Altnet CityFibre has successfully trialled the fibre technology that paves the way for 10 Gbps broadband services.
The company revealed last week that it recently partnered with Vodafone to conduct a commercial trial of XGS PON on its network in York. Unlike previous PON technologies that offered faster downlink speeds than uplink speeds, XGS PON can deliver maximum throughput of up to 10 Gbps on both the uplink and downlink.
The rise of streaming services such as Twitch and social video applications such as TikTok, coupled with the continued popularity of YouTube and Instagram, means that consumers are creating and sharing more video than ever before. In addition, the growing popularity of real-time services such as video calling and online multiplayer gaming means that good uplink connectivity has never been more important.
During the trial period, selected residential customers can access symmetrical 2 Gbps broadband provided by Vodafone's Pro II broadband service and its Ultra Hub and Super WiFi6E client devices (CPE). This is twice the speed available on CityFibre's network to date.
"At 2 Gbps, we've barely scratched the surface of network capabilities," said Michael Greening, director of product at CityFibre, in a statement. "Thanks to our XGS PON upgrade program, we'll be able to deliver symmetrical speeds of up to 10 Gbps in the future, further proving that not all complete fiber networks are created equal."
"Recording our fastest ever home Wi-Fi speeds demonstrates the true capabilities of the technology and our Pro II broadband," added Max Taylor, chief commercial officer, Vodafone UK. "With the UK's fastest router, we're all set for the next exciting development so our customers always have access to the fastest broadband speeds in all corners of their homes at an affordable price."
York is the launch city for CityFibre, so it makes sense for it to serve as a test bed for the telco's latest technology. CityFibre began upgrading its FTTP network to XGS PON this summer and, following a successful trial with Vodafone, plans to roll it out across the rest of its footprint from April.
With Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) also busy upgrading its fibre network with XGS PON, and incumbent Openreach recently announcing plans to deploy fibre to an additional 184,000 premises, the UK fixed broadband market appears to be in poor health.
That's good news for end users, and certainly good news for providers. Last summer, analyst firm Dell'Oro raised its 5-year outlook for the global broadband access and CPE markets. It expects spending on PON equipment alone to reach $13.6 billion over the forecast period, significantly higher than its previous forecast of $9.8 billion. Dell'Oro said the growth is being driven by healthy competition, which itself is being driven by continued strong end-user demand and government incentives.
