What Is Full Fibre Broadband?
What “Full Fibre” Means (FTTP/FTTH)
Full fibre broadband is an ultrafast optic technology that is directly connected from the provider’s exchange to your premises using fibre optic cables. It is also called Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) or Fibre to the Home (FTTH).
Compared to older broadband technologies like copper ADSL, full fibre broadband provides far superior speeds and connection reliability, as the connection isn’t interrupted thanks to the direct connection.
How Full Fibre Works
To be “full” fibre, the connection from the exchange to the premises must use fibre cables for the entire connection. Data is transferred as light using fibre cables, which provides several benefits, including no electrical interference or weather-related disruption.
This differs from “part fibre” broadband, also called FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet), where fibre optic cables connect the exchange to a local street cabinet, and then the remaining connection from the cabinet to your premises still uses copper lines. While FTTC broadband is still faster than full copper ADSL, upload and download speeds are still inferior to FTTP due to the final step in the connection still using copper.
Changing to full fibre broadband involves an engineer connecting the fibre directly to your property, with the cables either needing to be installed overhead or underground as well as other necessary infrastructure.
Types of Full Fibre Services
FTTP services are not all the same. The underlying network technology determines the speeds available, how capacity is shared and how well the service supports future demands. There are several types of FTTP services to be aware of.
Standard GPON
GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) is the most widely deployed fibre optic technology and forms the foundation of many residential and small business services. It has typical speeds up to 1Gbps download and 110-220Mbps upload, and is highly reliable for everyday internet use, cloud access and streaming.
XGS-PON and Multi-Gig Options
This is the next generation of full fibre technology, designed to support significantly higher and more symmetrical speeds. Speeds range from up to 10Gbps download and upload, and provide greater capacity per fibre to reduce congestion. It supports multi-gig services and is ideal for data-heavy environments with multiple users accessing services simultaneously.
Symmetrical vs Asymmetrical Speeds
One of the most important differences between fibre services is whether speeds are symmetrical or asymmetrical.
Asymmetrical speeds have higher download than upload speeds, which is common on standard GPON services, and is generally suitable for browsing, streaming and general consumption. On the other hand, symmetrical speeds have equal upload and download speeds and are common on XGS-PON and business-grade services. Businesses benefit far more from symmetrical speeds for multiple users, remote working and a reliance on more consistent and constant data uploads.
Availability & Rollout in the UK
Progress has already begun in the UK for the rollout of full fibre broadband. Primary builder Openreach, along with the government’s Project Gigabit, aims to provide full fibre broadband to 99% of UK premises by 2032. Fortunately, around 85% of the UK can use FTTP broadband already, thanks to continued developments and changes to the outdated copper lines and infrastructure.
You can check whether your premises can use full fibre broadband with your current provider. If you can’t have FTTP installed, you’ll have to use FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) broadband, which is still a significant upgrade if you’re still using copper connections.
