BT Infinity fibre broadband roll-out ahead of schedule: check the Infinity roll-out map

BT has announced that its super-fast fibre broadband roll-out is ahead of schedule. 

It's Infinity broadband should now be in two-thirds of UK homes by the end of 2014, rather than the original planned date of 2015. To help make it happen, BT is recruiting an extra 520 engineers - most of which will be former armed forces staff.

Around six million homes and businesses already have access to BT Infinity, which is currently capped at speeds 'up to' 40Mb - less than half the top speed of Virgin Media's rival cable product. 

However, this is due to the fact BT Infinity is currently just a FTTC service, or fibre to the cabinet (or curb); which means the fibre cables don't actually run the whole route into your home. However, BT has already announced plans to improve the service to FTTH (fibre to the home) which it claims will see speeds of 110Mb - and 300Mb by 2012.

If you're unsure when - or if - you're able to receive BT Infinity super-fast broadband, you can check BT's Fibre Map for details of which exchanges are already equipped with fibre-broadband, or when they're scheduled to be.

Of course, all this is just grist to the mill of those in more rural areas who see the divide between the haves and have-nots growing ever bigger. That said, the increase in manpower from BT can be seen as a way of increasing its chances of winning possibly lucrative BDUK (Broadband Delivery UK) contracts to continue its fibre roll-out into more remote communities.