FTTC vs FTTP broadband: What's the difference?

Dan Howdle • October 23rd, 2024

If you've heard these two terms bandied about recently (Standard Fibre and Full Fibre or FTTC and FTTP respectively), it's because they are the rather unhelpful descriptions of the type of broadband we currently have available widely throughout the UK.

The technologies aren't all that different from one another, but the differences they do have result in a chasmo of difference when it comes to available speeds, reliability, latency and just about every other metric you can measure the quality of a broadband connection by. Full Fibre (FTTP) is far superior to Standard Fibre (FTTC). Here's why.

What is FTTC broadband?

FTTC, or Standard Fibre, stands for 'fibre to the cabinet'. The fibre part of the equation is fibre broadband, which is defined as a broadband connection which is delivered over fibre optic cables. Unlike copper cables, fibre has a glass core, which enables information to be transmitted through them using light rather than electrical signals. Fibre optic cables can deliver data at rates thousands of times faster than copper cables.

The 'cabinet' in that abbreviation refers to the green cabinets you will have seen on street corners and pavements. Fibre optic lines are routed into these cabinets, but then the remaining distance between the cabinet and your home is covered by slower, copper cables. Fibre to the cabinet (FTTC), then, really means 'fibre cables only as far as the cabinet', with the copper element covering the final distance, slowing down the potential top speed of your broadband significantly.

There are currently two major broadband networks that use FTTC. They are:

• Openreach – This network, run independently of but still owned by BT, is the one that delivers broadband to most homes in the country. Openreach isn't just for BT. Most other providers lease Openreach infrastructure to provide broadband to their customers. Other providers, besides BT, that you'll find on the Openreach network include TalkTalk, Sky, Plusnet, EE and others
• Virgin Media – If you've ever compared broadband speeds from various providers you may have noticed that Virgin Media offers extremely fast speeds. This is because it operates its own network, which uses a different type of cabling that allows for much faster speeds than Openreach's FTTC network. The Virgin Media network still technically fits the description of FTTC provision because the connection from the street cabinet to the property is a modern multi-core copper, rather than fibre optic. But this substantially different cable technology allows it to offer speeds that are even quicker than FTTP pure fibre. Consequently, most Virgin Media Broadband customers can access speeds up to 1,130Mbps

What is Full FIbre (FTTP) broadband?

Full Fibre, FTTP and FTTH all refer to the same thing. FTTP stands for 'fibre to the premises' and FTTH stands for 'fibre to the home' – Full Fibre is just a consumer friendly way of saying it. They are all used interchangeably. Unlike FTTC, FTTP broadband is delivered via fibre optic cables not only as far as the cabinet, but across the entire distance to your home or business. The net result is that, generally speaking, it's able to deliver broadband speeds far higher than a typical FTTC connection.

FTTP broadband is still growing, but at the time of writing now available to around 62% of UK homes and businesses. That means you have three on five chance of being somewhere it's available. The Networks (as opposed to providers) that are either 100% FTTP – or offer FTTP to some of their customers – are listed below.

• Openreach – As outlined in the section on FTTC broadband, Openreach – which is the network used by most UK providers – is still predominantly an FTTC network. However, it is in the process of rolling out FTTP broadband to some parts of the country and has the ambition (a target set out by government) of reaching the majority of UK premises with FTTP full fibre by 2025 and it has already achieved that
• Altnets – Are alternative networks like Hyperoptic, Gigaclear, brsk and many, many more. There are hundreds of them in the UK and each is only available in a handful of locations. I't always worth finding out if you can get an altnet because they mostly share a lot of desirable traits, including very high speeds, good equipment, customer service, and no price hikes

FTTC versus FTTP speed comparison

Given the definitions in the two sections above, you may have concluded that the differences between FTTC and FTTP/FTTH broadband are obvious – one is adequate, while the other can be quite insanely fast. That's true to a point, but the lines are a little blurry. For example, there is a technology known as GFast that can significantly boost the speeds achievable with FTTC. However, it's not available everywhere, and FTTP really is superior. It's often marketed as 'Ultrafast', which only adds to the confusion.

Further muddying the waters is the very, very fast network operated by Virgin Media, whose version of FTTC technology employs superior multi-core cables that can deliver speeds on a par with, and in excess of FTTP. There’s also the fact that some Openreach providers, including EE and Vodafone are now offering FTTP connections of up to 1.6Gbps.

Add to all this the fact that pure FTTP altnets with their own networks such as Hyperoptic and Gigaclear also offer extremely fast Full Fibre broadband in specific locations.

Here are the most common speeds currently available via these technologies.

• Standard Fibre FTTC speeds – For Openreach providers (everyone except Virgin Media) most FTTC speeds start at around 35Mbps and go as high as 76Mbps. On Virgin Media's network FTTC speeds start at 54Mbps and go as high as 1,130Mbps
• Full Fibre FTTP/FTTH speeds – Packages range from around 50Mbps all the way up to 1.6Gbps from national providers, and 7Gbps from one or two altnets

Which providers offer FTTC broadband?

FTTC is the type of broadband you're going to be getting from most UK providers, with Virgin Media being the exception as it operates on its own network and offers much faster speeds. Here are the providers with whom you're most likely to find an FTTC broadband deal as of October 2024.

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• BT – Offers FTTC broadband with download speeds typically up to 80Mbps. BT’s FTTP service, offering speeds up to 900Mbps, is also being expanded in select areas
• EE – EE provides FTTC on the Openreach network with speeds of up to 80Mbps. It also offers FTTP services with speeds reaching 1.6Gbps in some locations
• Plusnet – Plusnet offers FTTC broadband with speeds up to 80Mbps. While still focused on FTTC, it is gradually rolling out FTTP in select areas
• Sky – Sky offers FTTC fibre with speeds up to 80Mbps. It also has FTTP packages that can reach speeds up to 900Mbps
• TalkTalk – TalkTalk offers FTTC broadband with speeds up to 80Mbps and is rolling out FTTP, with speeds up to 900Mbps in many areas
• Virgin Media – Virgin Media is unique, operating on its own network. While technically offering a form of FTTC, its speeds are much higher, with packages going up to 1.1Gbps and in some areas 2Gbps.
• Vodafone – Vodafone offers both FTTC (up to 80Mbps) and FTTP broadband. On the Openreach network, its FTTP packages can offer speeds of up to 1.6Gbps in select areas.

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Which providers offer FTTP broadband?

All providers now offer Full Fibre FTTP broadband, and it is Standard FTTC Broadband that is on its way out. 62% of UK homes and businesses can get Full Fibre, and if you live somewhere you can and are switching to a new deal, most providers won't even show you the Standard Fibre deals.

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