Paris homes get 2.5Gb net connections

Written by Glen Chivers

July 27, 2006 | 16:53

Tags: #connection #fibre #home #net #optical #paris

Most of us in the UK (and US) think that 8Mb broadband is fast and that 24Mb, now starting to roll our over Europe, is super-awesome. Now behold - 2.5Gb downstream and 1.2Gbps upstream for just €70 (£48/$89) a month with free installation.

Catch is that you have to be in one of 6 districts in Paris, the city of love - which seems to love broadband.

Although this is a trial to just 100 homes the system, which uses optical fibre, will not just be for internet access but for digital TV and telephone too. This still leaves a lot of bandwidth for your internet access. If the full 2.5Gbps was dedicated to internet access it would be 2.5 times faster than Hong Kong's 1Gbps home internet service. France Telecom has laid down 100km of cable for this trial which is not a small sum to pay.

The cost is a major reason why many phone operators are reluctant to lay down fibre and banish copper forever.

The bottleneck then becomes your home network and computer hardware, since not many users currently have their homes wired up with gigabit ethernet kit.

Exciting prospects for the future, or is this just getting plain silly? How fast does the net really need to be? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
Discuss this in the forums
YouTube logo
MSI MPG Velox 100R Chassis Review

October 14 2021 | 15:04

TOP STORIES

SUGGESTED FOR YOU