SuffolkOnline.net

156 new locations for fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) broadband have been unveiled today as as Openreach continues the roll-out of it's service which can offer up to 40Mbps download speeds.

More than 1.5 million consumer and business premises will be able to connect up to the service through the newly announced sites which should largely be enabled during 2011. Around 50 are set to be completed by the end of the summer. Ten of the locations included were those which won the 'Race to Infinity' competition run by BT Retail which allowed businesses and residents in an area to vote to get their exchange upgraded with the new technology.

"Our fibre programme is well underway with more than four million premises now able to order a fibre-based broadband service from their chosen supplier. And today we're announcing a new set of locations serving a further 1.5 million premises, many of which will be able to enjoy the benefits of super-fast upload and download speeds from as early as this Summer. We'll continue to work closely with industry and local and devolved authorities around the country in deciding where to deploy the technology next."

David Campbell, (Managing Director of Next Generation Access) Openreach

The to be enabled exchanges include Cranleigh, which frequent readers will note covers nearby Ewhurst, the subject of recent news following BT changing it's mind about enabling the areaafter the community had gathered sufficient support and were pursuing a solution via Vtesse Networks. The full list of exchanges plus their region is listed below. Readers are reminded thatcoverage of an exchange once enabled for FTTC is not 100%, but averages about 85%, although in some cases has been as low as 40%.

Article courtest of think broadband