Everything You Need To Know About Fibre.

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve heard the phrase ‘fibre optic’ when searching for your future-proofed connectivity solution – and while it sounds good, you’re still unsure what it actually means.  

That’s not surprising, given that ISPs have had free rein to throw the phrase around even when their solution doesn’t use fibre optic from end to end. 

Shockingly, Ofcom found that only 46% of customers who reported being on full-fibre broadband were living in areas where it is available. So, what has caused this phenomenon, and what is full-fibre broadband? 

Full fibre 101 

Fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP), is a broadband internet connection that uses fibre-optic cables to deliver data from the providers network to the customers premises. To be classified as full fibre it must use fibre optic cable only and not use any other transport mechanisms between the provider and the customers handover. 

Full fibre differs from other types of broadband connections such as SoGEA, previously known as fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC), which uses fibre optic cables to connect the telephone exchange to the street cabinet but then connects to the user's premises via copper cables. SoGEA offers a slower connection than FTTP and can lend itself to connectivity issues due to the age of the UK copper network, water ingress damage or copper theft. 

Until recently, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been calling their services ‘fibre broadband’ even if they offer SoGEA. This has caused endemic confusion over the differentials and benefits of adopting FTTP. 

In fact, 27% of consumers said they lacked confidence in understanding the terminology used by ISPs in Ofcom’s investigation, so it’s no surprise that businesses often don’t see the benefits of upgrading their connectivity solution. 

FTTP is a massive update in how broadband is delivered to the customer premises and has required new physical infrastructure in the form of fibre optics to be installed but once complete has a near infinite life span as technology improves we can change the equipment re-use the fibre optic cable. This cable will replace the aging copper network as the PSTN network closes and calls move to all IP solutions and SoGEA is eventually retired. 

FTTP offers the connecting business increased broadband speeds and lower latency allowing you to handle increasing workloads make it a top-tier solution as your organisation grows. 

We also provide Full Fibre Leased Lines, which unlike FTTP which are asynchronous in nature meaning you get a significantly lower upload than download speed over a shared fibre are a dedicated fibre between your business and the provider. This means speeds are  identical both for both upload and download, avoiding congestion caused by other users or services, full fibre leased lines use minimal shared infrastructure so your data will be transferred directly from point to point, ensuring you get a connection which receives the full capacity of your connection at all times. Lease lines are also more upgradable to meet your business growth needs with fractional services eg 200mbps on a 1gbps port which could be upgraded to a full 1gbps as your business grows with no downtime. 

A glance through time 

Fibre optic has come a long way since its inception in 1975, when Dorset Police installed the first non-experimental fibre optic link. The first live telephone traffic through fibre followed two years later in Long Beach, California.  

By the Lake Placid Winter Olympics in 1980, fibre was carrying video signals over 9.5km, and in 1996, a single mode fibre was transmitting one trillion bits per second. The next significant development saw fibre optic broadband offer an impressive 50Mb/s in 2008, quickly overtaken by the first Gigabit service launching directly to UK homes in 2011. 

Fast forward to today, and full fibre technology has revolutionised how businesses operate. But the race is still on to deliver the fastest and most reliable full fibre service over a decade since it hit the mainstream. 

But why is full fibre still so popular? And how can it help you achieve your goals? 

What full fibre does really well is to offer unparalleled speed and reliability to ensure your connectivity doesn’t slow you down. In an era where businesses have more pressure on them to assess, optimise and deliver, full fibre offers a trustworthy solution that excels. 

We understand the frustration and wasted resources that slow connection causes. We’ve helped businesses of all sizes to experience lightning-fast internet speeds over the past 25 years, enabling them to work more efficiently and achieve their specific goals and needs. 

So, our aim is to ensure your business is improved by adopting full fibre broadband. And with our built-in backup, you can relax knowing you’re guaranteed 99% connectivity.   

Enabling flexibility 

So now you know the benefits of full fibre, but you’ve got an existing internet contract that works just fine. Why bother researching and refreshing your infrastructure when there’s nothing inherently wrong with your current set-up? 

We know upgrading your connection option can feel counterintuitive when you’re getting by with your current contract. This is why we work directly with each business to understand your unique challenges and goals and find a connectivity solution that truly adds value.   

We’ve built our new in-house full fibre solution to offer ultimate scalability, cost-effectiveness and flexibility across all business operations. If these are areas you’re looking to optimise, it may be worth considering. 

Not only will your clients benefit from an enhanced customer experience due to your improved connectivity; businesses who’ve adopted our full-fibre solution also scale their operations and make incredible cost savings each month. 

The Orbital Solution 

For the past 25 years, we have helped businesses stay at the cutting edge of connectivity technology to offer ultimate productivity, efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Our custom-built full fibre service is the exciting next step in this development, offering our customers the next-gen internet solution. 

Committed to helping you find the specific package optimised for your goals, we work on a consultative approach where your dedicated account manager will explore the best options based on your needs. This ensures that your internet and telephone contracts bring the most value to your business today and over the coming years, so you can focus on achieving your ambitions rather than worrying about internet speeds. 

Ready to discover how Orbital full fibre broadband can streamline your unique business needs? Book a call with us today.