Kent gets Fastest UK Broadband

By Julia Kukiewicz Staff Writer Tuesday, 22 January 2008

The fastest broadband packages in the UK Be Unlimited - Up to 24Mb O2 Ultimate - Up to 20Mb Virgin Media XL - Up to 20Mb UKOnline Premier - Up to 16Mb Other fast broadband news See our other recent news about fast UK broadband: Future of UK Fast Broadband Becomes Clearer Telecommunications watchdog Ofcom has waded into the debate about how the UK's high speed broadband network should be implemented. Will we ever see fast UK broadband? UK Broadband Speeds Not Living up to Promise Consumer watchdog Which? has called for an investigation into UK broadband after a survey by the Department of No Shit Sherlock revealed broadband speeds are falling way short of their advertised speeds.

Kent - once the place to be if you wanted to grow hops or smuggle cheap booze from Calais - is fast becoming the place to be for super-fast broadband.

Super-fast 100Mb broadband connections will soon be available for the first time in the UK as Openreach unveils plans to install high quality fibre cable in Ebbsfleet, Kent.

The announcement trumps the current fastest broadband connection in the UK – Virgin Media’s 50Mb which is also on trial in Kent.

Fastest broadband still measly by comparison

It might come as a bitter pill, however, to broadband customers elsewhere in the UK. Users currently only get around 8Mb connections and the fastest country-wide connections – available from Virgin Media, Be Broadband and O2 Broadband – are measly in comparison at around 20Mb.

UKOnline and Sky broadband both offer speeds of up to 16Mbps.

The fast broadband development will give the 10,000 new homeowners the opportunity to access high-definition TV and high-quality internet gaming and music at unprecedented broadband speeds on a par with Japan, Korea and part of the United States.

Prices for fast broadband

Prices for the new fast broadband service have yet to be formally announced but could be as little as £100 per year for a basic line or as much as around £500 for the full 100Mbps.

Users of the fast broadband service will also have a choice of broadband provider for the new services as Openreach plans to lease its fast broadband services wholesale to other carriers.

It’s difficult to say when the rest of the country can expect to reach such stomach-churning broadband speeds.

The installation of the new fibre cables which allow super fast broadband is so expensive and the broadband providers and the government so argumentative on the subject of who is going to foot the bill that it could be some time.

Compare broadband and bundle services
Back to broadband guide