Is Fibre coming??

Hi All,


It was announced in the last update that my exchange is being upgraded with current ETA of June.

Now I "think" I've found my cabinet so I did a search in the local planning applications for anything to do with the install. Nothing.... I search my entire areas planning going back a couple of years and I can find nothing that appears to be related (although I did find an approved application from Orange to put a 3G tower up near me - I might get more than GPRS in my town if they build it)

Should I be concerned? Having gone from 50Mb/1.5Mb to a stable 4.5Mb/0.75Mb it's been a bit of a pain working from home so I really could do with this upgrade.

Pete

Edited by deleted (Wed 18-Jan-12 18:14:27)

FTTC cabinets only need planning permission in conservation areas. Elsewhere BT can pretty well install them where they think is best.

You may be able to find some applications to dig up roads or pavements if that is needed for the fibre or power, but it may nor be.

What's your postcode?

BN17 7GW

I believe the cab is on New Courtwick Lane at the junction of the A259 - I have searched and the only other one I have found is on Lyminster Road / Griffin Cresent junction and they are both labelled "25"

Our exchange was announced April 2011 that it would be upgraded to fibre, initially it was hoped for October 2011, then put back to December 2011.
For a long time the checkers then said it would be March 2012. The latest update is for June 2012 and I noted that the planning applications for the cabinets were only submitted in early January 2012 (a couple of weeks ago). I think all the applications had a response saying that planning permission was not required.

So... the exchange was announced that it would get fibre.
8 months later the planning permission requests were submitted.
A further 3 months (best case) to 6 month (expected case, but could slip further) after that is when it should be up and running.

I could try to find the first announcement, latest expected date, and planning permission applications if you wish?

Littlehampton?

Cabinet 34, all lines, phase 8a, estimated speed uplift x 8.49.

Our exchange was taking orders in September 2010. Our cab is on the new list but there are no dates anywhere for us. Another year I guess and we may have it

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Littlehampton?

Cabinet 34, all lines, phase 8a, estimated speed uplift x 8.49.

Cabinet 34.... check. (It is the one on New Courtwick Lane)
All lines.... check
Phase 8a.... check
Estimated speed uplift x 8.49.......huh???

Edited by deleted (Wed 18-Jan-12 20:36:51)

In reply to a post by pete_thomson:

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Littlehampton?

Cabinet 34, all lines, phase 8a, estimated speed uplift x 8.49.

Cabinet 34.... check. (It is the one on New Courtwick Lane)
All lines.... check
Phase 8a.... check
Estimated speed uplift x 8.49.......huh???

8.49 x faster than your speed at the moment.

Edited by deleted (Wed 18-Jan-12 20:36:12)

Thanks for the confirmation..... after thinking about it for a min or two I guessed this is what it meant.

~40Mb it'll be then

So they aren't both labelled 25 .

As for when it will happen, hard to tell. I think this is the best checker. All the others seem to feed off it.

Never place much reliance an any "quarter-end" dates. Month end may be OK. Also very near to going live the FTTC data can disappear completely - perhaps removed from one database and awaiting entry on another, both of which it looks at.

Keep an eye open for the new cabinet arriving, though "live" can be weeks later. In some cases months, if there is a problem with the power or something.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

So they aren't both labelled 25 .

LOL. I've re-read it and I get what you mean.
I meant the two cabinets on Lyminster Road next to each other are both labelled
"25"

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=bn17+7gw&hl=en&ll=50...



I drive past Cab 34 most days, so I'll be keeping a close eye on it.

Edited by deleted (Wed 18-Jan-12 22:52:05)

Interesting, I've not seen that done before. Usually the old one would be removed I thought. Or maybe the old one is where the FTTC cab will go.

Very odd, the postcodes served by cab 25. I'm going to have to play with sorting the spreadsheet . Not tonight!

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

FTTC cabinets only need planning permission in conservation areas. Elsewhere BT can pretty well install them where they think is best.

You may be able to find some applications to dig up roads or pavements if that is needed for the fibre or power, but it may nor be.

What's your postcode?

Where would I search for planned road works?

Not sure. Depends what sort of road I expect. Probably a suitably named department of the local authority.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

As for when it will happen, hard to tell. I think this is the best checker. All the others seem to feed off it.

I don't trust the BT checker at all. its currently reporting that i can get fibre, but the cab is right outside my bedroom window, and i know it hasn't been upgraded yet. or that the exchange has been upgraded yet.

Is that with your phone number in the checker? That seems to be the way the checker gets the best results.

If it is, have you tried ordering?

Seen old shells left in situ for years.

My phone number brings nothing up about FTTC not even on my exchange. Why is this when it's been taking orders for 18 months?

@WWWombat.

no, im not on a BT line. thats using the postcode.

but none of the post codes, or any postcodes within 2 miles are FTTC enabled.

Fibre is due by March.. but i think the checker is getting ahead of itself

For Postcode DA10 0HJ

Your exchange is ADSL enabled, and our initial check on your postcode indicates that your line should be able to have an ADSL broadband service that provides a fixed line speed up to 2Mbps.

Our check also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL Max broadband line speed of 4Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 3Mbps and 7Mbps.

Your exchange is planned to have ADSL2+ by 31st August 2012. Our check also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL2+ broadband line speed of 5.5Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 3Mbps and 8Mbps.

Our test also indicates that your line currently supports a fibre technology with an estimated WBC FTTC Broadband where consumers have received downstream line speed between 30.6 to 40 Mbps and upstream line speed between 12.6 to 15 Mbps.

The actual stable line speed supportable will be determined during the first 10 days of use. This speed may change over time, to ensure line stability is maintained.

Thank you for your interest.

Please note that dates and exchanges are indicative and subject to change.
Please note that postcode and address check results are indicative only. Most accurate results can be obtained from a telephone number check.

Edited by deleted (Thu 19-Jan-12 11:35:16)

In reply to a post by Sy5gtt:

My phone number brings nothing up about FTTC not even on my exchange. Why is this when it's been taking orders for 18 months?

Using your phone number, I would expect it to give results particular to your line alone - and not to anything about the exchange as a whole.

To make a statement about your line alone, it must be able to combine:
- information about the exchange as a whole
- information about your cabinet
- information about your distance from the cabinet

But it still only provides a combined output. If your entry says nothing, it could be any one of the three that are the sticking point - or, of course, an error in the database at BT rather than a physical installation problem.

In reply to a post by Moradin:

no, im not on a BT line. thats using the postcode.

but none of the post codes, or any postcodes within 2 miles are FTTC enabled.

That seems to be a common problem. The "postcode checker" just doesn't seem to give results that are meaningful date-wise. The speed estimates seem to be a valid summary of the postcode, but the date information just gets ignored.