How does it work?

Unlike conventional broadband, which uses electricity in copper wires, fibre optic broadband works by sending light down extremely thin glass wire to your house.

What’s so good about it?

It’s fast. Very fast. Conventional copper broadband slows down the further you get from the telephone exchange, so unless you live right next to the exchange (which is unlikely), you’ll never get the speed advertised. Fibre optic broadband, however, stays incredibly fast.

How fast is fast?

The UK’s fastest. That’s 20MB a second. That’s a standard MP3 in about 2 seconds flat. It’s very fast.

Wow - how much does it cost?

Virgin Media XL 20mb fibre optic broadband is £10 for the first 6 months, £20 per month after that - so it’s pretty much the same price as - or cheaper than - standard broadband.

Can I get fibre optic broadband?

The only catch so far is availability. Currently, fibre optic broadband is only provided by Virgin Media, and is only available in “Cable areas” - major cities. According to Virgin Media, it’s available to about half the UK.

Other companies are rolling out fibre optic broadband - BT has recently undergone trials in Kent.

To check if you can get fibre-optic broadband, check areyouuptospeed.com.