Bell has gone live with an all-fibre optic internet network in Toronto.
The network, which Bell is calling ‘pure fibre internet,’ provides a 100 percent fibre connection to the premises. One of the major benefits of this new service is that it provides matching upload and download speeds at any tier, up to 1Gbps.
Bell says the speeds will increase to at least 5Gbps next year and ultimately to 40Gbps “and beyond” in the future.
In the meantime, the carrier promises the speeds of its Gigabit fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network will provide customers the ability to download a 3GB HD movie in 24 seconds or upload a 500MB file to the cloud in 4 seconds.
“The Bell team is proud to light up North America’s largest fibre network right here in Toronto. Bell’s all-fibre network will deliver the best Internet, TV and business connectivity services to Torontonians while enabling Canada’s largest city to innovate and compete at a global level with next-generation connectivity,” said George Cope, president and CEO of BCE Inc. and Bell Canada in a statement.
The Toronto fibre project represents a $1.5 billion investment from Bell. The carrier began the Toronto project in 2015, and says it worked closely with the City of Toronto and Toronto Hydro while using “innovative installation techniques” and new heavy equipment to minimize disruption.
The build consists of over 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 in the city.
All of this will also help with Bell’s future 5G wireless deployments, since fibre backhaul will be necessary to meet 5G’s network performance goals.
To promote this deployment, Bell is offering a limited-time bundle promo for pure fibre internet, TV and home phone from $99.85, a savings of $53 per month off the current in-market price for two years.
Bell reports its fibre optic network spans 240,000 total kilometres, running across the four Atlantic provinces, Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba. The carrier serves 3.7 million locations with FTTP connections, and expects that to grow to 4.5 million by the end of 2018.
To celebrate its new all-fibre network, Bell is lighting up the Toronto skies with a “blue light spectacle” tonight, April 5th, at Yonge-Dundas Square along with performances by Arkells and City and Colour.
Source: Bell
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