Internet service provider Be is on the verge of launching 24 meg broadband – the fastest in the UK and triple the speed of the current leading competitor.
Using ADSL2+ technology that doubles the download bandwidth, together with LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) that fast-tracks the connection from the telephone exchange to the customer premises, this revolutionary overhaul of the broadband market is a first for the UK.
Be will rollout the new service from London in the autumn. They hope to cover 64% of the population within a year.
For Boris Ivanovic, Executive Director of Be, this will be the second time he has broken the broadband speed record. In April 2001, he purchased Sweden's fledging ISP BoStream Broadband and launched 26 meg broadband – growing its customer base dramatically from 2,000 to 100,000, and from a $1m to $55m revenue, in just three years.
Boris Ivanovic told us,
"The deregulation of the market makes this a very exciting time for the UK and Be is here to make the most of it, offering customers the full capability of ADSL2+ from launch. There is no reason to drag out the increase in speed and launch in steps of 2 meg or 8 meg when the capability is there to offer the maximum speeds available – which is what Be is all about."
Be has the benefit of building a completely new network based on the latest technologies, allowing it to provide a faster product than anyone else in the UK. The company is able to deliver its dramatic speed increase due to Ethernet back-hauling and aggregation.
No prices have been confirmed yet, but industry analysts imagine the 24Meg service will cost around œ34.99 a month.