Phone and broadband services for most homes and businesses are provided via a street cabinet but a small minority of premises are connected directly to the exchange.
This causes problems for Openreach, BT’s network division, which is currently rolling out super-fast fibre broadband around the UK.
Although ‘Exchange Only’ premises can access standard ADSL broadband, the lack of existing street cabinets, power supplies and planning permission makes it harder for Openreach to install the necessary equipment needed to supply the faster fibre services.
However a new ‘fibre to the basement’ technology that sees the equipment installed inside the building, reducing the need for any external cabinets and related works, could soon help more homes and businesses enjoy faster speeds.
Openreach says it’ll begin trials for the technology next month, allowing 225 residential customers and 65 SMEs in the City of London to access to fibre broadband from one of the 130 providers who use its network.
Joe Garner, CEO, Openreach said: “City-centre locations present unique challenges when it comes to upgrading consumer broadband.
“For example, there is less room for us to install a fibre cabinet on the pavement, and it is often harder to get permission to close roads to do the work.
“We also need to secure permission from multiple landlords to run new cables across their land and properties.
“That’s why we are being innovative with new technology solutions like this one. We optimistic that this new solution will prove that fibre broadband can be installed into building basements quickly, smoothly and economically.
“It could also have the added benefit of being less disruptive for our customers and the general public.”