Plusnet is calling for more customers to join its test of 80Mbps fibre broadband connections.
Around 100 staff and customers have signed up to the fibre-to-the-cabinet trial since it launched in January, with speeds of up to 80Mbps down and 20Mbps up.
It’s open to existing Plusnet fibre customers on its 40/10 service for no extra charge, who receive a new router to keep as well as getting their speed doubled for the duration of the trial.
Posting on Plusnet’s blog, Dave Tomlinson of the Plusnet product team said: “Like all other DSL technologies 80/20 is a distance-dependent technology, but as it’s a fibre to the cabinet product it’s the distance between property and cabinet that matters rather than property and exchange.
“We have a limited number of routers available for testing, these are free and yours to keep regardless of whether you stay on 80/20 or not at the end of the trial.
“At the end of the trial, people on the trial will be able to move to whatever 80/20 product we launch and pay whatever the fee is for that product, or switch back to the up to 40Mbps product for free and continue to pay the same as today.”
Plusnet customers on the Value Fibre or Extra Fibre tariffs can sign up for extra speed at the trials site.
Broadband providers are racing to provide faster speeds: Virgin is doubling broadband speeds for all customers over the next 18 months, BT is upgrading its 40Mbps service to 80Mbps, and several other ISPs are testing the same 80Mbps technology as Plusnet.
But it looks like a real postcode lottery, with rural areas struggling to get 2Mbps and no choice of service provider, while urban centres are being boosted over 100Mbps and can choose from dozens of ISPs.
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