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[kitz]

Be introduces new technology to double the speed of its 24Mb high-speed broadband   

Press release

Be Broadband has successfully completed their first trials to double the speed of their up to 24Mb broadband to almost 50Mb.
Be Broadband already offers broadband up to 24Mb but has been testing new technology in London that can 'bond' two high-speed connections together - doubling customers' current speed.

The initial trial ran across the central London Paddington exchange. In member feedback, Be's customers have reported real-world download speeds of between 30Mb and 45Mb. This is the equivalent of 3MB to 4.5MB each second - the size of an average MP3 file. Wider trials of the service are planned through 2009.

Felix Geyr, Managing Director of Be Broadband, said
"We want to push the limits of high-speed broadband. We already offer the fastest possible broadband on an ADSL line, but we want to take it a step further. If you want broadband around the 50Mb mark but don't want to go the cable route, Be wants to offer you a real alternative."

Earlier this week Virgin announced that it will be rolling out faster broadband services through to summer 2009. However, these services will only be available in cable areas. Non-cable customers would be required to have their current phone line converted to use the service. Be Broadband's trials will allow customers to get equivalent speeds through standard BT phone lines.

While the trial's objective was to understand the technical capabilities of the bonded service, Be also wanted to gauge the effect that these speeds had from a user experience as well. The full results of the trail, both technical and from a user perspective, will be available at the start of 2009.

[HPsauce]

Just a minor clarification, the upper limit is actually 45mbps due to limitations in the technology used.

[kitz]

Edited

I just c+p'd the press release I got and was going off the 'almost 50Mb' I suppose.

[Imagine.]

I guess this is in response to Virgin releasing their Next Gen Service 

[HPsauce]

They've been piloting it for a little while.

[jeffbb]

WHO is going to be first to get it  I wonder ,don't suppose anyone is interested on this forum 
no speed freaks on this forum 

[kitz]

no speed freaks on this forum

This is a video from one of our regs jabns which he made last May.
Whilst its not bonding its using another technique called load balancing.
He's a fair bit further away from the exchange than me - hence why he cant quite get the full wack.
[youtube]VsjLIIVWaww[/youtube]



The really scary thing is that with just jabns connections and mine... the 2 of us could just about totally saturate the Be backhaul from our exchange :/

[jeffbb]

Hi Kitz

So what is the point of all this new technology when ISPs are not able to cope now ?  surely time ,money ,effort should be used to raise the present standards so that ALL users get a  speed that is nearer to the advertised speeds (taking into account the limitations of line length etc. )

Jeff

[kitz]

Problem with adsl is that its over technology thats very old - copper wire.   It would take some HUGE investment to bring fibre to each home... or even FTTC.

Even the cable Co's (who remembers the likes of blueyonder, C&W, telewest etc) iirc the last time they laid new cable over a wide area must be back in the late 90's.

Re backhaul costs the prices are high - and BTws prices are fixed to a minimum amount by OFCOM.

[Floydoid]

Problem with adsl is that its over technology thats very old - copper wire.   It would take some HUGE investment to bring fibre to each home... or even FTTC.

30 billion was the last estimate I heard for that.

[jeffbb]

that's a lot 

[jabns]

I want them to trial our exchange as I could give them 4 lines to play with. Two at my house and then another two 8db attenuation lines at the office.

They probably have to choose exchanges with clear backhauls otherwise they won't be able to test the max throughput(probably rules our exchange out). There again a pain to tell at the moment where the slow downs are caused in the Be* network(although I must say they are doing alot better).

[kitz]

30 billion was the last estimate I heard for that.

Indeed -29 billion was the last I heard too...  its not just the investment either, but the operating costs are expected to vastly increase/double.

Theres also an estimate here
The costs of deploying fibre-based next-generation broadband infrastructure

On 15 July 2008, BT announced its strategy for deploying a mixture of FTTC and FTTH in the UK. Its plans involve covering ten million premises by 2012, with FTTH being reserved for areas of new build. The company estimated that this would involve an investment of GBP1.5 billion, which equates to an overall cost of GBP150 per premises passed. During a presentation by Sally Davis (CEO, BT Wholesale) it was also stated that BT expects costs per premises connected to be around GBP350;

afaik the above isnt talking nationwide - just 'some'..  but that cost has to be bourne somewhere.. and just who is going to pay it?

Also - are we as consumers prepared to pay more for these faster speeds?
In the early days of adsl a connection wasnt cheap and it cost £30 for a 512kb connection - and it was only the real techies that were prepared to pay a minimum of £30 - often more.
Nowadays adsl is much cheaper and it comes from the likes of 'the T ISPs', and whilst it is good that its now affordable..  theres no mistaking that the quality of adsl provisioned/service has gone downhill as prices drop.

[oldfogy]

WHO is going to be first to get it  I wonder

I know who will be the last on the list to be able to receive it.

Although not necessarily relevant to this thread but definitely on the last 2, possibly 3 occasions of Virgin Media stating "By the end of the summer" by god did they mean it "SEPTEMBER" however that was for the Birmingham area.

[TABower]

45Mb for the last 3 weeks they could not even deliver 2Mb to me.
Be need to sort out their present network.For the last 3 week I thought I was back with Tiscali.