Be connects first fibre optic broadband line

Be Broadband has announced the first connection in its fibre optic broadband pilot scheme has now gone live.

The internet service provider (ISP) revealed one of its members has had their broadband connection hooked up to the trial exchange at Barking and, according to Be, the process went "very smoothly".

A speed test has been conducted on the fibre broadband line, which achieved a download rate of 37.5Mbps and an upload capability of 8.1Mbps.

The ISP stated it is planning to watch the connection "closely" in order to assess whether any optimisations can be made in order to further bolster the performance.

"This is just one step along a big project and we've got a way to go - but we're moving fast in the right direction," the firm added.

Last month, Telefonica - the parent company of Be and O2 - revealed its broadband subscriber numbers fell by six per cent year on year in the third quarter of 2011.