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 deleted (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 deleted (Wed 21-Sep-11 20:31:04)

I live at the bottom of Cleeve Hill and 'they' are in the process of putting the FTTC cabinet in, but I was told back in May/June that contractors were digging up the road from Prestbury for BT (I guess they were installing the fibre ready for the cabinet).

I think there is some ducting in parts of Cheltenham as I noticed no road works around the Racecourse area, but noticed cabling trucks/vans at the end of August.

In reply to a post by RandomJointer:

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

Yellow = Gas
Grey = BT
Blue = Water
Black = Low voltage Electricity
Red = High Voltage Electricity
Orange = Street Lighting / Traffic Signals
Purple = Motorway Cabling

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

In reply to a post by RandomJointer:

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

Yellow = Gas
Grey = BT
Blue = Water
Black = Low voltage Electricity
Red = High Voltage Electricity
Orange = Street Lighting / Traffic Signals
Purple = Motorway Cabling

Forgot to add Green = cctv / Cable tv and orange can also be used by Network Rail for signaling cables etc

Good guess that was wrong...

If it was fibre ducting - just imagine how many fibres could be housed in a 150mm diameter tube ...

Quite a bit going on in Cheltenham at the moment, but no sign of anything in areas designated for FTTP. I've also seen instances of extra ducting being laid between chambers/new chambers with no new cabinets, but perhaps a further visit will happen in the coming weeks. I have seen the big trailer drums too - I thought the cable was red in colour, but I could be mistaken: definitely accompanied by Openreach vans though.

Would the FTTP areas go live in December too, or is there a different timescale for that? Is Cheltenham definitely still down for FTTC/P, as some lists now only show it as FTTC (and others FTTC/P)??

The cable may be red, what is referred to above is the ducting it runs in.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Quite a bit going on in Cheltenham at the moment, but no sign of anything in areas designated for FTTP. I've also seen instances of extra ducting being laid between chambers/new chambers with no new cabinets, but perhaps a further visit will happen in the coming weeks. I have seen the big trailer drums too - I thought the cable was red in colour, but I could be mistaken: definitely accompanied by Openreach vans though.

Would the FTTP areas go live in December too, or is there a different timescale for that? Is Cheltenham definitely still down for FTTC/P, as some lists now only show it as FTTC (and others FTTC/P)??

My cab was still listed recently as FTTP (and the Sept 16 'Coming soon' still shows Cheltenham as FTTC./P) according to one helpful person on this forum. As you say, no sign of anything happening at the cab (or pole, which is how I assume I'll get it). I'm surprised at the number of cabs down for FTTP. Given the length of time to do each FTTP installation, you may be right to suspect that it will take longer.

The new cabs I've seen this week are around Coronation Square (which is where I saw the installation of the new chamber with grey ducting). I follow the likelihood of work being done through the weekly Glos CC road works listing at http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/index.cfm?articlei... This week has around 33 BT works, up from around 17 last week)

Thanks for the heads up re the roadworks page - that's a great way to check where work is going on.

How did you establish that your area was due to be enabled for FTTP? Does the BT wholesale checker give you any indication of fibre becoming available on your line in the future?

I've not spotted any extra cables going up poles, but plenty of new cabinets, so I think it's likely they are deferring the FTTP work for the time being.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Thanks for the heads up re the roadworks page - that's a great way to check where work is going on.

How did you establish that your area was due to be enabled for FTTP? Does the BT wholesale checker give you any indication of fibre becoming available on your line in the future?

I've not spotted any extra cables going up poles, but plenty of new cabinets, so I think it's likely they are deferring the FTTP work for the time being.

I got it from the Openreach PCP-to-postcode-report that has been reported on here many times, and is still available from various file download sites (including Google Docs). It's the April issue, so a bit out of date, but that lists all cabs and whether they get FTTC, FTTP or no fibre at all.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Thanks for the heads up re the roadworks page - that's a great way to check where work is going on.

How did you establish that your area was due to be enabled for FTTP? Does the BT wholesale checker give you any indication of fibre becoming available on your line in the future?

No indication against my number, though the postcode checker mentions a potential fibre speed (FTTC).

New roadworks details are now available. Unfortunately, little change from last week, other than one single day for BT with multiple lights on PEW for Monday.

Can people tell me in what area you have seen the FTTC cabinets?

Thanks!

There are 23 BT related roadworks currently going on in Cheltenham has anyone seen there Cabinet be upgraded to FTTC and where are they?

In reply to a post by carlpalmer:

There are 23 BT related roadworks currently going on in Cheltenham has anyone seen there Cabinet be upgraded to FTTC and where are they?

OK, I will give what I know of. They seem to be spread all around the Cheltenham area, but the ones I've seen or been told about are:

New small FTTC cab by Harley dealer at top of PEW
New large FTTC cab next to PCP66 outside shops on Hester's Way Lane
New cab next to PCP on Marsland Road
Two new cabs along top end of Fiddler's Green Road
Re-shelled PCP99 on Coronation Square and new double chamber built 100 m away
New large cab next to PCP210 opposite college/police station on PEW
New large cab next to PCP124 by bus shelter at Arle Roundabout opposite old film studio entrance
New cab(s?) on Tennyson Road
New cab on High Street near Bowling Green
new cab in Hatherley Road

Not an exhaustive list, but promising.

I also saw OR feeding some fibre in last week towards the top of PEW.

It's worth checking the GCC interactive map frequently. As it says, it's updated 3 times a day and I've seen changes (sometimes brief) which don't always tally with the weekly list issued each friday evening.

As I said in another thread, my cab is due to go FTTP, so I'd like to know what activity I'm likely to see there to indicate things are moving. Also, is there any way of knowing when the exchange gets kitted out. I go past it each Saturday, but I don't expect to see any tell-tale signs!

Edited by chrisadsl (Wed 05-Oct-11 17:10:38)

In reply to a post by chrisadsl:

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).

Sorry but that is not logical. If you are one of the lucky few who is scheduled for FTTP then any discussion of FTTC is irrelevant to your situation.

FTTP and FTTC are deployed in a totally different fashion.

In reply to a post by burakkucat:

In reply to a post by chrisadsl:

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).

Sorry but that is not logical. If you are one of the lucky few who is scheduled for FTTP then any discussion of FTTC is irrelevant to your situation.

FTTP and FTTC are deployed in a totally different fashion.

Not sure why I made the comment about size (probably thinking about the re-shelled cab i had just seen)! But I'm not sure why you say that the FTTC discussion is irrelevant. It surely indicates a lot of activity, even if the FTTC cabs are not directly relevant.

New cabs are springing up all over the town at the moment; honestly the roadworks checker is a very good indicator of locations. However, you will see quite a few new ones just by driving around - I certainly have done!

The question we are all asking though, is what are the indications of work for FTTP taking place? Is the first sign when you start to see additional cables clipped to poles? My understanding is that the cabinets/chambers do not change. There is next to no information available in the public domain describing the deployment plan for FTTP in the town, although the BT list of exchanges would appear to suggest a Dec-11 deployment for both! It would be great if it were true, but I somehow think it will be delayed until at least mid 2012.

FTTP areas also do not appear to show up any fibre speed information on the BT wholesale number checker, whereas FTTC areas do.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

New cabs are springing up all over the town at the moment; honestly the roadworks checker is a very good indicator of locations. However, you will see quite a few new ones just by driving around - I certainly have done!

The question we are all asking though, is what are the indications of work for FTTP taking place? Is the first sign when you start to see additional cables clipped to poles? My understanding is that the cabinets/chambers do not change. There is next to no information available in the public domain describing the deployment plan for FTTP in the town, although the BT list of exchanges would appear to suggest a Dec-11 deployment for both! It would be great if it were true, but I somehow think it will be delayed until at least mid 2012.

FTTP areas also do not appear to show up any fibre speed information on the BT wholesale number checker, whereas FTTC areas do.

Ah! just tried with a number from a FTTC cab and get "Your cabinet is planned to have WBC FTTC by 31st December 2011." Hadn't thought of checking that. My own line check makes no mention of FTTx - but at least it's stopped saying 'nothing within the next six months' up to a month or so ago! I almost went with VM on a 12 month contract a couple of months ago, but held off when I saw December listed for the exchange. Maybe I should have gone ahead.

Are these new cabs White? Seen a few of them crop out. Also there is a brand new box outside HMV but it looks like a normal phone cab....

Dark green, see examples here.

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/4440-openreach-ge...

The FTTP and amount of stuff in the area can be gleamed from http://www.farina1.com/fibre/layout.jpg

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/4440-openreach-ge...

The FTTP and amount of stuff in the area can be gleamed from http://www.farina1.com/fibre/layout.jpg

Useful stuff, though I'd already seen these. But I started wondering: are OR likely to fit the splitters and manifolds underground without some indication of likely take-up? Would they go to all the trouble of installing these only to find one or two people are prepared to pay for it?

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

The FTTP and amount of stuff in the area can be gleamed from http://www.farina1.com/fibre/layout.jpg

blimey - just noticed the internal household gubbins. I'm going to have to free up a bit of wall space in the study
BrianG

In reply to a post by carlpalmer:

There are 23 BT related roadworks currently going on in Cheltenham has anyone seen there Cabinet be upgraded to FTTC and where are they?

Out of interest I thought I'd try and analyse the April spreadsheet for Cheltenham. I'm no expert on OpenOffice, but my rough and ready calculation indicates:

69 cabs for FTTC
88 cabs for FTTP
49 cabs without fibre

if they are re shelling an old one -- good chance there a new one near by (50 metres is usally diatance)

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Dark green, see examples here.

Which ones are for FTTC??

The ones labelled FTTC, Huawei 128 and ECI 128.

PCPs are current phone and ADSLx cabinets.

It is what they are doing in areas where the FTTP is going now.

Only the last 60 feet or so to each house is left until the householder says they want to buy it.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

It is what they are doing in areas where the FTTP is going now.

Only the last 60 feet or so to each house is left until the householder says they want to buy it.

Do you mean feet? http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/4440-openreach-ge... mentions 60 m.

60m sorry, got my units wrong way around.

That article mentions 'extensive ducting' for the MK trial area, and in reality most areas will be a mix of FTTC and FTTP. As far as I can see, most of our (long) street is due to get FTTP, but will there be a mix of pole and underground supply? I ask as my house is directly opposite a pole, and all the poles and manholes are on the other side of the street. I assume I'll get it from the pole (I doubt they'll want to lay more ducting under a road) but could the other side get it though ducting? I realise these are maybe unanswerable questions at this stage!

They can mix the methods in an area.

New green FTTC box has popped up by the shell garage on the junction on the gloucester road running from lansdown on the way out of town....

Anyone else seen any new ones pop up?

Not spotted that one, but one further along by Lypiatt, one each end of Windyridge...

but went via Kingsmead Ave on way home as BT roadworks had appeared on the Glos CC map during the day, and there was one small trench in the footpath by Kingsmead Road, and then one further along at the corner of Village Road. As my 'FTTP' cab is about 15 m round the corner, I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high.

They were blowing fibre in the High Street on Saturday morning (by C&G).

Let me know if you want a full list of all those I'm aware of.

My company is looking to use Video Conferencing and we are based in Wincombe Street so am looking for any BT upgrades around the town centre.

Which way where the pulling outside C&G?

Also a new BT unit is by HMV but not sure it is Fiber?

In reply to a post by carlpalmer:

Also a new BT unit is by HMV but not sure it is Fiber?

http://www.robertos.me.uk/html/street_cabinets_etc.html

Though there are a few others I have still to add. I may be able to do that now as I have successfully moved my site builder to a new machine and had a few helpful recommendations re photo editors.

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 01-Nov-11 20:59:27)

In reply to a post by carlpalmer:

My company is looking to use Video Conferencing and we are based in Wincombe Street so am looking for any BT upgrades around the town centre.

Which way where the pulling outside C&G?

Also a new BT unit is by HMV but not sure it is Fiber?

Looked like it was being fed in outside C&G in the direction of Bath Road, but I could see no sign of any other OR staff/vehicles in the near vicinity.

Don't think that's a FTTC cab. Can't think of any in the town centre.