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Openreach and Nokia test UK’s first live ‘hyper-fast’ 50Gbps fibre broadband connection

10. 02. 2025 Monday / By: Robert Denes / Industrial / Exact time: BST / Print this page

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Openreach and Nokia have successfully tested the UK’s first live 50 Gigabits per second (Gbps) broadband connection. This revolutionary technology promises to deliver speeds twenty times faster than the fastest broadband services available today in UK.

05 February 2025

During a field test conducted from a residential property in Ipswich, the new Nokia '50G PON' technology achieved astonishing download speeds of 41.9Gbps and upload speeds of 20.6Gbps. The test was run over a section of Openreach's existing Full Fibre network, which is already available to more than 17 million premises across the UK, demonstrating that the current fibre network is future proof.

The 'hyper-fast' service also excelled in simultaneous tests over a trial XGS-PON network - a faster version of Openreach's current network that supports higher symmetric speeds. The successful trial highlights the potential for a wide range of future services and transformative benefits for both homes and businesses.

As our lives become increasingly digital, the demand for higher speeds and greater bandwidth continues to grow. Openreach recently reported how broadband usage across the UK had reached record levels - increasing by more than 10 per cent last year. Future deployments of 10 Gbps, 25 Gbps and 50 Gbps capable broadband will open up a world of exciting possibilities, including:

Driving the Next Wave of Entertainment: Immersive experiences like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and 8K video streaming are bandwidth-intensive. With ultra-low latency 50Gbps fibre, these technologies can be delivered seamlessly, offering consumers richer and more interactive content.

Lightning fast data transmission and minimal delay are crucial for real-time gaming. With 50Gbps broadband – gamers can enjoy smoother gameplay , quicker response times, and a more immersive experience, even during periods of peak demand.

Accelerating Innovation in Healthcare: From telemedicine to AI-driven diagnostics, healthcare is increasingly reliant on high-speed internet. High-capacity fibre will enable near-instantaneous transmission of large medical imaging files and real-time consultations that could help save lives.

Transforming Remote Work and Learning: With remote work and online education becoming standard, the need for robust and stable connections is critical. Fibre broadband ensures crystal-clear video conferencing, instantaneous file sharing, and uninterrupted access to cloud-based applications.

Transforming industries: Enterprises increasingly making a move to the cloud to benefit from a new wave of industry 4.0 applications for AI-driven automation, data analytics and collaboration. This shift requires high speed broadband, helping enterprises to increase productivity, reduce waste and energy consumption.

Empowering Smart Cities: Smart city initiatives rely on real-time data to manage traffic, energy consumption, public safety, and more. Fibre broadband can handle the data requirements of smart city infrastructure, enabling real-time monitoring and management of traffic, utilities, and public service.

Trevor Linney, Director, Network Technology at Openreach said: “As the country’s largest full fibre provider, it’s crucial that we continue to research, innovate and evolve our network to meet our customers’ demands for decades to come.

“The Full Fibre network we’re building today is a platform for the UK’s economic, social and environmental prosperity, and this test proves we can keep upgrading the speeds and services our customers experience over that network long into the future.

“Today we’re deploying XGS-PON ready equipment, and this trial proves we’re ready for the next generational leap, as and when it’s needed.”

Sandy Motley, President Nokia Fixed Networks said: “This trial shows the incredible power of fibre to increase network capacity in an efficient way. As a futureproof, energy efficient technology, fibre is used by operators like Openreach to connect everything to multi-gigabit services. Our platform provides them with a full range of PON[1] technologies and services that can be delivered over their existing fibre network. From 10G and 25G today to eventually 50Gbps or even 100G, our unique toolkit of fibre solutions allows Openreach to future-proof their network and flexibly address their evolving network demand.

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