Tuesday, March 8, 2011

U.K. property tracking site Rightmove to publish broadband speeds for homes

This is interesting, as the last time we purchased a home, we made broadband access a requirement. The largest British property site, Rightmove, is going one further: they will begin listing the broadband speeds available at properties it lists on its website.

A source close to the company said:
"Broadband is becoming one of the most, if not the most, important considerations for prospective buyers. Many people fall in love with a home only to find out it can only get really slow internet. By listing broadband speed with all the other property details buyers will be able to weed out homes that don't have high-speed access."
It's true that we know many who say they'd rather give up their television than their broadband (although with things like Netflix's streaming service, it's almost one and the same).

Rightmove displays the details of about 90 percent of the properties for sale in the U.K. It is working with ISP BT on the new program. Rightmove will also list whether or not the property will be covered by BT Infinity, which is BT's new 40Mbps fiber optic broadband service. BT is rolling out the $4B network at the rate of 80,000 homes a week, and is due to reach some 16 million homes by 2015.

Rightmove denied any current partnership with BT, while BT refused to comment on the matter at all.

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