FTTP vs FTTC: What's the Difference? (Full Fibre Explained)
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When ISPs advertise "fibre broadband," they don't always mean the same thing. There are two very different types of fibre in UK homes — and the difference between them has a massive impact on the speeds and reliability you actually get.
Not sure what you have? Run a broadband speed test. If your download speed is below 100 Mbps, you're almost certainly on FTTC or ADSL, not full fibre.
What Is FTTC? (Fibre to the Cabinet)
FTTC stands for Fibre to the Cabinet. In this setup, fibre optic cables run from the telephone exchange to the green street cabinet you see on pavements — but from the cabinet to your home, the connection uses the existing old copper telephone wire.
This copper "last mile" is the bottleneck. Copper carries data much more slowly than fibre, and performance degrades the further your home is from the cabinet. If you live 100 metres from the cabinet, you might get 70–80 Mbps. If you're 500 metres away, you might only get 30–40 Mbps from the same package.
Despite being called "fibre," FTTC is really a hybrid technology. Most UK homes currently have FTTC — it's what BT, Sky, TalkTalk, and most ISPs sell as their standard "superfast fibre" packages.
What Is FTTP? (Full Fibre / Fibre to the Premises)
FTTP stands for Fibre to the Premises — also called Full Fibre, Ultrafast Fibre, or Gigabit Fibre. In an FTTP connection, fibre optic cable runs all the way from the exchange directly into your home. There is no copper involved anywhere in the chain.
This is the gold standard of home broadband. Because fibre optic cable can transmit data as pulses of light, it's nearly immune to the distance issues that plague copper. Whether you're 100m or 2km from the exchange makes virtually no difference to your speed.
Key Differences at a Glance
| Feature | FTTC | FTTP (Full Fibre) |
|---|---|---|
| Cable to home | Copper (old phone wire) | Fibre optic |
| Typical max speed | 36–80 Mbps | 100–1,000+ Mbps |
| Distance affected? | Yes — heavily | No |
| Upload speed | Usually 10–20 Mbps | Often symmetric (800+ Mbps) |
| Peak-hour resilience | Moderate | Excellent |
| Ping/latency | 8–15ms typical | 4–8ms typical |
| Availability (2026) | ~95% of UK homes | ~78% of UK homes |
Real-World Speed Comparison
On paper, FTTC gives you up to 80 Mbps. In practice, the average UK FTTC customer gets around 38–52 Mbps, depending on distance from the cabinet. Properties on the edge of a cabinet's coverage area routinely see 15–25 Mbps.
FTTP, by contrast, consistently delivers close to its advertised speed. A 500 Mbps FTTP package will deliver 480–500 Mbps regardless of your street or distance. Upload speeds are also dramatically better — most FTTP packages offer symmetric upload speeds (what you get down is what you get up), which is transformative for video content creators, remote workers uploading large files, and cloud backup users.
Is It Worth Upgrading to FTTP?
Almost always yes, if it's available at your address and the price difference is reasonable. Here's a guide:
- Upgrade immediately if: You work from home, have 3+ heavy internet users, game competitively, experience evening slowdowns, or upload large files regularly.
- Upgrade when it makes financial sense if: Your current FTTC connection is adequate, but full fibre is available at a similar price. Future-proofing your home is worthwhile.
- Wait if: You live alone with light internet usage, your FTTC speeds are consistently good, and full fibre costs significantly more per month.
As full-fibre competition increases across the UK, prices are dropping. In many areas you can now get a 500 Mbps FTTP package for similar monthly cost to a 67 Mbps FTTC package.
How to Check if FTTP Is Available at Your Address
- Check the Openreach availability checker at openreach.com — this covers BT, Sky, EE, and the many ISPs using the Openreach network.
- Check CityFibre's network checker — covering towns and cities across the UK with their own fibre infrastructure.
- Search for local alt-nets in your area — smaller providers like Hyperoptic (flats/apartments), Community Fibre (London), Gigaclear (rural), and Fibrus (Northern England and NI) often reach areas the big ISPs haven't yet.
- Run our speed test and compare your actual speeds to your package — a consistently slow result on an 80 Mbps package is a strong sign it's time to investigate full fibre.