What is Fibre Optic Broadband?

What is fibre broadband and why does it make such a difference to use it?

The internet service available to most of the UK is "Fibre To The Cabinet" (FTTC). An optical fibre cable carries a speedy signal (transmitted as pulses of light) as far as the nearest green cabinet along the road from your property.

BUT - then between the cabinet and you, if an electrical signal travels down old phone line copper cables, it goes significantly slower for the last part of its journey. That's like a 4 lane motorway going down to one track through a town centre; not ideal! It typically delivers 30-70Mbps speed, compared with up to 1000Mbps speed on fibre.

In the UK, broadband speeds can range from 8Mbps to over 1000Mbps. For some of our more remote neighbours on Cartmel Fell, they can only get broadband services via a satellite link, and they don't even have the option of using a land line!

Bringing a full Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) service to the whole community would mean new fibre optic cables are connected directly to each property, removing the need to rely on old copper phone lines and satellite connections. Our neighbours in more rural locations will finally have the same opportunity to manage their business online, stream TV shows, see family on video calls and ensure home schooling for their children is a realistic option.