25 April 2014

Hyperoptic’s FTTP gigabit broadband service is now available to commercial and residential developments in Bristol, Cardiff and Reading. These are the first deployments for the firm outside London, and represent its initial round of ‘hypercities’ which aim to make true hyperfast broadband internet infrastructure available to the marketplace for the first time.

Hyperoptic says it chose the sites as they are among the UK’s “most thriving” urban centres, and have high consumer demand and population densities. The fibre provider plans to make its hyperfast service available in a number of additional cities in the months ahead. At the same time, it is continuing its expansion across London where it says it will soon reach more than 35,000 homes in 150 developments with a target of half a million homes by 2018.

More recently, Hyperoptic announced that East Village, the former Olympic village in Stratford, had been installed with its gigabit fibre broadband infrastructure, giving residents access to the UK’s fastest broadband speeds.

Hyperoptic describes itself as a “pioneer” in FTTH. In 2011, it claimed to have become the first ISP to deliver a 1,000Mbps symmetrical residential broadband service in the UK. It says this speed remains “68 times faster” than Ofcom’s current national average, and 10 times the speed of its nearest competitor.

Hyperoptic adds that, unlike rival offerings, its hyperfast broadband technology provides “unimpeded” fibre speeds directly to premises. “Other so-called ‘superfast fibre’ services are generally hybrids, relying on existing infrastructure and dated copper cables to make up at least part of the line. (This results) in drastically reduced internet speeds and unpredictable performance,” states the firm.