Fibre broadband also known as fibre optic broadband delivers super faster internet speeds which translate to a more responsive, lag-free internet experience.
Fibre broadband uses plastic or glass cores to transmit data in the form of pulsing light beams. More data can travel faster over fibre optic cables.
Use the Broadband Coverage Checker to find out if superfast fibre broadband is available in your area.
The broadband coverage checkers is based on information provided by Ofcom – the communications regulator in the UK. You will see a green tick next to the services available in your area along with the highest available download and upload speed.
Broadband Availability Coverage Checker
Here are the most popular ultrafast and superfast broadband providers. You can use the links below to use the providers’ fibre availability checkers to confirm whether fibre broadband will be available at your address.
Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband packages
Ultrafast Fibre broadband is broadband with average download speeds between 300Mbps – 1Gb.
- BT Full Fibre (up to 900Mb)
- Sky Gigafast Broadband (Up to 900Mb)
- Plusnet Full Fibre Broadband (500Mb)
- Virgin Media M350 Fibre (350Mb)
- Virgin Media M500 Fibre (500Mb)
- Vodafone Gigafast Broadband(500Mb – 900Mb)
- EE Fibre (300Mb – 900Mb)
- Hyperoptic 1Gb Fibre Broadband.
- KCOM Full Fibre 900Mb Broadband
- YouFibre 1Gb Fibre Broadband
- Community Fibre 1Gb Full Fibre Broadband
- Gigaclear Hyperfast 900Mb Full Fibre Broadband
- Three 5G Mobile Home Broadband (100Mb – 1Gb)
Superfast Fibre broadband packages
Superfast Fibre broadband packages have an average download speed of between 30Mbps – 300Mbps.
View All Superfast Fibre Broadband Packages
Fibre broadband key takeaways
- Fibre broadband is also referred to as Fibre optic broadband
- Use the fibre broadband coverage checker to see if fibre is available in your area
- Fibre broadband uses plastic or glass cables to transmit data
- Fibre broadband is available to approx. 95% of UK homes
How is fibre broadband installed?
Openreach Fibre broadband installation
Service providers such as Sky, BT, Plusnet, John Lewis, EE and Vodafone use the Openreach infrastructure to provide fibre broadband. This is the Openreach fibre broadband installation process
Source: Openreach YouTube Channel
Virgin Media Cable broadband installation
Source: Virgin Media help YouTube Channel
Fibre broadband suppliers and availability
Fibre optic broadband is available to approximately 95% of UK properties according to the UK telecoms regulator – Ofcom.
The two main fibre broadband providers in the UK are Openreach and Virgin Media.
Approximately 80-90% of the country is covered by the Openreach fibre network and Virgin Media covers around 60%.
There are also a number of smaller fibre providers with their own networks such as Hyperoptic, Gigaclear, Wightfibre or KCOM.
The majority of broadband providers such as BT, EE, Plusnet, Sky and Vodafone use the Openreach network providing average download speeds in the 57-67Mb range and up to 1Gb (1000Mb) on BT full-fibre broadband.
Virgin Media offers download speeds ranging from 50Mb to 1Gb.
What if I can’t get fibre broadband in my area?
If cannot get fibre in your area, you should be able to get ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) broadband instead. ADSL (standard) broadband is delivered via copper cables as opposed to fibre.
ADSL broadband has an average speed download of 10 – 11Mb.
What are the types of fibre broadband?
Fibre broadband is a type of broadband delivered by fibre optic cables.
Data travels down the fibre cables (plastic or glass) at the speed of light which means it doesn’t slow down over long distances and you get a more reliable and stable internet connection.
There are a couple of different ways you can get fibre optic broadband delivered to your home.
Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC)
FTTC is the most common type of Fibre broadband available.
The first part of the connection from the local exchange to the green cabinet on your street is fibre.
Traditional Copper cables are then used from the street cabinet to your property.
Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) / Full Fibre
Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) is also known as Fibre to the Home (FTTH) or Full fibre.
This is a full-fibre connection from the exchange to your property. No copper cables.
There are no copper cables involved in this type of connection because the fibre cable is run directly to your property which will result in ultrafast broadband speeds.
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