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Bell Gigabit Fibe Discussion

56K views 123 replies 36 participants last post by  FunkyTown 
#1 · (Edited)
Here are the highlights from Bell's press release:

Bell Gigabit Fibe bringing the fastest Internet to Toronto residents with a billion-dollar+ network investment, creation of 2,400 direct jobs

Bell Canada today announced it will deliver gigabit-per-second Internet speeds to homes and businesses across the City of Toronto with the new Gigabit Fibe service. Coupled with Bell's single largest infrastructure expansion project, creating approximately 2,400 direct jobs and significant economic and innovation benefits, Gigabit Fibe will bring North America's fastest Internet speeds to more than a million Toronto premises – starting with approximately 50,000 homes and businesses that will have first access this summer.

Part of Bell's plan to invest $20 billion in its broadband fibre and wireless networks across Canada by the end of 2020, Gigabit Fibe will ultimately be available to 1.1 million homes and businesses across the city. Bell will launch Gigabit Fibe in other cities in Ontario, Québec and the Atlantic provinces as soon as this summer in some locations.

As with all other gigabit services, like the Google Fiber project in some US cities, service will initially be available at a maximum 940 Megabits per second and rise to a full 1000 Megabits per second or faster in 2016 as modem equipment suppliers catch up to gigabit speeds. To learn more about Gigabit Fibe, please visit Bell.ca/Fibe.

A public partnership without public funding
Fully funded by Bell, Gigabit Fibe in Toronto is supported by the company's single largest infrastructure buildout. Bell's long-term agreements with Toronto Hydro to share utility poles across the city are accelerating the Gigabit Fibe project's efficiency and speeding up deployment. When the project is complete, Bell teams will have upgraded 27 Bell Central Office facilities across the city and installed over 9,000 kilometres of new fibre, both underground via more than 10,000 manholes and on approximately 80,000 Bell and Toronto Hydro poles around the city. Approximately 70% of the network will be aerial and 30% underground.

Bell is building Gigabit Fibe on a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood basis and will advise residents in advance if Bell crews may need to access their property. Torontonians can visit Bell.ca/Toronto for updates and Gigabit Fibe availability. Bell will have a dedicated customer service process for Gigabit Fibe and work with Toronto's 3-1-1 information service to answer any questions about the infrastructure project.

Gigabit support for the United Way
As part of its ongoing support for the United Way Toronto Community Hub initiative, Bell will contribute Gigabit Fibe service to each the charity's city-wide Community Hubs initiative, including Access Point on the Danforth, Bathurst-Finch, Dorset Park, Jane Street, Mid-Scarborough, Rexdale Community Hub, Victoria Park Hub, and the planned Bridletowne Neighbourhood Centre serving the Steeles L'Amoreaux community.

Bell remains Canada's broadband leader
Canada's largest Internet service provider, Bell serves approximately 3.3 million total high-speed Internet customers. Bell will make Gigabit Fibe available in other cities across Ontario, Québec and the Atlantic provinces over the next year, some also as early as this summer. Cities primed for Gigabit Fibe include Québec City, locations in Montréal, Laval, Blainville, Gatineau, Joliette, Saint-Jérôme, Chicoutimi, Sherbrooke, Vaudreuil/Valleyfield, St. John's, Charlottetown, Halifax, Saint John, Fredericton, Moncton, Sudbury, North Bay, Peterborough and Kingston. Gigabit Fibe infrastructure rollouts are under way in even more cities and service availability will be announced over the next year.

Note: Please use the Bell Aliant thread to discuss Gigabit Fibe in Atlantic Canada.

EDIT March 27, 2017: Bell announced FTTH rollout for Montreal - see post 58
 
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#54 ·
I can only comment on how it's done in the Atlantic but I can only assume its the same. they will run a fiber line from the pole to the side of your house and you will have a box on the side of your house. from there they will run a second wire from that box to an ONT.

ftth does have its advantages as it will allow for faster speeds vrs fttn.

hope this helps
 
#55 ·
Our condo townhouses were recently wired for fibre.
Fibre run from Bell room to each unit's basement with sufficient left in basement to run to where needed in 4-storey unit.
(Still waiting for external hookup, which will parallel the regular Bell line, to Bell room. I'm told that infrastructure expansion in downtown Toronto is backed up.)
 
#56 ·
Coasterdon, about 10 years ago in another house my Rogers cable had to be replaced when it was cut accidentally by a neighbour. The installation was done from a different box and had to go under another neighbour's driveway. He was nasty and refused a cut and cover (not that he could actually stop it), so to keep the peace Rogers used a high pressure water jet to burrow under his driveway on the city easement area.
 
#58 ·
Here are the highlights from Bell's press release:

Bell investing $854 million in Montréal to bring the fastest broadband fibre technology directly to homes and businesses across the city

Bell today announced it will invest a further $854 million to bring direct fibre links and the fastest Internet speeds available to more homes and businesses throughout Montréal. Bell's fibre to the home (FTTH) connections will ultimately reach a total of 1.1 million residences and business locations throughout Québec's largest metropolis. The $854 million investment is fully funded by Bell and represents the largest-ever communications infrastructure project in Québec.

Bell's expansion will install more than 7,000 kilometres of new fibre and upgrade 25 central offices across Montréal. More than 90% of Bell's network in the city is on aerial structures already in place, which will help to speed the deployment of the new fibre links. Working closely with the city to manage the deployment, Bell is partnering with Montréal's 3-1-1 information service to answer questions from residents about the project, and updates on service availability can be found at Bell.ca/Mtl.

The fastest technology now and built for the future, Bell's broadband FTTH network enables the Gigabit Fibe Internet service that is already available in several thousand locations in Montréal. Bell's proven and flexible FTTH technology will enable the delivery of Internet access speeds of up to 10 gigabit and 40 gigabit in future.

Montréal joins a growing number of centres across Québec that are fully wired with Bell fibre – including Québec City, launched in 2012 as Bell's first full urban fibre deployment. By the end of the year, Bell fibre will reach approximately 40% of homes and businesses throughout Québec.
 
#59 ·
There is also a FAQ at the bottom of Bell.ca/Mtl which includes the following:
How much time will it take to bring fibre across the island of Montréal?
A: This will be a progressive rollout on the island over the next few years. Some of the island of Montréal already has access to the technology today and more than half will be covered by 2020. We expect to have most of it completed within 5 years.
 
#60 ·
Oshawa the next city to join Bell's all-fibre broadband network
(highlights from Bell's press release)

Bell today announced an investment of more than $100 million to bring its all-fibre optic network directly to approximately 60,000 homes and business locations throughout the City of Oshawa.

Fully funded by Bell, the Oshawa network is part of Bell's plan to deploy all-fibre connections to an additional 1.3 million homes and businesses throughout the GTA/905 region surrounding Toronto and extending to the US border. Earlier this month, Bell turned on its all-fibre Toronto network, which is connecting more than a million locations throughout Canada's largest city.

Powering the fastest Internet access, business connectivity solutions and advanced TV and media services, Bell's fibre to the premises (FTTP) service delivers Internet access speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) with symmetrical upload and downloads. Built for the future, FTTP is designed to ultimately deliver speeds of 40 Gbps and beyond.

As an early adopter of Smart City strategies, Oshawa was selected as a Smart21 Community by the Intelligent Community Forum in recognition of its partnerships with business, education and other stakeholders. Oshawa is expected to have one of the fastest-growing economies among 15 medium-sized metropolitan areas analyzed by the Conference Board of Canada.

Building on Bell's existing fibre to the neighbourhood network and working in close cooperation with the City, Bell will employ innovative installation techniques to minimize disruption to residents and businesses throughout the FTTP deployment. Bell will also be working closely with the Oshawa Power & Utilities Commission (OPUC) as well as local contractors Telecon for fibre installation. The deployment will include more than 240 kilometres of new fibre installed underground and on several hundred Bell and OPUC poles. Residents and businesses in the city are expected to have access to all-fibre connections beginning this fall.

Canada's largest fibre network
At more than 240,000 total kilometres, Bell's fibre optic network is Canada's largest by far. Across the 4 Atlantic provinces, Québec, Ontario and Manitoba, Bell now serves more than 9.2 million homes and business locations with fibre to the neighbourhood, and over 3.7 million locations with FTTP connections – a total expected to grow to 4.5 million by the end of this year.

Bell all-fibre cities now include St. John's, Gander, Summerside, Charlottetown, Halifax, Sydney, Moncton and Fredericton in Atlantic Canada, Québec City, Trois-Rivières, Saint-Jérôme and Gatineau in Québec, Cornwall, Kingston, Toronto, North Bay and Sudbury in Ontario, and Steinbach and The Pas in Manitoba. Bell unveiled its major Montréal all-fibre project in 2017 and other major new centres getting Bell FTTP will be announced in 2018.

Bell fibre also delivers the innovative Fibe TV service that has transformed the way Canadians watch television and made Bell the largest TV provider in the country. Fibe TV delivers superior picture quality and exclusive interactive features not available from cable, while the fibre-enabled Alt TV is a new way to watch television on multiple screens with no need for a TV set-top box or installation.

Bell invests more than $4 billion each year in Canada's next-generation network infrastructure, delivering world-class fibre connections to the home and business, Canada's Best National Mobile Network, and the country's largest network of 28 state-of-the-art data hosting and cloud computing centres.
 
#61 ·
Bell's all-fibre broadband network expanding to Clarington

The Municipality of Clarington and Bell today announced the rollout of the world's best Internet technology to more than 28,000 Clarington residences and businesses as Bell begins deployment of its all-fibre broadband network throughout the growing Durham Region centre.

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Here are the highlights from the April 5 press release that I missed:
It's On! Bell's all-fibre broadband network is now lighting up Toronto

Bell today announced that its all-fibre optic network is now on in Toronto, connecting most homes and business locations throughout Canada's most populous city with the world's fastest Internet technology, advanced television and media services, and unparalleled business connectivity on a network built for the broadband future.

The $1.5 billion Toronto fibre project is part of Bell's historic reinvention of its network footprint with next-generation broadband fibre connections. Bell fibre to the premises (FTTP) service now delivers Internet access speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) with symmetrical upload and downloads. Speeds will increase to at least 5 Gbps next year and ultimately to 40 Gbps and beyond in future.

Bell began the Toronto project in 2015, working closely with the City and Toronto Hydro and employing innovative installation techniques and new heavy equipment to roll out the network as efficiently and quickly as possible with minimal disruption to residents and businesses. The build consists of more than 10,000 kilometres of new fibre installed to date on approximately 90,000 Bell and Toronto Hydro poles and underground via more than 10,000 manhole access points, as well as technology enhancements to 27 Bell central offices throughout the city.

The world's fastest Internet technology – now with symmetrical speeds
With FTTP capability, Bell is also the only major Canadian Internet provider to offer symmetrical Internet speeds that are equally as fast whether you are downloading from the web or uploading to social media. Fully symmetrical speeds are available at all FTTP Internet speed tiers – 25, 50, 150 and 500 Mbps – up to a Gigabit, where top upload speed is currently 940 Mbps. Uploads will increase to a full Gig next year when commercial modem technology catches up to fibre network capabilities in 2019.

Bell has hired thousands of new field technicians to connect Fibe and business fibre services in Toronto and other Bell fibre cities. With enhanced technician training and new tools such as the Manage Your Appointment app, which provides customers real-time install information including details on dispatched technicians and their estimated arrival time, customer satisfaction with Bell fibre services installation has reached an all-time high of 95%.
 
#64 ·
Techwjd:
Assuming "FTTP" means Bell have run fibre to the nearest telephone post, then "no" - you have to sign up for FTTH for them to string the last bit of fibre to your home and set you up with a HH3000 etc. You should be able to get a good initial deal, but they will switch your phone service also (to VOIP).
 
#66 ·
Even FTTN customers get an HH3000 now -- it just doesn't come with a fibre module. There are two VDSL line inputs it could use instead for bonded copper pairs to the node. In the majority of cases, even the second pair has dial tone on it (but it probably doesn't route anywhere other than test line equipment, to be used for diagnostic purposes). That means there is really no such thing as a dry loop anymore, except from a tariff point of view.

In my case, the second pair was bad between the CO and the node, so the tech disconnect it to avoid the static on the bad pair from affecting my VDSL service.
 
#69 ·
May 9, 2018 – Bell and the City of Orillia announced plans to bring Bell’s all-fibre broadband network directly to approximately 15,000 homes and business locations throughout the Orillia region.

Fully funded by Bell, the network deployment will include more than 260 kilometres of new fibre installation and employ local workers in design and construction. Broad availability of Bell’s all-fibre connections in Orillia is expected by the first quarter of 2019.

Full Press Release

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May 23, 2018 – Bell and the Municipality of Chatham-Kent announced that Bell will bring its all-fibre broadband network directly to approximately 38,000 residences and business locations in the region, starting in Chatham and expanding to Blenheim, Ridgetown, Tilbury and Wallaceburg.

Fully funded by Bell, the network deployment will include more than 270 kilometres of fibre installed both underground and on utility poles. Construction is set to begin this summer, with the first customer connections expected in the fall.

Full Press Release

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Bell today announced that Bell Fibe Internet speeds of 1.5 Gigabit per second (Gbps), the fastest available to the home in Canada, will launch this month in Ontario, followed by Québec, Atlantic Canada and Manitoba... Bell's fibre to the premises (FTTP) network is now available to more than 4.2 million homes and businesses in 7 provinces...

Source: BCE reports second quarter 2018 results

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#70 ·
Nice to see. Unfortunately, there are Ontario cities with ten times that population that are not yet fully served. I've got to wonder how Bell decides on these projects. Are they just high profile publicity stunts staged for political purposes or are there other factors?

Bell today announced that Bell Fibe Internet speeds of 1.5 Gigabit per second (Gbps),...
Considering that almost all home networks are limited to 1.0Gbps or less this is really a frivolous development. Even people with multiple 4K TV boxes would not need more than 1.1Gbps to maintain a constant 1Gbps internet speed (which is also unlikely to be needed.) Am I missing something that would require that much bandwidth?

Disclaimer: We were promised Fibe 5 years ago but are still stuck with 5Mbps DSL so I guess that makes me a cynic.
 
#71 ·
Am I missing something that would require that much bandwidth?
Email. ;)

Actually, I suspect it's more for response time than actually bulk data transport. I don't know how they wound up at 1.5 Gb though, as it's not a standard Ethernet speed. That might be a result of the equipment they use. What I'd like to see them do is bring out IPv6 to the public. For a company that used to be a world leader, they're certainly behind the times.
 
#75 ·
Many like me stream TV shows using Apple TV and I also use Netflix. However you don’t need 1 gbps to do that. I have 500 mbps service and never have an issue with video. I had the 1 gbps service with Bell FTTH or it seems FTTP now. No matter what speed test I ran I was only ever getting 180 mbps. I was paying a lot for 1 gbps service but no matter what time of the day I was only ever getting a fraction of that. To me the Bell 1 gbps service was a sheer waste of money.
 
#76 ·
When Netflix started I streamed it with 5Mbps DSL so nowhere near 1Gbps is required. More recently, we did 2 HD streams simultaneously with a 35Mbps service without any issues. HD streams on Netflix and other streaming services typically need 2Mbps to 5Mbps.

1Gbps is only needed for things like fast downloads of very large files, quicker response times with large or media rich web pages and quick response times with programs or services that transfer large amounts of data such as remote desktop connections. It would be a great enabler for people who want to work at home using company owned computing resources.
 
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