooking up 4,000 new FTTC connections every week and this is expected to soar to around 9,000 in the first half of this year. Point Topic told the website that it expects another jump and for BT to connect an amazing 14,000 homes every week in the latter half of this year.
