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The Future of Broadband

23rd December 2024

Can you imagine life without broadband? 

Today, everything from work and leisure to entertainment and paying bills relies on fast, reliable, and secure internet. It’s so deeply woven into day-to-day living we barely notice it anymore. 

And the faster it gets, the better and more valuable those experiences and services can become. At LightSpeed this sits at the heart of our mission. 

A (very) quick history lesson.

It’s hard to believe, but the word ‘broadband’ is approaching 30 years old. 

From a start-point of 0.5Mbps - about ten times that of its ‘dial-up’ predecessor - leading providers such as LightSpeed can today offer homes and businesses speeds of 2Gbps. That’s enough to download a 1Gb file in around four seconds. Incredible! 

This extraordinary acceleration has been made possible with the introduction of fibre optic cable to replace copper telephone wire. 

Creating new opportunities by connecting the world
From video conferencing to transferring large files, fast broadband has helped millions of people work remotely, allowing more balance and flexibility across professional and personal lives. 

It has also made opportunities such as home-schooling more accessible, with fast, connections supporting effective streaming, plus countless other activities like keeping up with the media and staying connected through social platforms. 

Of course, speed and reliability are also critical requirements, and here is where full-fibre networks such as LightSpeed far exceed traditional copper-based broadband. 

But what exactly is fibre?
Basically, it’s made primarily of silica (divided into a chemical glass (C - glass), structural glass (S-glass), electrical glass (E-glass), and alkali-resistant glass (AR-glass) fibres, carrying data in the form of light pulses. The data is encoded into light at the start of its journey and decoded back into data at the end. 

full fibre

Why’s fibre so much better than copper wire at carrying data?

There are plenty of reasons. Here are just a few: 

1. Speed
Fibre broadband is incredibly fast, and its potential is almost limitless. At the time of writing a team in Japan has achieved broadband speeds speed of over 400,000Gbps! 

In 2023 LightSpeed were named the UK’s fastest broadband, and our full fibre network means your home can run multiple devices at once, smoothly and with ease. Why not do a broadband speed test to find out what you’re getting? 

2.  Reliability 
More robust and durable than copper, fibre has greater resilience to both weather and electromagnetic interference. If you’ve ever experienced slowdowns, signal loss, or a dropped video call you’ll know how frustrating these can be. Perhaps it’s time for a broadband comparison, because switching to LightSpeed can help make them a thing of the past. 

3.  Efficiency 
With fast fibre, download speed won’t take the edge off your productivity. No more lengthy waits for that graphic to painfully reach 100%. And uploading is just as quick. 

4. Future-proof tech 
Today we’re using ten times the data that we were a decade ago. And this will only increase. Full fibre broadband helps you handle whatever tech is coming, and without buffering or lag. Plus, you won't ever have to switch your broadband again! 

So, what can we expect next from fibre broadband?

Greater interconnectivity 
Many predict broadband will continue to grow more interconnected, with the integration of virtual and augmented reality into the internet. 

Smarter edge computing
Fast broadband is integral to the advancement of edge computing. This means moving data processing and storage closer to the devices that produce and use the data.  

Supporting the Internet of Things (IoT) 
A recent survey revealed that the average UK home has over ten connected devices in it, suggesting that across the country the total figure will be approaching 300 million.  

A faster future with full fibre – time to switch broadband? 
At LightSpeed we are constantly thinking of new and creative ways to exploit the capabilities of our full fibre network to bring exciting and useful services to our customers. And you could be one of them. By popping your address into our availability checker you can find out if we’re in your area yet Even if we’re not, you can register with us, and we’ll be in touch as soon as we’re on your street, and also tell you about our best broadband deals. 

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© LightSpeed 2025. LightSpeed Broadband Limited is registered in England and Wales (Company Registered number 12487672) and its Registered Office Address is LightSpeed Broadband Ltd, Office 2B, Westpoint, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, PE2 6FZ
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