Sky has become the latest supplier in the market, after the likes of Vodafone and Digiweb, to offer fibre-to-the-home technology which facilitates the lightning quick speeds.
Sky is upping its game when it comes to broadband, as today it's announced the launch of Sky Fibre Ultra. Fibre Ultra will be available to both new and existing customers, from as little as €40 per month, and allows speeds of up to 1,000Mbp/s.
Prospective Sky TV and Fibre Ultra broadband customers can sign up from as little as €60 per month, and this will give you access to Sky Q, their next generation box.
Sky Fibre Ultra is currently available to over 400,000 homes, with the technology being rolled out to thousands of additional homes nationwide each month.
So how is this possible? Well the explanation has a lot to do with the fibre-to-the-home technology that Sky is now using instead of fibre-to-the-cabinet.
What is fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC)?
With fibre-to-the-cabinet broadband, the network of fibre optic cables that carries data runs to your local telephone exchange cabinet on the street, from where data is transferred through regular copper cables to a building. Since copper wires tend to significantly slow down the speed of a connection, FTTC broadband has a maximum speed of around 100Mb/s. And the further you are from the telephone cabinet, the slower your speeds will be.
What is fibre-to-the-home (FTTH)?
To get anywhere near the superfast broadband speeds of 1,000Mb/s (1Gb/s) that are possible with fibre cables, you need to live in an area where there are FTTH (fibre-to-the-home) connections available. In these cases, fibre cables run all the way directly into your home, meaning there's no loss of speed.
Get speeds 10 times faster
FTTH is the technology Sky Fibre Ultra is using to get the whippet fast speeds, and Ann-Marie MacKay, Director of Products and Marketing for Sky Ireland couldn’t contain her excitement:
“Sky is delighted to announce the arrival of Sky Fibre Ultra, offering the fastest broadband speeds available in the country, to the widest possible footprint. We live in a world where people want and expect lighting fast broadband. With Sky Fibre Ultra, customers can get speeds that are up to ten times faster than our standard fibre broadband, meaning it’s perfect for people that want instant, multi-device access for everything from boxset binging to non-stop gaming.
“Our reach will continue to grow year on year through our relationship with partners such as SIRO and through backing the Government’s National Broadband Plan which will make lighting fast broadband a reality for currently under-served communities. We expect to be offering Sky Fibre Ultra, with speeds up to one gigabit, to more than 1 million homes over the next 3-5 years.”
So what do you think?
Is this an exciting announcement for you? If you want to know more about superfast broadband, check out our guide on SIRO, some of the technology behind the latest super-quick internet speeds from Sky.
Looking to switch? Check out the latest deals and quickest broadband speeds available in your area right now on bonkers.ie.
