JT connects first 1,000 homes to its fibre network
Thursday 06 September 2012 15:33:07 by Andrew Ferguson

JT is progressing well with its plan to remove its copper local loop, and install a full fibre solution to the 42,000 properties on the island. The roll-out has passed the key 1,000 properties connected milestone. Of those homes connected around 1% have elected to buy the Gigabit service, and 3% are buying the 100 Mbps service.

Crucially for residents and businesses the removal of the copper network means that people can regrade to the equivalent package but using a fibre connection. The price and usage allowances remain the same, but for those keen to enjoy the much faster speeds that fibre offers there are options for faster services.

Extra usage allowance costs 30p per GB, and even those who opt for the slower packages will see an improvement compared to the old ADSL2+ services, as the connection will be a fixed speed rather than varying based on line length, and latency should be much more stable.

Some may think that 1,000 homes sounds a small figure, but this is actual homes connected and taking a service. The more usual figure to quote is the 'homes passed' and that stands at 15,000 currently, these homes will get connected over the next few months, with the roll-out continuing until all properties are connected in 2016.