Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) is a technology used in broadband connections. It’s one of three types of fibre optic broadband available in the UK and is often referred to as ‘fibre to the street cabinet’ or ‘fibre to the cabinet’.
The other two types are Fibre to the Premises (FTTP), which is where an optical fibre line runs directly from your local telephone exchange all the way into your property, and Fibre to the Building (FTTB), which is where an optical fibre runs from a street cabinet into your building and then you have a copper cable running from there into your home or business premises.
Fibre Cabinet (FTTC) is an up-and-coming broadband technology that combines fibre optic cable and copper to deliver fast internet. It’s ideal for homes and businesses where there isn’t already a good quality connection, as it can be installed quickly and easily.
FTTC offers much faster speeds than traditional broadband connections, with download speeds of up to 80Mbps and upload speeds of up to 20Mbps. It’s also more secure than other types of broadband, as it uses fibre optic cables for maximum protection against viruses and hackers.
How does FTTC work?
FTTC uses fibre optic cables to connect your home or business to a local cabinet – usually located on the street outside your property – which uses an existing copper line to connect to the internet. This means that you only need one line from your ISP (such as BT or Virgin Media) connected directly into your property rather than both an optic cable and a telephone line as with FTTC’s predecessor – Fibre to the Premises (FTTP).
FTTC is often referred to as Fibre Broadband or Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC). This is because the fibre optic cable runs from the telephone exchange out to the street cabinet, or even further if there’s more than one cabinet. The copper cabling used for most phone and internet connections then carries the signal from there into your premises.
The main advantage of FTTC over an ADSL connection is that it can deliver much faster download speeds – up to 80Mbps in some cases. However, unless you live close enough to the local exchange (or ‘node’) this won’t be possible because your distance from it will limit your speed.
The main difference between FTTC and other broadband technologies like ADSL or VDSL is that it uses a combination of fibre optic cables and copper cabling to provide high-speed internet access. The fibre optic cable provides a direct connection between the central office (CO) and your premises while copper wires connect CO to the nearest street cabinet via a distribution point (DP).
The optical fibre cable from CO passes through a local distribution cabinet (LC), which is located on the corner of each street in residential areas, before reaching your house. The LCs are connected with the DPs via underground ducts or overhead poles depending on the location of your property. A DP contains one or more optical splitters that divide incoming optic signals into multiple smaller ones before.
