BT begins 10Gbps (yes, gigabit) broadband trial in Cornwall

BT has announced it is testing astonishing internet download speeds of 10Gbps at an electronics business in Cornwall.

Thanks to a new back-end technology called Tens of Gigabits on a Passive Optical Network (XGPON), BT is able to funnel the remarkable speeds through its existing fibre-optic broadband infrastructure in the region.

The XGPON tech was developed by BT and Chinese firm ZTE and aims to show that such unworldly speeds can be achieved through the current infrastructure.

The proof of concept trial is taking place at Arcol UK Ltd and allocates the firm more bandwidth than was consumed at the peak times of traffic on the London Olympics media network, the Telegraph reported.

Archol currently has 330Mbps speeds through thanks to the 'fibre to the premise' connection that links it directly to the BT exchange in Truro. The 10Gbps connection is currently running in tandem with that.

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Forget superfast, meet hyperfast

Ranulf Scarbrough, Programme Director for the Superfast Cornwall group said: "What is exciting about this trial is that these hyperfast speeds have been obtained over the exactly the same fibre that carries BT's fibre broadband services today. All we are doing is changing the electronics at either end.

"This trial shows we are thinking and ready for the future even though there are no current plans to deploy this technology. A lot of this project is about future proofing – making sure that it's not just the fastest speeds today but that we can continue to be at the cutting edge for five, ten, twenty years."

BT added that the speeds accessible through the new XGPON tech are only hampered by current computing and networking devices.

Via Telegraph