1) What is FTTH?

Traditional ADSL broadband services are delivered to the home via cooper telephone wires. Fibre to the Home (FTTH) as the name implies see's the broadband service delivered to the home via fibre optic cables this allows for much faster speeds to be offered also for other services that can be delivered over an internet connection.

2) Where will FTTH be available and when?

The trial will be taking place in the South Harrow area and will run from May 2011 till at least December 2011.

3) What speeds can fibre optic broadband provide?

FTTH is technically capable of supporting well in excess of 100 Mbps downstream speeds. Part of the trial will be testing different speed profiles for both the upload and download.

4) How much will it cost to be part of the trial?

There‘s no additional charge for participation in the trial; TalkTalk will be paying the setup costs including equipment that you will need such as new sockets, router and extension cable (if needed.)

As you will keep your current ADSL broadband intact (as is), there will be no movement, adjustment or removal of this existing ADSL equipment. You will be instructed, as part of installation, to switch off your ADSL router while on the trial, allowing you to switch the ADSL setup back on when required.

As part of the trial you'll continue to pay your current broadband charges, line rental, non-inclusive calls and any additional features (Boosts). There will be no additional charges for the FTTH installation, equipment and service while on the trial.

All customers on the trial will also have their download limit raised from 40GB to unlimited (subject to fair usage).

5) How do I take part in the trial?

TalkTalk is contacting eligible customers in the enabled area directly.

You will then need to sign up to the trial which will include accepting the terms and conditions of the trial and install our performance monitoring software on a Windows based PC.

6) How will the fibre broadband be installed?

An Engineer will visit your home to perform as site survey as we will need to run a fibre optic cable into your home this will involve some digging at the front of the property. The site survey will happen before any work is done and you will be consulted on the type of work required to be done in order fo the installation to happen.

On the day of the installation our enginners will perform the necessary work to install the fibre opric broadband service and all the necessary equipment. Then they will test the service from one of these computers to ensure you can access the internet using the new service.

7) What equipment will I receive and when?

The FTTP trial will make use of new technology, when the installation happens a new fibre optic cable will be installed along with a new modem/wireless router. These will brought by the engineer on the day of installation.

8) Can I use the new service with Gaming Consoles?

Consoles such as Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, or X-Box 360 will be compatible with the service.

9) What level of support will I get during the trial?

There will be a dedicated team supporting trial participants between Monday - Friday 0900-1700, they will try to resolve any issues with the new FTTH service. As this is a trial of this new technology we are leaving your existing broadband service in place just incase it takes longer than expected to fix any issues with the new fibre to the home service then they might not be able to .

So, if you use your broadband a lot for work, you should consider you may need to periodically divert from FTTH to ADSL connectivity. If you do have problems with the new service, we'll work to resolve any fault.

10) What happens at the end of the trial?

At the end of trial, TalkTalk will disconnect the FTTH service and you be required to restore your original ADSL service.