Salisbury: Leading the UK’s transition to fibre

We are in the midst of a broadband revolution, with BT announcing the first city in the UK to be ‘fully fibered.’

All 40,000 of Salisbury’s residents will now have access to lightning-fast internet, thanks to Openreach. This is hugely important for the residents of the area, and will change the way they use the internet. We’re going to break down what it means for them, and what they have to look forward to.

What Does It Mean For Salisbury?

Having lived in Smalls-bury* for around 20 years, I’m personally pretty excited about this news. Let’s face it; nobody likes a dodgy internet connection. Throughout the pandemic, we found out the importance of having a good internet connection. How were we going to connect to the office? Or more importantly, watch Tiger King.

My internet connection has become a lot worse with the increased usage we’ve had over the past couple of years. Whether that be pixelated video calls, Netflix endlessly buffering or lagging around your favourite video game – bad internet is a royal pain in the bottom. For Salisbury residents, these troubles are soon to be a thing of the past.

*Bit of local dialect for you, we often refer to Salisbury as Smallsbury due to the tiny population and lack of things to do!

The End Of Traditional Broadband?

It would appear the end is firmly on the horizon for the old copper lines. I mean it makes complete sense. If there is faster, more reliable technology available – why wouldn’t we use it?

Here is what Clive Selley who is the CEO at Openreach, had to say about matters:

“From December if you live in the city of Salisbury and want to change your broadband, you’ll have to upgrade to Full Fibre as we start to move closer to a digital world. It makes no sense to run two networks side-by-side, so we’re planning to retire the old, analogue network entirely.

For Salisbury’s homes, shops, GP surgeries and schools, it will mean fewer broadband faults, faster connections, and a consistently reliable network that will serve the city for decades to come.”

So that confirms that yes, the end is nigh for copper lines. If the CEO of Openreach is calling it, I think I’m going to take his word.

What Does This Mean For The Rest Of The UK?

Openreach has a firm deployment target of 20 million properties by the mid-to-late 2020s, which is ambitious but more than possible.

This roll-out is partly down to the new Connectorized Block Terminals (CBTs) that discreetly link fibre cables to people’s homes. These tiny terminals can connect up to 8 premises at once, without needing to erect new poles. This groundbreaking tech drastically speeds up the installation process, whilst also keeping disruption of residential areas to a minimum.

We have to say, it’s awe-inspiring what BT are doing here, and like it or not, the digital age is only just beginning…

Got a question about your internet connection? Elementel may be able to help bring you up to speed.

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