Fibre-optic broadband is about to change the way you surf the Internet — and a lot of other things, too — in the UK.
Although home broadband has been around for a long time, this is typically ADSL, which is received through regular phone lines. Although it can have a broadband speed of up to 24 MB per second, fibre-optic broadband improves this significantly, in that you may get up to 100 MB per second speed, significantly faster. What does that mean for you?
Less expensive Internet hook-ups
It may not seem possible right now, but eventually, as fibre-optic broadband rolls out to become commonplace in the marketplace, it’s going to actually become cheaper than ADSL is, likely, and its speed is “light years ahead” of ADSL. It will do many things for you, not least of which is to give you the ability to do much more with your computer then you can at slower speeds. Some of these things include:
The ability to watch television on the Internet
Although 24 MB per second is fast enough to do some video streaming, the ability to watch TV on the Internet and at the same time have other people in your household doing other things on the Internet, making calls, and so on, is difficult with this relatively slow speed.
The ability for rural towns to connect with metropolitan areas and cities
Although it may be a bit of time before 100 MB per second fibre-optic broadband rolls out to rural areas, the promise of this type of speed and connection means that rural areas will be just as connected as metropolitan areas when it comes to the Internet. Conceivably, this can mean better work opportunities for those in rural areas, as telecommuting may become an option in lieu of having to commute to the city to work.
The ability to go to school online
If you need more qualifications to get the job you want, the ability to go to school online and get your degree from home means that more people will be able to access the education they need in order to get the jobs they want. As more and more schools “go online”; they’re connecting with students who want to pursue their educations, conveniently and in some cases as their schedules will permit on their own time, from the comfort and convenience of their own homes.
How will this change to fibre-optic broadband happen?
The rollout is happening slowly now, simply because the old telecoms network is still in place, with telephone lines and ADSL still a major part of the network for the time being. Eventually, BT will upgrade the telecoms network to a fibre-optic broadband network that will serve home broadband as it does now — but with the added advantage of higher speeds for everyone, no matter how far away you happen to live from your exchange. Get ready for seamless, 100 MB per second technology to make its way to your home for home broadband, so that you can take advantage of all it has to offer.
Get more information on digital developments, digital TV or broadband on Virgin Media website.
