BT FTTC Box

Hi

When BT introduced FTTC broadband with the new green cabinets I don't recall them digging up the roads

like Virgin media did. The new cabinets are located near the old ones. That's all I can see.

Am I missing something here?

Regards

BT already had network infrastructure of copper cable so fibre just go through same ducts . Virgin had to lay ducts to place their cables in

Wood49 is generally correct.

The local PCP and FTTC are on opposite sides of our road; but no digging etc was required at that level.

However, a short small trench was required in the footpath, from the new FTTC to an existing under-ground chamber for the new link cable ducting from the FTTC to reach the existing ducting, to pass under the intervening road. A total distance of around 50 Metres.

The NGA planners basically did everything they could to avoid digging. Hence the sometimes swimmingly odd location of the FTTC cabs. They try to locate them to be as close as possible to existing BT ducting and also close to the power network.

Well they did not try much for this one.

Physically, there is plenty of space alongside the PCP; and there is mains power at the street signs in the immediate vicinity because of it being a "T" junction etc.

The present FTTC location is such that it reduces driver's visibility at an awkward junction, particularly with two adjacent Primary School crossings - 5 times per day, 190 days per year = 950 times per year, and because of the lack of school parking, the vertical of the "T" has a lot of parent & pupil pedestrians, no footpath/s, walking on the "blindest/most hidden" part of the vertical, both to access the school, beyond/above the "T" horizontal. All compounded by being around a "blind summit" and the "blind corner", twice on each excursion, eg arriving to take a child in to the school, followed by the parent/guardian returning along the same route to the parked car.

Where this FTTC is located the Link Ducts and that short bit of footpath trenching first head in the opposite direction to the PCP, by about 5 Metres, before "turning about - About Turn" in the U-G chamber to pass the same FTTC but now in the old main ducting, to head under the minor road to the PCP, about 40 Metres.

So the Link Cables are about 40 Metres longer than they could have been.

It is a good or bad example, of where to site or not site an FTTC, whilst also degrading the broadband service slightly by the extra length.

depends whether this was primary location or the last resort before its shelved location

Honestly, the last thing they would have been thinking about is driver's visibility. As bad as that sounds, it's probably the truth!

You might think I am making this up; but even the Google Street View car managed to be on the spot at a school time, accidentally recording all of the shenanigans, in April 2009!

Could be something silly like blocked ducts, and to fix the ducts would require digging roads, costing X million pounds, and council wouldn't let them do - so this was the alternative. 40m of new copper is nothing in real terms to the speeds achieved.

More problems with the older copper, and the 50+ year old crimp connections in the street which are now coming apart.