"Directly connected to exchange. FTTC is not supported."

I am frustrated at the lack of fibre at my house when my exchange is enabled and after a search about I discovered this forum.

After lots of reading I checked my postcode in the FTTC Checker.

http://fttc-check.alc.im/results.php?postcode=TN11JE

It says that I am "Directly connected to exchange. FTTC is not supported."

Can anyone enlighten me as to what this means? Also what it means to the future of my connection and prospective products/speeds?

Thanks muchly

It means that your phone line goes directly to the exchange and not to a street cabinet first as most do. As it's currently only cabinets which are being hooked up to fibre you won't be able to get FTTC. I believe there are some plans to eventually sort this out but I don't knoe what they are. I suspect BT don't know yet either so don't hold your breath.

sorry.

There are a few current problems here.

One is fairly obvious - FTTC means "Fibre to the Cabinet" and you are not connected to a cabinet.

The rest are to do with why they haven't found a way round that yet.

Starting with the first problem, no cabinet. The fibre service is added onto your telephone line in that and carried over the existing copper from there to your house. See here for a fuller explanation.

They can't add the fibre service to the DSLAM which supplies you in the exchange. Either it doesn't have the necessary connectivity, (the ones in the FTTC cabinets are designed specifically for the task), or it is simply to prevent the bad effects the service would have on other services from that exchange. Technical reasons in other words, that I don't know anything about. OfCom has issued regulations about this.

There is also the point that many exchanges that are "FTTC-enabled" don't actually supply the fibre connection. They continue to supply the phone service, but the fibre one is supplied from a different exchange and gets onto your line as already explained.

Apparently Openreach are looking into this issue for the longer term, but the push and money is going into the easier mainstream rollout at the moment, so as to meet/exceed the coverage targets. Two solutions that seem to be around are to supply FTTP instead, or to install fibre and phone cabinets to replace the current exchange supply to people such as yourself.

Another issue is the question of why you are EO. If it is because you are close to the exchange then the solution is likely to be different from that if you are on a new build estate at a considerable distance from the exchange, where it was cheaper/easier for Openreach to supply direct than to install new phone cabinets when you got a phone service in the first place.

Thanks for the reply, that helps a lot. Not the news I wanted but helps

Thank you kindly for the detailed reply too. Very informative.

I am about 1/2 a mile from the exchange, and am due to move soon so you can bet one of the first things I will check is that link I found to see if I am connected to a fibred cabinet.

Thank you again for taking the time to answer. Much appreciated.

That checker you used is based on December 2011 data, which is the latest publicly available. (Leaked). The EO status won't have changed in the April 2012 one, but the status of your new location might.

The best thing to check is the existing phone number of the new place, if you can find that before it gets disconnected, and see what this checker says about it. If you can't get the phone number, try the full address.

Most ISPs have the April 2012 data so their checkers should be OK.

last I heard BT were supposed to be trialing methods for EO lines in cornwall this year. with the FTTP on demand thing announced I'm guessing those trials (VDSL/WiFi?) are up in the air currently.

I presume there must be access points so why cant the FFC cabs be connected to those. I'm in the same situation. There are some large access point just a few hundred yards from where I live, surely it's not beyond BT ability to connect to those Via a FCC cab.

What do you mean by "access point". Are you sure that whatever they are they are BT?

Have you read the link I gave explaining what the linkages are to supply FTTC to you? Your last question implies you haven't.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

What do you mean by "access point". Are you sure that whatever they are they are BT?

One big mail man hole at the edge of the estate where all cables from smaller manholes at street level terminate. I suppose you could call it an underground cabinet and yes it's BT.

I think that will be some some of splitting setup, but won't have, nor perhaps have the room for, the extra patch panels to connect to and from a fibre cabinet. Either the whole arrangement will have to be replaced by cabinets, with associated fibre cabinets, or ditched altogether and replaced by FTTP.

All of which takes a lot more money than the standard FTTC rollout, which is why at the moment it's ( ) tough luck.

Just to confuse matters. FTTC does NOT require a green cabinet.

BT have done many areas in Milton Keynes and there are no cabinets. Some areas have manholes with all the patching in them.


Regards,

Gareth

So that means when FTTC is installed there is only one green cab. To be clear!


Gareth

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

So that means when FTTC is installed there is only one green cab. To be clear!


Gareth

FTTC requires an FTTC cab, FTTP does not. Are you sure the areas in MK without cabs have FTTC rather than FTTP?

In reply to a post by MCM:

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

So that means when FTTC is installed there is only one green cab. To be clear!


Gareth

FTTC requires an FTTC cab, FTTP does not. Are you sure the areas in MK without cabs have FTTC rather than FTTP?

Isn't MK one of the FTTP trial areas?

In reply to a post by simon194:

Isn't MK one of the FTTP trial areas?

It depends which part of MK. Milton Keynes exchange itself, (SMBT), seems to be a mix of EO, not scheduled, and FTTC. We need to know which areas of MK the poster is referring to.

Edited by RobertoS (Thu 21-Jun-12 09:50:51)

And is Milton Keynes not a "special case" due to the use of TPON in pany places and a subsequent copper overlay?

Logically any premises that have / had TPON "ought" to be simple to install FTTP as the required ducting should be there to the premises?