You've heard the buzzwords: full fibre, FTTC, FTTP, superfast, ultrafast. But what does it all actually mean for your business — and which one should you be ordering? This guide cuts through the jargon.
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Get Prices → 📞 0121 268 0121FTTC stands for Fibre to the Cabinet . It's what most UK businesses currently have when they think they're on "fibre" broadband. Openreach runs fibre optic cables from the telephone exchange to green street-side cabinets — and from the cabinet to your premises, it's still the old copper telephone wire.
That last stretch of copper is what limits FTTC. The further your premises is from the cabinet, the slower your speed. At 50 metres from a cabinet you might get close to the advertised 80Mbps. At 500 metres, you might only achieve 30–40Mbps. At over a kilometre, speeds can fall below 20Mbps.
For a business with 2–5 staff doing basic browsing, email and video calls, FTTC can be adequate. For businesses running cloud software, VoIP phone systems, large file transfers or multiple simultaneous users, FTTC starts to struggle — especially as speeds drop during peak hours.
FTTC stands for Fibre to the Cabinet . It's what most UK businesses currently have when they think they're on "fibre" broadband. Openreach runs fibre optic cables from the telephone exchange to green street-side cabinets — and from the cabinet to your premises, it's still the old copper telephone wire.
That last stretch of copper is what limits FTTC. The further your premises is from the cabinet, the slower your speed. At 50 metres from a cabinet you might get close to the advertised 80Mbps. At 500 metres, you might only achieve 30–40Mbps. At over a kilometre, speeds can fall below 20Mbps.
For a business with 2–5 staff doing basic browsing, email and video calls, FTTC can be adequate. For businesses running cloud software, VoIP phone systems, large file transfers or multiple simultaneous users, FTTC starts to struggle — especially as speeds drop during peak hours.
The practical difference is significant. FTTP delivers symmetrical speeds — meaning your upload speed matches your download speed — at up to 1Gbps on consumer-grade products, and higher still on business-grade connections. Because there's no copper degradation, you get the speed you pay for regardless of distance, and the connection is more stable in bad weather.
For businesses, FTTP means cloud applications load faster, video calls are rock-solid, VoIP call quality is flawless, and large files transfer in seconds rather than minutes. It also tends to have better SLAs from ISPs because it's easier to fault-find and repair a pure fibre network.
FTTP stands for Fibre to the Premises — also called "full fibre." With FTTP, the fibre optic cable runs all the way from the exchange directly into your building. There's no copper in the loop.
A VoIP phone call uses approximately 0.1Mbps per line. A 4K video call uses 20–25Mbps. Uploading a 1GB file on FTTC at 20Mbps takes about 7 minutes — on FTTP at 200Mbps, it takes 40 seconds. For businesses relying on cloud storage (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox), the difference is immediately felt.
Not immediately — but it's heading that way. Openreach has committed to retiring its copper network by 2030 (previously 2025, then 2027 — the date keeps slipping). This means that FTTC, which relies on copper in the final stretch, will eventually be replaced by FTTP. New builds in many areas are already FTTP-only.
If you're signing a new business broadband contract on FTTC today, be mindful that you may be migrated to FTTP within the contract term. Most providers will handle this automatically, but it's worth asking your supplier what their migration plan looks like.
If FTTP hasn't reached your area yet, you have several options depending on your speed requirements:
Perfectly adequate for smaller businesses with modest bandwidth needs. Shop for a business-grade product with an enhanced SLA rather than a consumer tariff.
A dedicated, uncontended fibre connection direct to your building — not shared with neighbours. Available almost anywhere regardless of FTTP rollout status. Starts from around £200–£300/month for 100Mbps, with a guaranteed uptime SLA.
Is FTTP available at your premises? → Yes: Order FTTP. It's faster, more reliable and future-proof. → No, but high bandwidth is critical (e.g. 20+ staff, heavy cloud use, VoIP): Order a leased line. → No, and FTTC speeds are adequate for now: Take FTTC on a short contract and switch to FTTP when it arrives. → Rural with no other options: Consider Starlink Business.
One thing worth noting: many businesses are surprised to find FTTP is already available at their address — the rollout has been faster than headlines suggest. It's always worth checking availability before assuming you're stuck on FTTC.
We'll check FTTP availability at your address and compare all options — FTTC, FTTP, leased lines, 4G and Starlink — to find the best fit for your business.
| Feature | FTTC | FTTP |
|---|---|---|
| Download speed | Up to 80Mbps | Up to 1Gbps+ |
| Upload speed | Up to 20Mbps | Equal to download |
| Speed consistency | Varies by distance | Consistent |
| Reliability | Good | Excellent |
| Availability | ~97% of UK premises | ~60% and growing |
| Typical business cost | £30–£60/month | £40–£90/month |
| SLA / fault repair | Standard (2–3 days) | Enhanced (same/next day) |
| Future-proof | No — being replaced | Yes |
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