Openreach Symmetric 1Gbps/1Gbps from April 2025

FishThrower said:
out of interest, what do you need the crazy upload speeds for?
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I self-host a few services. I share my Plex library with a few others too. A couple of 4k streams can soon chew up some bandwidth. I do nightly offsite backups as well, so the upload is certainly nice to have for that also. Plus it all helps getting good seed ratios on the Linux ISO’s :D
 
I wonder if it will be a regrade from 900/100 to 900/900, or if it would require a new contract. My Virgin deal is due to end in December so I am looking at options.
 
I really like the idea of a symmetric FTTP service. At the moment I'm on 900/100 (or whatever it is) but for me the sweet spot would be 500/500.

That said, I already know I'd likely end up with 1000/1000 if it were an option.
 
We don't even have any type of fibre around here be that cable or any other provider, good luck with that date!
I spoke to a Cable network engineer looking for noise earlier this year and he said he was trailing 2GB on cable and that they was thinking of buying out city fibre which had stalled around here. He also said fibre was comming soon to these parts, I'm not holding my breath for any of it just yet. The City centre will all be hyped up by now I guess.
 
My area always seems to get left out of the City Fibre rollout, I hope this is available where I am. I'd love to get a symmetrical connection.
 
I'm super confused about this. So at the start of the article they say "albeit initially only in “certain locations” from April 2025"

Then the update says "there aren’t any commercial or technical reasons to start it with a trial/pilot". So every customer will be able to get symmetric in April?

Pricing is really going to be interesting to a point I wonder if it may just be like £2 more. e.g. if you take a current 150 Mbps package that's roughly £28. Now if you did the normal £6 Virgin Media increase for symmetrical that goes to £34. Who on earth is going to pay £34 for 150/150 when you can get 1000/115 for £36.

Dare I say it... maybe they even give this as a "free" upgrade? It allows them to accomplish a lot if they do that. It's not like it creates much more data on networks and it takes away one of the main selling points of an altnet for people that makes Openreach seem somewhat competitive again. The ISPs love it because if it does happen around April (with signups/renewals mid March) they get to double dip plus a little extra on the cpi price increases over the 24 months.
 
GregI said:
'm super confused about this. So at the start of the article they say "albeit initially only in “certain locations” from April 2025"

Then the update says "there aren’t any commercial or technical reasons to start it with a trial/pilot". So every customer will be able to get symmetric in April?

Pricing is really going to be interesting to a point I wonder if it may just be like £2 more. e.g. if you take a current 150 Mbps package that's roughly £28. Now if you did the normal £6 Virgin Media increase for symmetrical that goes to £34. Who on earth is going to pay £34 for 150/150 when you can get 1000/115 for £36.

Dare I say it... maybe they even give this as a "free" upgrade? It allows them to accomplish a lot if they do that. It's not like it creates much more data on networks and it takes away one of the main selling points of an altnet for people that makes Openreach seem somewhat competitive again. The ISPs love it because if it does happen around April (with signups/renewals mid March) they get to double dip plus a little extra on the cpi price increases over the 24 months.
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The mention of 'albeit initially only in certain locations' doesn't necessarily equate to a trial or pilot phase. Rollouts take time, there's physical kit that'll need replacing and configuring. That doesn't all happen at once.

There will be a price premium, there's no way it'll be £2/month higher than the asymmetric products.
 
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GregI said:
I'm super confused about this. So at the start of the article they say "albeit initially only in “certain locations” from April 2025"

Then the update says "there aren’t any commercial or technical reasons to start it with a trial/pilot". So every customer will be able to get symmetric in April?

Pricing is really going to be interesting to a point I wonder if it may just be like £2 more. e.g. if you take a current 150 Mbps package that's roughly £28. Now if you did the normal £6 Virgin Media increase for symmetrical that goes to £34. Who on earth is going to pay £34 for 150/150 when you can get 1000/115 for £36.

Dare I say it... maybe they even give this as a "free" upgrade? It allows them to accomplish a lot if they do that. It's not like it creates much more data on networks and it takes away one of the main selling points of an altnet for people that makes Openreach seem somewhat competitive again. The ISPs love it because if it does happen around April (with signups/renewals mid March) they get to double dip plus a little extra on the cpi price increases over the 24 months.
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Surely the issue is that most of the Open Reach network isn't XGS-PON so they can't provide that much upload bandwidth.
 
Got email reply from Openreach


When we upgrade any area to FTTP, we do this via the distribution points (DP). DPs are either underground or overhead on a pole, multiple properties will be connected to one DP.

When we decide to upgrade to fibre to the premises (FTTP), we’ll upgrade the DP, in turn any property connected to that DP will then be upgraded to FTTP.



At this moment in time, the project manager has explained that there are no current plans to upgrade your DP yet. We tend to look around 12 months into the future, so this doesn’t mean there will never be an upgrade for your address.

It just means certainly for the next 12 months we have no plans.



Please keep your eye on our website, as this will update if or when our plans change. Whilst we don’t have any plans in the area just now, there is other alternatives you may want to consider.



Other alternatives to consider

Another alternative you may wish to consider is satellite broadband which is available nationally. However, I am unable to comment on its performance or the costs involved to have the service.

In addition to this, some mobile operators now offer a 4G home broadband solution where they install a 4G receiver at your home which connects to an internal router. Again, I am unable to comment on which companies can offer this, prices or performance.



FTTP on Demand / Leased Line

Another alternative you may want to consider is a leased line, until such time that fibre broadband becomes readily available to the property and area. A leased line is a dedicated data circuit that runs all the way from the exchange directly to the property. They deliver guaranteed speeds and have proved popular with a lot of businesses/properties

I can’t offer any further insight in to costing etc. as these are managed by the providers who offer the service. The provider will be able to discuss the costs involved and the services they can offer.

A list of these providers can be found here at the bottom of the page under “Get FTTP on demand”.



GFAST

Also, as advised it looks like GFAST is available to you which would offer speeds similar to FTTP. Please visit our website below for more info on this product and enquire directly with communication providers about it.

GFast Fibre Broadband | Openreach



Anything Else?

I hope this covers everything and again, I’m sorry I didn’t have an immediate solution to help resolve your query but plans can and do often change.

I’ll leave this case open till 1600hrs on Friday 11/10/24 to allow time for any questions.

Please feel free to let me know if there is anything else I can help with in relation to this fibre availability query, of course I’ll be happy to help.



Best Wishes,



Richard Williams

FND Infrastructure Solutions Executive Level Complaints Team
Openreach
 
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bulldog147 said:

Full Fibre broadband

Meet the next generation of the internet - Full Fibre broadband, built by Openreach. Check now to see if it's available for your home or business. It's ready for anything - are you?
www.openreach.com
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Cheers, for me that states "Build planned between now and Dec-2026" for their up to 1800Mpbs service.

other than that I can get their amazing speed of 24Mpbs or 55-80Mpbs.

Looks like I am with VM for awhile longer yet
 
ED209 said:
Cheers, for me that states "Build planned between now and Dec-2026" for their up to 1800Mpbs service.

other than that I can get their amazing speed of 24Mpbs or 55-80Mpbs.

Looks like I am with VM for awhile longer yet
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Yeah I used to have that Build planned between now and Dec-2026 Since April 2024 but it now changed to Not Available.

Count yourself lucky but it can change anything. Knowing Openreach can never be 100% accurate representation of the system!
 
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bulldog147 said:
Yeah I used to have that Build planned between now and Dec-2026 Since April 2024 but it now changed to Not Available.

Count yourself lucky but it can change anything. Knowing Openreach can never be 100% accurate representation of the system!
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Yeah, I am not holding my breath. It is not here until I can buy it lol
 
Hoping to get Openreach fibre in the next few months, currently on VDSL. This would be great. Hopefully, they don't charge a lot more for this considering the cost of other fibre providers for symmetrical.
 
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