Fibre cable installation query

Does Openreach try to put fibre through ducts in a town in one go, or can it be spread over several months? I ask as a colleague noticed what looked like OR with a large drum of fibre 6 months ago in the centre of Cheltenham, then more recently closer to his home. Other than that I've not seen any evidence of it. Cheltenham is still down for December, and the last week has seen 4 FTTC cabs installed with 1 km of where I live, so they're cracking on with it. I say four, but one looks to be a 'sleeving' job over the old cab (plus some other grey ducting sticking out of the ground, and there are no vents. This cab is FTTC only. Does this mean a separate FTTC cab should still appear?

My cab is down for FTTP, so not sure if I'll see much activity locally (though not sure if the cab is big enough).

Of course it may depend what the fibre is for , but with NGA it will done over a period of time for somewhere like Cheltenheam. . Its just not possible to do it all in one go . For a start there just isnt the man power to do it , and you cannot predict what obstacles will arise, but you can be sure there will be many. Also the local authourity are unlikely to give permission for all the street works to go ahead together.
Some cabs get installed before the main spine cables are even in place because of street works delays.
Not sure what you mean by `sleeve' but susspect its just a re-shell of the old cabinet to allow extra space for the cables to link to the FTTC cabinet.
All the FTTC cabinets require vents.

Edited by Ribble (Wed 21-Sep-11 13:24:15)

With the sleeve version (rare sighting) no need for an extra cab.

If a large drum of yellow then probably just the tubing that the fibre is then blown down. Should upload the video I have of this at some point.

In reply to a post by Ribble:

Not sure what you mean by `sleeve' but susspect its just a re-shell of the old cabinet to allow extra space for the cables to link to the FTTC cabinet.
All the FTTC cabinets require vents.

Its interesting you say that becuase I had a really old cab, but recently noticed BT had upgraded it to a new sleeve, looks alot more secure and sturdy now. Would this really be an indication for a deployment of a FTTC cab adjacent/near to it?

Its a possible indication though there are other reason for a re-shell, e.g. copper expansion , damage or for extra security devices. Obviously not all cabs will need a re-shell though.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

With the sleeve version (rare sighting) no need for an extra cab.

If a large drum of yellow then probably just the tubing that the fibre is then blown down. Should upload the video I have of this at some point.

I shall have to wait until they have cleared away the barriers and signs as they obscure the view driving past. It may well be vented, just I can't see them. And I used the word 'sleeved' as someone else here used it, and I thought it was a standard term. But definitely a replacement for the cast-iron cab.

Will ask my colleague what colour cable/tube was being used. What about the grey tubing (200 mm?) that is sprouting from the ground beside this replacement cab? It's the same as was used when they recently built a new two-lid chambre 100 m away with some short trench lengths that this grey tubing was used in. And I saw a power company van working at one of the other cabs so looking good so far.

When you say Large Yellow Tubing (possibly 150 - 200mm diameter) would this be on a large reel possible 6-8FT high if so it sounds hopefully for my area as i have seen at least 5 in a 1 mile radius in the last 3 - 4 months but never knew what they for.

A large drum of yellow will be continuous drain rods.

A large drum of yellow 150-200mm diameter is a gas main.

Grey is the colour of BT duct and sub duct. I would guess that FTTC fibre tubes are black unibore tubes with a fine yellow tracer and not subducted.

Edited by RandomJointer (Wed 21-Sep-11 20:31:04)