The need for reliable business broadband grows every single day. We’re all putting more on the cloud and demanding more from our connections. If your network goes down, the impact on delivery, collaboration and client experience can be a wholly negative one.
The growing importance of connectivity has also gone hand in hand with a number of changes to the ways in which businesses access the internet. Traditional PSTN and ISDN lines are being phased out in favour of fibre. We’re now all presented with a range of supposedly faster and better ways to get online, including leased lines. However, for businesses looking for consistency and a scalable connection, FTTP broadband is fast becoming one of the most attractive options.
Whether you’ve heard of it before or are simply trying to find the right way for your organisation to stay connected, we’re on hand to answer some key questions, namely: what is FTTP broadband, how does it work, and is it right for you? Let’s get into it.
What Is FTTP Broadband?
Before we dive into exactly what FTTP broadband is, a little bit of context is important. For years and years, businesses have gone online via a copper-based infrastructure. This initially centred around PSTN and ISDN lines built for voice calls, then ASDL and FTTC services which make use of the same copper lines for connectivity. Though functional, copper lines have long been prone to issues, including limited speeds and signal loss over distance. These issues have been exacerbated by growing business demands and the new total reliance on digital communications for day-to-day work.
Back to FTTP, then (which stands for fibre to the premises, by the way). FTTP broadband can do away with the challenges we just outlined entirely. It removes copper cabling from the equation by instead running off fibre-optic cabling, which goes directly from the provider’s exchange to your premises. The resulting connection is powerful and capable of download speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps. It’s exactly what you’ll need if you’re running lots of demanding cloud platforms, video conferencing tools, and VoIP systems.
FTTP vs FTTC – What’s The Difference?
You might also have heard of FTTC broadband, a very similar-sounding type of connection that we’ve alluded to already. Many businesses are still using FTTC broadband and getting good results, but there are some key differences (and limitations) when compared to FTTP.
FTTC stands for fibre to the cabinet. Like FTTP, it also delivers a fibre connection, but with a crucial difference in terms of how far the fibre reaches. With FTTC, fibre goes from the provider’s exchange to a cabinet located on a nearby street. However, copper lines are still used to deliver a connection to your business from the cabinet and this part of the process can still be prone to inconsistency from wider network use, weather conditions, and geographical factors.
In contrast, FTTP is full fibre from start to finish and therefore offers both greater speeds and improved reliability.
Why Choose FTTP Broadband?
Understanding how FTTP differs from traditional copper connections and FTTC, you’ll naturally begin to consider whether it’s the right fit for your organisation. It’s important to note that FTTC is much more widely available than FTTP, though the UK government aims to make FTTP available to 85% of the country by 2026. This means that some businesses may have to wait patiently.
However, there is no denying that FTTP broadband is currently the fastest and most reliable way to access the internet. Its high speeds and resilience make it a worthy long-term choice for growing and modern organisations with multiple users and a cloud-driven infrastructure.
How To Get FTTP Broadband
So, with obvious benefits for the right type of business, you might be wondering, ‘can I get FTTP?’. The plans to make FTTP available to 85% of us are well underway, so it’s highly likely that you can.
At Agile Comms, we work with a range of providers to ensure that we can help you access the most suitable fibre connection to your premises. We do so via simple and flexible contracts so that you can be certain that you’ve always got your hands on the connectivity services your business actually needs and not just the ones the industry wants you to have.
If you want to find out more about whether FTTP broadband is the right fit for your business, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us, and we’ll be more than happy to talk you through your options.
