Sky network first takes fibre broadband to new heights

In a UK network first, Sky Broadband has installed new fibre optic technology into its core network that will make its behind the scenes speeds 10 times faster that the majority of its rivals.

Technically speaking (which we're not keen on), Sky has installed 100Gb dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technology into its core network that runs between London and Birmingham. Five more are planned for other areas of its growing network in the next year.

Unfortunately this doesn't equate to a jump in speeds for Sky's 3.4 million broadband customers. However, it does very much future proof its network at a time when it is seeing strong growth in customers alongside an increasingly data hungry nation.

Without getting into boring details, the new tech allows data to be transferred at seven terabits per second, meaning that in theory up to 4.6 million Sky Broadband customers could simultaneously stream a HD film over their broadband without a hiccup.

While Orange has given up on its own LLU broadband network and O2 has pretty much ruled out the idea of creating one itself, Sky Broadband has dedicated itself to rivalling BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk in real terms. Using BT’s base infrastructure it has now installed its own network equipment into 1,825 telephone exchanges (covering 80 per cent of the UK’s population) with plans to continue growth at around 100 exchanges per month.

To find out if your exchange is due for an upgrade by Sky Broadband, simply visit the Sky site and put in your address and postcode: you'll get a current speed estimate, plus any information on any upgrades expected in the next six months.