For more than a decade, broadband adverts across the UK have promised "fibre-fast" speeds, but the truth behind those claims has often been less straightforward
In the UK, “fibre broadband” was widely used to describe two very different technologies: FTTC (part-fibre) and FTTP (full fibre).
Until recently, the word "fibre" was used so loosely in marketing that many homes and businesses believed they had full fibre broadband, when in reality, they didn’t.
New Ofcom rules now restrict how providers can use the term, but years of mixed messaging have left many people confused and understandably frustrated.
So what really happened? And how can you tell if you’ve got the real thing?
When the first wave of "fibre broadband" arrived in the early 2010s, what most providers were actually selling was Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC).
Here’s how it works:
High-speed fibre-optic cables run from the local telephone exchange to a green street cabinet near your property. From that cabinet, the final stretch to your home or office uses the existing copper telephone line.
In other words, only part of the journey is fibre. The rest still relies on old copper infrastructure, some of which literally dates back to the Victorian era.
That final copper section is where the problems begin. Copper is sensitive to distance, weather, and interference. The further you are from the cabinet, the slower and less stable your connection becomes.
When FTTC launched, it was often advertised as providing speeds "up to 80 Mbps."
In reality, most users saw anything between 20 and 70 Mbps, with the national average hovering around 56 Mbps. For many, it was faster than ADSL, but nowhere near what they thought "fibre broadband" implied.
Over the last decade, the UK has slowly been replacing copper with genuine end-to-end fibre. This newer system, Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) — also known as Full Fibre — uses fibre-optic cable for the entire route, right up to the building itself.
That change matters. Fibre doesn’t degrade over distance or weather, and it can handle enormous capacity. The result is faster, more consistent connections with much lower latency.
With FTTP, it’s now common to see speeds of 100 Mbps, 500 Mbps, or even multiple gigabits, and those figures are far more achievable in practice. It’s also far more reliable and future-proof — once fibre is installed, you shouldn’t need another physical upgrade for decades.
The problem is that for years, FTTC and FTTP were both marketed as "fibre."
That single word made the two technologies sound identical even though one still relied on copper for the final leg.
Many customers understandably assumed that if their broadband plan said "fibre," they were already on the latest technology. It wasn’t until much later, when newer "Full Fibre" services appeared, that the distinction became clear.
To fix the confusion, Ofcom introduced new marketing rules.
Providers can no longer label copper-fed services as "fibre broadband." Instead, they must use terms like "part-fibre" or "hybrid fibre" for FTTC connections, and "Full Fibre" only for FTTP (fibre all the way to your home or business).
This change helps bring honesty back to broadband advertising, but it also reveals how blurred the lines had become.
If your connection seems slower or less stable than expected, it’s worth checking what type of service you’re really using.
Here’s how:
If you’re still unsure, your provider should be able to confirm what you’re on within minutes.
Even if you do have full fibre, it’s important to remember that both FTTC and FTTP are contended services. That means the bandwidth is shared with other nearby homes or businesses connected to the same network segment.
During busy periods (evenings for residential users, or daytime peaks in business parks), you may still see your speeds drop as more people compete for the same capacity.
If your organisation needs guaranteed speeds or uptime, you’ll want a different kind of service altogether: a fibre leased line.
Leased lines provide uncontended, symmetrical bandwidth, meaning you don’t share it with anyone else and your upload speed matches your download. They’re designed for reliability, consistency, and business-critical applications where downtime simply isn’t an option.
Was the UK lied to about fibre broadband?
Not intentionally, but the language used certainly blurred the truth.
For years, "fibre" meant something very different depending on who you asked. While FTTC was a big improvement over old ADSL, it wasn’t the full fibre future people were led to believe they had.
Today, the rollout of genuine Full Fibre (FTTP) is finally fixing that gap — and Ofcom’s new rules are making broadband terminology more honest.
If your connection feels underwhelming, don’t assume you already have the best technology. Check what’s actually running into your property, and make sure your "fibre" is really fibre. And if it isn’t, or you need something more robust, talk to a connectivity specialist who can explain your options in plain English.
Enlink Networks helps UK businesses move beyond confusing broadband terminology — offering genuine full-fibre connectivity, business-grade leased lines, and private network links that deliver consistent performance.
Because when it comes to connectivity, clarity matters just as much as speed.
For more information, visit our Internet Access page or contact us with your questions.
