When may we get FTTC? Cabinet/Postcode details appear AWOL?

I've been quite keen to get fibre as I'm sure many folk here are. A neighbour received an email from Plusnet saying fibre was "in the area" so I checked it out.

With the postcode it said we could get it, with the telephone number, apparently not. I called and they confirmed that our cabinet wasn't enabled.

It's a new build estate we live in. The exchange is enabled.

I found a document via here for the rollout plans and our cabinet had no details next to it, despite many around the area having dates. Then there seems to be a new openreach document available from this year, and now it seems our cabinet has vanished completely from the list.

Can anyone here in the know provide any information as to when our cabinet may be fibre enabled? The postcode is MK4 4GU if that helps?

Thanks.

Bernie.

I'm in the kind of the same boat (new build, no info on availability - phone number says no, postcode says yes), but in my case not only does the post-code not appear in the lists, the cabinet doesn't either, and certainly hasn't been upgraded.

The exchange is being enabled soon, and I know not all cabinets which are due to be upgraded have been done yet, so I guess that it's not certain that we're not part of the roll-out, but the fact that the line-check indicates we're not getting it isn't a good sign.

I've not heard of a new document being available (beyond December's), though I assume that to those with access, it's updated fairly regularly?

TBH I'd like to see my postcode appear so that I know we haven't been *completely* forgotten by BT!

I think that's my fear is, that we've fallen off the radar/plans or something.

This was from the document for me from last April (I think):

SAU_ID---Name----------------------------Postcode----SAU_NODE_ID----Exchange Only Flag----Percent Lines----Uplift----Phase---Deployed---FTTC or FTTP
SMSU------SHENLEY CHURCH END----MK4 4GU----{SMSU}{p41}--------0----------------------------100----------------13.91

But a similar doc from December shows nothing for our postcode at all. Which is why I'm a bit concerned.

I'm keen to know if we're on the radar or not, and how soon it may come, as if it's not likely within a year I want to sign a new broadband/phone contract which is for 12 months. Don't want to make that commitment and have fibre in the street three months later!

New builds can be skipped because the roads are unadopted (i.e. still privately owned), meaning the builder must provide permission for BT to perform any ground works. Builders often refuse because they don't want to risk delaying or derailing the adoption process.

We have a couple of these in Basingstoke and the residents have been lobbying the builder to allow the work. They've had some positive responses, but so far nothing has actually changed.

The cabinet itself is on land that's owned by a local organisation/charity who have stewardship over a lot of Milton Keynes' green spaces so hopefully it's not that in our case.

Is there any means, official or otherwise, that we can attempt to get any indication of when this work may be scheduled to happen, if at all?

You did realise that the December spreadsheet came in 2 parts, as it is too big to fit into Excel in one go?

I think someone put a version into Googledocs, but left out the details of places that weren't getting anything.

The December data requires you to remove the space in the middle of the postcode.

To save you searching the google-hosted fusion document, the original two-part csv files show there are two cabinets for the postcode, 39 and 41. 39 has 4%, 41 has 95%. Allowing for rounding down that's all the lines in the postcode.

There are no entries whatsoever against either .

What do you think that means? Anyone have any ideas, or are there any people I can ask who may be able to help within BT / Openreach (I assume regular BT phone help wont help!).

Thanks again!

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

The December data requires you to remove the space in the middle of the postcode.

To save you searching the google-hosted fusion document, the original two-part csv files show there are two cabinets for the postcode, 39 and 41. 39 has 4%, 41 has 95%. Allowing for rounding down that's all the lines in the postcode.

There are no entries whatsoever against either .

Deployed key:-
“YES” = Part of scheduled deployment
“NO” = Removed or Deferred from Scheduled Deployment
“Blanks” = Not part of a phase / untargeted cabinet

Yours is "Blanks".

How does that tally with the "percent lines" column, or is that nothing to do with how many will have FTTC/FTTP? Sorry if these are pretty basic/dumb questions!

Thank you!

In reply to a post by BernieSteak:

How does that tally with the "percent lines" column, or is that nothing to do with how many will have FTTC/FTTP? Sorry if these are pretty basic/dumb questions!

Thank you!

It doesn't. The "Percent Lines" column simply indicates the percentage of lines in that postcode that is served by the cabinet in question.

Aah. I guess it's pretty safe to sign up for a 12 month contract then, as it looks like fibre isn't on the cards any time soon. Got to love Milton Keynes and its infrastructure/planning.

Thanks again.

dependswhich exchnage you are on in Milton Keynes -- think more coming in bradwell abbey

It's Shenley Church End we're attached to here (I'm in Oxley Park).

In reply to a post by BernieSteak:

What do you think that means? Anyone have any ideas, or are there any people I can ask who may be able to help within BT / Openreach (I assume regular BT phone help wont help!).

Thanks again!

You can email the Infinity Team from this page
http://infinityfibrebroadband.com/
this is the reply I recieved

A check on your number 01326****** shows that your exchange at Falmouth has been upgraded to accept Infinity connections but your street cabinet(s) hasn't been upgraded yet and there is no date on the system for its upgrade. However the check indicates you can get ~17Mb ADSL2+ on your line, which it looks like you may be already receiving. If you are not getting ~17Mb let me know and we can look at getting you upgraded.

I will add you to our watch list for Infinity, checked on a monthly basis, and when we have more positive news we will send you an email with the details

Details from pcp for postcode were:
WWFALM FALMOUTH TR112AF {WWFALM}{P7} 0 26% 3.19 Cornwall - Tranche 2 YES FTTP
WWFALM FALMOUTH TR112AF {WWFALM}{M_A} 1 73%

That's interesting, but that website isn't a BT site though, it's a consultancy (325 Consultancy, based in Scotland), so not sure what they could do more than anyone else on here, or BT themselves?

Not sure how they're making money from this? Because they must be, right?

In reply to a post by boysteve:

You can email the Infinity Team from this page
http://infinityfibrebroadband.com/
this is the reply I recieved

That isn't an official openreach site - seems to be run by 325 ICT & Telecoms Solutions - a reseller.

They are confusing Infinity which is a BT Retail product with FTTC which is an openreach wholesale product

I think Plusnet, AAISP, TalkTalk and the many other ISPs that offer fibre access without the name "infinity" would be pretty annoyed at that site.

Edited by jchamier (Sun 12-Feb-12 00:14:05)

Hello, 325 Consultancy who operate the infinityfibrebroadband.com website are an Authorised BT Partner.
We work in BTs indirect partner sales channel offering customers information and a place to order/preorder BT's FTTC/FTTP fibre broadband services aka Infinity.
We offer an interface into BT that sometime the traditional routes do not. We have BT back office support and direct access to Product Managers who in turn speak to Openreach.
Often customers are not able to find the information that they are looking for from automated BT systems, so we add that personal touch and hope that in return you will order via us.
Hope that provides some clarification, happy to answer questions.

In reply to a post by 325Consultancy:

Hello, 325 Consultancy who operate the infinityfibrebroadband.com website are an Authorised BT Partner.
We work in BTs indirect partner sales channel offering customers information and a place to order/preorder BT's FTTC/FTTP fibre broadband services aka Infinity.

"aka" means "otherwise known as".

The confusion/disagreement arises from BT Retail FTTC/FTTP indeed being called Infinity (as long as the line speed estimate is above 15MBps, if not then - as I expect you know - another FTTC service is available). But BT Openreach FTTC/FTTP is not called Infinity and is available via many ISPs in the same way as ADSLx is. Similarly, BT Wholesale's FTTC offerings are not called Infinity.

You post isn't quite clear on the distinction between Retail, which I assume is who you partner with, (or do you mean BT Wholesale), and BT Group. Even your currently latest News Article re Lancashire County Council is a mish-mash, "Lancashire County Council recently announced it had chosen BT as its preferred partner organisation to roll out super-fast broadband ". BT Retail? Mike Blackburn is NW Director of the whole lot.

What you are seeing is a reaction against the huge BT Retail marketing machine, of which you are a part, which just manages to stay within ASA guidlines, but leads consumers to think Infinity from BT is the only FTTC product available to them. I have to say, in that connection, I don't think much of your affinity scheme whereby people and organisations with zilch knowledge of the right product for others get get money for referring people to you, when your products may be inappropriate or relatively expensive.

Edited by RobertoS (Fri 16-Mar-12 12:32:25)

Our aim is not to confuse anyone and to answer a question previously raised: no, we do not make any money from the website, the management and administration service unless someone goes onto purchase a service from us. We decided to set up the website to provide another point for information access, initially for our own Business Customers. However the demand for updates and the lack of information from other sources was clearly frustrating and confusing many people so appreciating the strength of feeling and frustration we have continued to provide information to anyone that asks whether from a Business or consumer source; there is no doubt that the complexities surrounding the actual roll-out are sometimes infuriating for a number of people and we are trying our best to bridge that gap.

In the first instance we inform anyone that contacts us of the current status of FTTC and FTTP at their exchange and cabinet whether they plan on using BT retail as their carrier or not. We do not insist that the enquirer places an order with us before we access information furthermore a number of enquirers have made it clear they will not be ordering the end product from BT retail and we still provide the relevant information without prejudice.

We inform any enquirer the current status of their particular exchange and cabinet and the speeds they can expect. If they cannot receive the product they are looking for then we advise them the speeds they are probably experiencing and the speeds available for them at the exchange. Again, no reference is made to the carrier. After updating the enquirer on what service is available we will then ask then ask if they would like to order a BT retail product from ourselves and we process said order.
The enquirer is then able to make an informed choice as to whether they opt for a BT Retail service or another carrier. In some circumstances the end user has opted to order from another carrier and even from BT Retail directly. While this is disappointing because as indicated above we receive no financial return unless the order is processed through ourselves it comes down to consumer choice and we respect that choice.

Our website and feed highlights BT Retail products as this is how we receive revenue.

The fact that the information and database we use is available to any carrier the question we would ask is whether any other Company or Carrier are providing the same resource without charge or promise of an order; certainly we are not aware of any.

I've no worry about any of that. It just isn't the impression I and a couple of others in this thread have received from your website.

There are several vISPs posting on these forums, most of them providing services from one or more of BT Wholesale/TT Business Wholesale/O2 Wholesale (ex Be Wholesale)/C & W, with assorted backhaul suppliers, who provide impartial advice here. Even to the extent of genuinely helpful suggestions when users are reporting problems with other suppliers.

I accept they may not do this via their websites and normal contact procedures.

In the case of the user who provided the link to your site in this post, you don't appear to have provided any more information than he already had, although you probably weren't aware of that. What he primarily needs to know at the moment, I suggest, is whether his line, the number of which he supplied to you, is provided through cabinet 7, or is a direct exchange line .

Telling him that may be good news or bad news, but very important.

I would point out that at the moment Infinity is clearly excellent value for money, and suitable for large numbers of people. I think the first objection here was that that poster seemed to think that link gets one through to someone within BT, as in "You can email the Infinity Team from ...".

Does anyone know what the phase corresponds to a particular period...Doesn't seem to be in the PCP to Postcode spreadsheet

Ive replied to your question in another thread about this topic.

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/fibre/t/4104424-re-...

Edited by ccxo (Fri 16-Mar-12 20:23:38)

Hi there,

I too have come to the conclusion that my postcode's disappearance from the December PCP to Poscade csv file is because the cabinet is on an unadopted road (in a 4-5 yr old new build)

Have you been able to find a route through this scenario and engage with Openreach and get them to put your cabinet back on their plans?

Our builders have left our site so the development is now managed by the management company. I don't see too much objection coming from the m'ment co (I happen to be a director of it ), but worry about the likely difficulty in actaually getting a dialogue with, and successful outcome from, Openreach. I gather they are not too public facing, seeing BT Retail as their customers.

Thanks