Broadband users in Belfast have been selected to be amongst the first group of users in UK to have access to BT’s new superfast broadband. The service will offer speeds up to 10 times that which are available at the moment as part of BT’s £1.5 billion superfast broadband project. Broadband users with access to the Balmoral exchange area are part of a select group of 29 UK locations which will initially be used to roll out the superfast service.
It is envisaged that the massive increase in speeds will allow users, in the same household, to watch different HD films online while other users may be playing online games. Initially speeds of around 40Mbps will be available although this will rise to 60Mbps in due course. While this is not the first superfast broadband service to be available in Belfast, with Virgin Broadband offering a 50Mbps service to select homes in the region, the BT service will offer a seriously improved upload speed.
There is no doubt that the next generation of broadband services are under way and competition in the sector should be fairly furious over the next few years. The only possible downside for consumers is the expected increase in wholesale broadband prices as BT looks to recoup as much of its initial investment in these troubled economic times.