Technology

What full fibre broadband means

FTTP versus part-fibre and cable, and why upload speed matters as much as the headline download.

Last reviewed 8 September 2026. Last fact-checked 8 September 2026.

Fibre to the premises

Full fibre, or FTTP, means fibre all the way to the home. Typical products run from around 50 Mbps to well over 1 Gbps. Upload is usually much higher than on FTTC or legacy cable.

It is still address-specific

Openreach, Virgin Media, CityFibre, Hyperoptic, Community Fibre and rural builders all have different maps. A neighbour on a different network is not evidence that your socket is live.

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