BT reveals which towns will get fibre first

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 23 Mar 2009 at 08:52

BT has revealed the locations of the first 29 exchanges to be connected to its forthcoming fibre network.

Around 500,000 homes and businesses will be connected during the initial rollout, which BT claims will begin early next year.

The fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) technology will offer download speeds of up to 40Mbits/sec, although BT claims its early pilots of the technology in London and Wales have raised the prospect of FTTC hitting 60Mbits/sec.

Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of the initial 29 locations are inner-city urban areas, which offer the best return on investment for both BT and its ISP partners. That's unlikely to impress campaigners, who have urged the Government to invest in high-speed broadband for rural areas.

Many of the areas covered by BT's initial rollout will already have access to Virgin's cable network, which offers speeds of up to 50Mbits/sec in some areas.

However, BT will deploy fibre in two rural towns - Calder Valley (near Halifax) and Taffs Well (near Cardiff) - to "learn lessons from deploying fibre in such environments".

The plans are only a small step towards BT's target of connecting 10 million homes to fibre by 2012.

The company says it will reveal the locations for stage two of its rollout this autumn.

The 29 exchanges that will be connected to BT's 40Mbits/sec network by 2010 are:

CHELMSFORD, Essex
ST. ALBANS, Hertfordshire
WATFORD, Hertfordshire
HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, Hertfordshire
LEAGRAVE, Bedfordshire
LUTON, Bedfordshire
CANONBURY, London
CHINGFORD, London
EDMONTON, London
ENFIELD, London
HIGHAMS PARK, London
TOTTENHAM, London
THAMESMEAD, London
WOOLWICH, London
BURY, Greater Manchester
DIDSBURY, North West
FAILSWORTH, Greater Manchester
HEATON MOOR, Greater Manchester
OLDHAM, Greater Manchester
RUSHOLME, Greater Manchester
BELFAST BALMORAL, Belfast
DEAN, Edinburgh
GLASGOW HALFWAY, Glasgow
GLASGOW WESTERN, Glasgow
CARDIFF, Cardiff
TAFFS WELL, Rhondda Cynon Taf
HALIFAX, West Yorkshire
PUDSEY, West Yorkshire
CALDER VALLEY, West Yorkshire