“Fibre-optic broadband”, “super-fast broadband”, “next-generation broadband”.
These are phrases that we hear on a daily basis in the office, at home, via the media … but what does it all mean?
So what is fibre-optic broadband?
Fibre-optic broadband represents a huge leap in the evolution of how we get online. It uses fibre-optic cables for some, or all of the journey, between your local exchange and your premises. This eliminates the use of old, slow copper cables (used for ADSL broadband) and therefore dramatically improves the speed at which you can send or receive data.
There are generally two types of fibre broadband connections:
Fibre to the cabinet (FTTC)
FTTC involves running fibre-optic cables from a BT exchange to a street cabinet (the green cabinets you see on the road) which contains the broadband equipment. From here it is linked to the business premises or home via the existing BT copper network. This then connects the home or business to your Internet Service Provider’s Fibre Broadband Service.
