26 May 2011

High Speed Broadband Test in Cornwall

The first live customer trial of 4G high speed broadband technology is set to start, combining the expertise of BT Wholesale and Everything Everywhere.

The first live customer trial of 4G high speed broadband technology is set to start, combining the expertise of BT Wholesale and Everything Everywhere in a unique collaboration.

The two companies will share their fixed telecommunications and mobile technology to provide high speed wireless broadband to customers in rural Cornwall who have trouble connecting to the internet due to their location.

The trial will start this September and run to early next year after the initial test at BT's laboratories at Adastral Park, Suffolk, concludes.

The field trial will involve up to 100 mobile and 100 fixed line customers living around the St Newlyn East area of South Newquay, Cornwall. It will test the application of 4G LTE as a shared fixed and mobile platform.

"We strongly believe that, by sharing our network and mobile assets in this way, we can make a valuable contribution to the economics of rural broadband services,” said Tom Alexander, CEO, Everything Everywhere.

"BT is committed to bringing the highest speed broadband to everyone in the UK, whether that's over fibre, copper or airwaves,”said Sally Davis, CEO of BT Wholesale.

The test will take place providing a combined coverage area of 25 square kilometres, with about 700 premises which have no or limited access to broadband services today. Everything Everywhere will also look to test 4G enabled mobile handsets and broadband dongles as part of the trial.

According to research be Consumer Choice, the cost of broadband has risen recently for the first time in five years. This price has increased at twice the rate of inflation.

The average total first year cost of the 10 cheapest standalone broadband packages from January 2007 to January this year were analysed, and the results revealed headline broadband speeds have increased by 29 percent since 2010, while the cost has also risen by 11 percent.

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