Let’s get straight to the point. The leading technology in broadband – that’s widely available – is fibre-to-the-cabinet internet. This form of connection is significantly faster than the old copper wire method, used by the majority of our broadband providers. In here, we have our main problem, which has plagued those bothered enough about their broadband for quite some time now.
Before today, only Virgin offered fibre-optic broadband to the people. This meant that Virgin held a speed monopoly almost, being able to trump the others in regards to efficient broadband connection. This has changed as of today.
Enter John Lewis. That’s right: John frigging Lewis. The British chain of upmarket department stores has moved into providing secure internet connections for the masses. Thus Virgin finally has the competition needed to compete, which will hopefully mean cheaper prices and a more efficient service.
When looking to compare broadband deals, whether or not a service is fibre-optic doesn’t usually enter into the frame of consideration. Instead all we see are a montage of numbers. Fibre-optic broadband should be taken into strong consideration however, as it is through this means that the future of the world’s broadband lies within.
The problem is that Britain only has a despicable 400,000 homes connected with fibre-optic broadband. This is shockingly only 1.5 per cent of the population. Meanwhile, France has 6 million homes connected and on top of that has pledged to connect a very respectable 70 per cent of premises by 2020. To put things into further context, Russia has 12 million homes fibre-connected, which consists of just over 23 per cent of homes within the country.
Therefore, John Lewis’ move into the broadband business is to be greeted with a warm welcome and seen as a positive day in Britain’s broadband history. With speeds of 38Mbps and download speeds of up to 100Mbps, John Lewis has really pulled it out of the bag this time!