BT launches G.fast 314Mb/s broadband

BT has announced that it is expanding its high-end broadband packages, bringing its higher-speed offerings to premises not served by fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) with 152Mb/s and 314Mb/s packages.

Designed to supplement the company's existing 200Mb/s and 300Mb/s Infinity 3 and Infinity 4 broadband packages, which are available exclusively to the minority of UK buildings with direct fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) connections, BT's Ultrafast 1 and Ultrafast 2 ditch the Infinity branding yet offer significantly wider support through the use of G.fast VDSL connectivity through to fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC).

Ultrafast 1 brings a maximum connection speed of 152Mb/s, while Ultrafast 2 hits 314Mb/s - though, as always, actual speeds will vary depending on line quality, distance to the cabinet, and exchange congestion. Uniquely, though, BT has become the first ISP to formally offer a minimum speed guarantee: If at any point a subscriber's connection drops below 100Mb/s, a £20 'BT reward card' rebate can be claimed - up to a maximum of four claims per year, however, and only when using BT's own in-house speed test platform.

BT has confirmed pricing of £55 and £60 per month for the Ultrafast 1 and Ultrafast 2 connections respectively, but while G.fast FTTC has a wider reach than direct FTTP the service is still available to only a minority of households with BT targeting to support 12 million premises by 2020.

More information, and an availability checker, is available on the official website.