News Launch of Ethernet Services
March 2009 We are pleased to announce the launch of our new Ethernet services. We can offer high speed, high reliability, fibre internet and inter-site connections to 90% of UK businesses. Speed is no longer an issue as we can offer speeds from 1Mb/s to 10Gb/s. Distance is no longer an issue as we can link sites across the whole country.
Special offer
Orders placed in March 2009 will receive a 10% discount off the standard install price. Also, if you have annual budgets to consider, we are happy to invoice you the standard install price when you order (March) rather than install (April) if you prefer.
What is it?
- Real fibre to your premises not just the nearest street cabinet.
- A fibre link that is 100Mb/s, 1Gb/s, or even 10Gb/s and a guaranteed bandwidth from 1Mb/s to 10Gb/s. You can upgrade the speed within the chosen fibre speed at short notice.
- A genuine un-contended bandwidth that does not slow down when things get busy and has no additional usage charges.
- An option for bursting above your un-contended bandwidth for typical internet use, making the service even faster
When is it available?
We have launched the service now, but the 30 working day lead times means the first customers will be on-line in April. We already have one customer that was keen and close enough to the data centre for a dedicated fibre link to be installed, but new customers will be on the BT Ethernet links that allow us to offer services all over the country.
Who would want it?
- Existing broadband users are likely to find this an expensive upgrade option and bonded broadband may be better. However, the fibre services are symmetric, so 10Mb/s is 10Mb/s both ways. For multiple site broadband users with a head office that needs lots of uplink and high reliability then our new Ethernet services may be just the ticket. By having more home workers and better communications you may even be able to save money.
- Existing SDSL users may still find this a bit more expensive, but offering much higher speeds than SDSL, so well worth considering.
- Existing leased line users are likely to find these new services both faster and cheaper.
- Internet points of presense, such as wireless access point nodes, blocks of flats, and so on, may find this an ideal way to meet expanding demand for more speed and high reliability. The un-contended service can be used flat out allowing a lot of users access at the same time.
- Serviced offices can install the Etherway and their own internet access, but offer customers dedicated Etherways (internet or inter-site) added to that Etherway as independent links to their office within the services office complex. An additional Etherway has low setup cost, low lead time, and 1 month minimum term making it an ideal prospect to sell to tenants (with your markup, of course).
- Colleges and Universities may consider this an ideal option both as a backup to JANET and to allow commercial operations not allowed on JANET.
Can't you get fibre broadband a lot cheaper?
Please do not be confused by companies selling fibre broadband service. Generally they are NOT fibre to your premises. They are fibre somewhere close such as a street cabinet and then copper to your premises. This makes them no different in principle to normal broadband services that are fibre to the exchange and copper from there. Indeed, we will be offering higher speed broadband services soon that are also fibre to the cabinet.
Also, on a technical note, fibre services like this are NOT broadband. The problem is that people now treat the word broadband as internet access, when in is in fact a specific term for a specific way of delivering a service, usually over a phone line, and usually used for internet access. The fibre services use 1510nm laser light which is as narrow a band as you can get. The term fibre broadband is a bit of a contradiction or at best it is just a misleading marketing term.
Can I get it at home?
Yes, but it is likely to mean excess construction charges (digging up your garden) that will run to many thousands of pounds. But, we have no problem providing service to homes if that is what you want.
