10Gbps fibre coming to millions of people in the UK

Openreach has announced that it will bring even faster Full Fibre speeds to more than 1 million premises over the next year.

The infrastructure provider is upgrading its Full Fibre network using XGS-PON technology, which is capable of offering speeds of up to 10Gbps – 28 times faster than the typical download speed of a UK household today.

Currently, customers who are on Openreach’s Full Fibre infrastructure can reach download speeds of up to 1.8Gbps.

With the launch of XGS-PON, Openreach expects customers using the upgraded infrastructure to push up to 8.5Gbps symmetrical broadband speeds.

The company trialled its XGS-PON technology in a pilot deployment in Guildford earlier this year, connecting 40,000 residential premises.

It says it is now rolling out this technology to more of its Full Fibre network, making these turbocharged speeds available to more than 1 million premises in the next 12 months.

Over the next five years, Openreach plans to upgrade one third of its Full Fibre network, which currently reaches more than 23.4 million premises in the UK.

“Our Full Fibre network already offers Gigabit capable broadband to more than 23.4 million premises, and more than 9.4 million customers have upgraded so far,” said Openreach Director of Network Technology Trevor Linney.

“As demand for data continues to grow, our investment in XGS-PON technology will enable us to offer even higher speeds over the same network, and the additional capacity needed to support the UK’s digital future.”

“By continuing to invest in upgrades, we’re delivering a platform that will power the next generation of technology, from AI-enabled services, smart homes and future mobile networks, to cloud-based business and public services,” Linney said.

XGS-PON vs GPON

GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) is an established and widely utilised technology for delivering fibre broadband. It offers asymmetric speeds, meaning that download and upload speeds differ.

Typically, GPON delivers download speeds of up to 2.5Gbps and upload speeds of around 1.25 Gbps. It is the most widely deployed fibre broadband technology in the UK and is the infrastructure behind Openreach’s Full Fibre offering.

XGS-PON stands for 10 (‘X’) Gigabit Symmetrical Passive Optical Network. The key features of this technology are its much higher bandwidth and its symmetric speeds.

On XGS-PON, download speeds can reach 10Gbps in both directions – upload and download. XGS-PON fibre lines can also accommodate more users at the same time without compromising performance.

Openreach notes that the industry is already developing faster standards than XGS-PON, as evidenced by a ‘hyper-fast’ 50Gbps broadband line it tested last year.

The company said the migration from GPON to XGS-PON will prepare networks for further upgrades while using the same underlying infrastructure.

Now read: Trainline under investigation over hidden booking fees