It has not been the easiest of weeks for BT Openreach in the UK, with several installations of the operators new 40Mbps fibre optic ( FTTC ) based broadband ISP services suffering setbacks. Firstly BT contractors cut through a critical power cable in Middlewich while installing one of the new cabinets, which cut power to 400 homes and businesses for several hours.

Now a similar FTTC installation in the Brighton and Hove area has caused problems after five conservation groups objected to where some of the cabinets were due to be located. The situation is reminiscent of similar problems that have cropped up in Muswell Hill - HERE (August/December 2009) and St Albans - HERE (March 2010) over the past few months.


The new junction boxes (cabinets) are known to be a lot taller and in the recent past they have been described as "unsightly" by affected groups and residents, with others believing that they can cause obstructions to roads and pathways. In some cases the cabinets are installed alongside existing boxes, as opposed to being replacements, which only adds to the negative impact.

BT's primary Fibre-to-the-Cabinet technology ( FTTC ) will deliver a fast fibre optic link to the operators street level cabinets, while the remaining connection (between cabinets and homes) is done using VDSL2 (similar to current ADSL broadband but faster over short distances) through existing copper cable; FTTC will initially deliver download speeds of up to 40Mbps, rising to 60Mbps in the future (uploads should reach up to 10Mbps).

Happily BT now appear to be more receptive to discussing possible alternative solutions without sacrificing the very real benefits that a fibre optic based broadband connection can bring. Credit to The Argus and Thinkbroadband for the news.