|
answer text |
<p>Copper based ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber lines), FTTC (fibre to the cabinet),
and G.fast cannot provide gigabit speeds, although performance between these services
varies. ADSL is capable of delivering maximum download speeds of 24Mbps, compared
to FTTC (VDSL/virtual digital subscriber line) which can deliver download speeds of
up to 80Mbps and G.fast which is currently capable of providing speeds of up to 330Mbps.
However, with all these services, the speed achievable declines with distance, with
the highest speeds only available to premises closest to the cabinet.</p><p> </p><p>FTTP
(fibre to the premises or full fibre) and DOCSIS (data over cable service interface
specification) 3.1 are both capable of gigabit download speeds. However, unlike DOCSIS
3.1, FTTP can also offer symmetrical upload speeds, and can therefore deliver gigabit
upload as well as download. High upload speeds are especially important to businesses
in sectors where large files need to be transferred e.g. media production, as well
as for certain domestic uses, such as online gaming.</p><p> </p><p>All gigabit capable
networks also offer increased reliability and resilience compared to copper, with
FTTP providing the most reliable and resilient service. As well as improved quality
of service, full fibre networks requires much lower maintenance compared to copper
networks, with five times fewer faults. The reduction in fault rate means FTTP networks
are cheaper to run than copper, and the National Infrastructure Assessment estimated
that this could save £5bn in operating costs over 30 years.</p><p> </p><p>The department
has not made specific assessments of the differences in energy efficiency. However,
FTTP has lower energy requirements than copper and cable technologies and requires
the use of fewer exchanges, and will therefore likely lead to reduced emissions for
similar bandwidths.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government is investing
£167m into Made Smarter, the UK’s key industrial digitalisation programme, to put
UK at forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.</p><p> </p><p>Fibre is a key
requirement for 5G networks, providing high speed and capacity mobile backhaul to
match the capacity of 5G mobile networks. It is important that mobile operators and
infrastructure providers have access to the key inputs for network densification,
including sufficient fibre backhaul capacity.</p>
|
|