FTTC Cumbernauld

Hello - I've just been on to check whether I can order the superfast broadband for which my Cumbernauld exchange has recently been enabled. It seems that the date for which orders are being accepted has been put back by another three months. What was originally estimated to come by the end of March is now showing as September.

I know that this is a minor inconvenience in comparison to those areas with no sign of such a service ever coming to their area, but I'm curious to know how arbitrary these forecasts of having it up-and-running are?

How arbitrary depends on what the timelines for all the other cabinets in your county/region are like.

Delays in one place, can have knock on effects, as they wait for teams to do stuff, so next team can do their bit.

Gal12
The original dates are when Openreach plan to do it. This is before they start to look in detail or have put proposals to the councils involved.

The slippage is usually due to a council / landowner disagreeing with the proposals for more than a couple of Cabs.

Until Openreach have agreement on the majority of Cabs they don't bother to start in the area.

If someone is really awkward they abandon and go else where, see Kensington and Chelsea's objections to 108 Cabs!

I don't know the area, Is Cumbernauld likely to be a conservation area? (doesn't look it on Google). Could be to do with difficulty siting Cabs on narrow pavements, are all the existing ones underground with no room above ground?

It is likely to be an environmental issue to do with the estates.

Thanks for your replies.

Kitcat - I may be being cruel, but Cumbernauld is far from being a conservation area in my mind!

They have been all over the area for months now, installing the new green cabinets, all above ground. As far as I'm aware, from the little research I've done and understood, the only complaints are from the few streets near me that are served by one old cabinet, but without sufficient numbers of potential customers to have BT do the upgrade. It's the lack of the service that's causing upset rather than any impact of the work.

It's just a very frustrating pattern to have the guides say that they are 'accepting orders', only for the forecast dates to keep slipping back three months.

Gal12

Cumbernauld does show as accepting orders, so the exchange is live. Old spreadsheets from the Openreach site that I have show that it went live between 1st March and 1st May 2012. ( I only download them occasionally).

So some cabs are live, just yours may be the only one not installed. You need to post your postcode and ask if someone can see where it is in the Rollout schedule that ISPs get.

Where are you getting the forecast dates from as they do not usually publish anything for individual Cabs.

You need to register your interest and that of all your neighbours if your cab is not in the present rollout plans. If enough register Openreach will come back and do your Cab as well. ( Basingstoke has had 3 phases of rollout now!)

Thanks kitcat - apologies if my understanding isn't as keen and we're talking at cross purposes?

I've been looking at the the following sites:

Openreach, BT Infinity and TalkTalk, putting my postcode (G68 9JZ) into the relevant places.

You'll see that the first indicates 'Accepting Orders' (as it has for the last few months) while the last two are the same places that keep shifting the dates that I can buy fibre by three months, just as its availability looks imminent. I've registered interest at a few places a few months ago.

Is it really the case that they will come and put the new cabinet in place (it's at the roadside next to the old one) but not 'wire it up?

If there's somewhere I can post my postcode to get more information, I'd be grateful for directions.

I'm in cumbernauld. I've had fibre through sky for 2 months now on 40mb down and 10mbup, its rapid fire! and downloads files at 4mb-4.5mb a second

It does just look like something is causing a delay for that cabinet. Are you saying the FTTC cabinet for it is in place? Supposed to be in phase 7b, with a speed multiplier of 17.72.

G689JB	{WSCUM}{P49}	0	40% 
G689JD	{WSCUM}{P49}	0	63%
G689DN	{WSCUM}{P49}	0	66%
G689ND	{WSCUM}{P49}	0	71%
G689JW	{WSCUM}{P49}	0	97%
G689JA	{WSCUM}{P49}	0	98%
G689ET	{WSCUM}{P49}	0	100%
G689JG	{WSCUM}{P49}	0	100%
G689JE	{WSCUM}{P49}	0	100%
G689NN	{WSCUM}{P49}	0	100%
G689NG	{WSCUM}{P49}	0	100%
G689JF	{WSCUM}{P49}	0	100%
G689JZ	{WSCUM}{P49}	0	100%

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

It does just look like something is causing a delay for that cabinet. Are you saying the FTTC cabinet for it is in place? Supposed to be in phase 7b, with a speed multiplier of 17.72.

G689JW	{WSCUM}{P49}	0	97%
G689JZ	{WSCUM}{P49}	0	100%

Thanks Roberto - Yes, the big green box was put in place a few months ago when every other vehicle was an Openreach van.

Sorry, I'm clueless about phases and multipliers - is there some significance to the '100%' assigned to my postcode? A friend lives in '9JW' and see the same September availability as me.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

I'm in cumbernauld. I've had fibre through sky for 2 months now on 40mb down and 10mbup, its rapid fire! and downloads files at 4mb-4.5mb a second

I look forward to a similar experience!

I'm also in Cumbernauld & can't get it either yet - been putting it into talk talk & adsl24 for months now.

RobertoS

Can you check my postcode (G689NY) please to give me an indication of if & when mine might be live ?

Thanks

This post code is served by cabinet 90 which is due to get FTTC. Some cabinets in Cumbernauld appear to be live now hence the accepting orders mentioned on the Openreach site. I have a friend in Ravenswood who's cabinet is live and I'm sure I saw another poster on here from Cumbernauld saying he had the service already from Sky.

When? Probably soon-ish !

Cheers

Del

Checked on talk talk last night & its saying October

Hi i'm in ravenswood, luckily the first area in Cumbernauld to be activated. I have had fttc for a couple of months through sky and its great, don't be put off by talk talk etc according to their website my area isn't live for fibre till october and i already have it?

if it gives you hope my mate is in balloch, cumbernauld G68 9 and he's got sky fibre also even although sky, talk talk websites etc said it wasn't available, he just phoned them and got it ordered. Don't always believe the website indication tools

Thanks for that. I'm in Blackwood so will give them a call to find out

Gal12

The 100% means it is all from Cab 49.

Your friends post code is only 97& from cab 49 so 3% is from a different cab or direct from the exchange.

The Availability comes in 3 month batches, so your cab should be between 1 July and 30th Sept. Check each week as it is likely to be waiting for power or fibre to be completed. Sometimes you can find detail on the roadworks site of work, this may give you an idea of what it is waiting for and when it is likely to be live.

It is best to use your tel number in the checker. Use BT wholesale unless you are on LLU, then use Talktalk or Sky as the checkers may not give the correct answer if you are with a different operator.

Thanks very much kc and anon-from-Ravenswood. Your info backs up the article here: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/broadband/3358332/bt...

I'll call them to check.

Pls pls can u tell me when my postcode will be ready for infinity
G68 0gl

Good information guys, it's keeping my hopes alive I might be able to get it soon. I'm in Broadwood too (G68 9PE) and served by cabinet P90 I believe.

Roors

Roberto

I found a document on the net a couple of months ago that despite FTTC being available in many G68 postcodes it was never coming to G68 9LQ. I know not why!

Can you check for me please?

Many thanks

Kind regards

In reply to a post by Cybergrazer:

Roberto

I found a document on the net a couple of months ago that despite FTTC being available in many G68 postcodes it was never coming to G68 9LQ. I know not why!

Can you check for me please?

Probably the document that I have a copy of, the December 2011 spreadsheet.

It's cabinet 107, but it wasn't scheduled at that time. Which doesn't mean you'll never get it, just that it could be a while. There have been two later versions come out, but neither has been leaked yet.

Sorry I can't tell you any more than that .

According to the leaked 2011 data there are no plans for FTTC in this post code.

Del

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Good information guys, it's keeping my hopes alive I might be able to get it soon. I'm in Broadwood too (G68 9PE) and served by cabinet P90 I believe.

Roors

Just noticed on driving past that the new cabinet has been placed beside my local cabinet (on the end of Brackwood Road). So here's hoping it is up and running soon for all those in G68 9 postcodes

I'm liking your optimism, but there's been a new cabinet in the ground at Grampian Way for months now and Sept. 30th is still the current date for new orders. I'm betting that this gets moved to 2013 come the 29th Sept.

Got to stay optimistic ... or else you'd weep !! Spotted BT Openreach pulling new cable between chambers down past Broadwood to the end of Blackwood Road. Hopefully fibre :-x

Can but wait and see.

Indeed - I would have stopped to interrogate the Openreach guy who was working outside the Smiddy a few weeks ago but it was tipping down.

Here's hoping for no more delays!

I've just checked an address in Woodburn Way which is showing FTTC as available. Looks like the cabinet at the primary school gates is live.

Cheers

Del

Thanks delone - I'm now thinking that last-in-first to get fibre might be a criterion. Being in one of the first houses built in the area, I live between the two cabinets, the other '30th Sept' one being the one that supplies me. Sigh.

It could be worse, you could live about 50 metres away from said cabinet at school gates and not be able to get FTTC at all!



Big Sigh.

Del

Hi, I'm in a similar boat to a few posters on this thread - openreach vans everywhere, new cabinets springing up yet no sign of the FTTC upgrade for my line.

I've spoken to an openreach engineer who was working in my area and he was certain that the cabinet for my postcode should be live (he was connecting a user at the time so must have been - right?).

There is another older box further down with no new box fitted yet but, as I've mentioned, the engineer insisted that my street should be live.

Can anyone tell me how to find out the cabinet that serves my postcode, it's G680ES.

The providers sites all say 30th Sept but I've heard from a few who were told similar but when they challenged it turned out they were live.

Thanks for any help.

Sorry can't help you on the cabinet query, but I have just received a call from Talktalk trying to sell me broadband and phone.

The sales person did initially promise me that fibre was available in my area ("As we do all the work ourselves ... "). However, when I challenged him on his assertion, he "rechecked the number" and corrected his statement, not available until October. So he was basically trying to get me to change to TalkTalk No guarantee that the October date won't change.

Ruairidh

I am in Eastfield, just down the road from The Smiddy, G68 9, and the lack of fibre optics is starting to get to me! Needing to leave my PC on for a few nights to download software for college is a joke!

The TalkTalk fibre checker told me July back in June, then switched to August and now it says the end of September, can only hope this is correct :/

Out of curiosity what kind of speeds and what ISP are you guys near me getting? I get a max of around 250kb/s on a good day

You are on cabinet 93 which is due to get FTTC.

Del

At least one of the cabinets in Eastfield is live (the one at the primary school gates).

Del

Same postcode area as you, seeing much the same speeds as you, on a good day, in the middle of the night.

It wouldn't have been as bad but for the repeated postponements to the availability dates - watch it change again on the 29th

I've tried several websites and the picture for my postcode is confusing. Cumbernauld exchange is taking orders according to openspan but it seems not to be available yet in G68 9PE, can't find anywhere that indicates when it will be.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

I've tried several websites and the picture for my postcode is confusing. Cumbernauld exchange is taking orders according to openspan but it seems not to be available yet in G68 9PE, can't find anywhere that indicates when it will be.

Some Cumbernauld cabs were scheduled by BT for upgrading for FFTC in phase 7b and could thus be expected to be open business. G68 9PE is connected to cab 90 and this must have been added to BT's plans after the other cabs as upgrading is scheduled for phase 9a which could be any time in the next six months. The good thing of course being that you know it is scheduled which is more than can be said for many other cabs both in Cumbernauld and nationally.

I'm the guy from Eastfield again, G68 9JB, I just checked https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/main.html

And it states "Your cabinet is planned to have WBC FTTC by 30th September 2012. 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 24.6 to 62.1 Mbps and upstream line speed between 5.6 to 20 Mbps."

Soooo I can get fibre? Who do I phone to confirm this? Im with TalkTalk just now should I phone them and ask about it or someone else?

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

And it states "Your cabinet is planned to have WBC FTTC by 30th September 2012...."

Soooo I can get fibre? Who do I phone to confirm this? Im with TalkTalk just now should I phone them and ask about it or someone else?

As yet, no-one. Note the word planned. You can order once the cabinet is live which hopefully will be within the next week or so unless there are some unexpected delays.

You're lucky.

At G68 9FB here in Cumbernauld and there's no note of getting FTTC to our box.

According to the BT Checker the max I can get on the normal line is 1MB, however with a pre-filtered face plate I am getting 2.5MB

Still want Fibre tho

Eastfield again - This "Our test also indicates that your line currently supports a fibre technology" threw me off and I got excited, my bad!

Post deleted by delone

Now being told by fibre checkers that its due in Eastfield in December and not actually the end of this month, who would have guessed we would get shafted for another 3 months!

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Now being told by fibre checkers that its due in Eastfield in December and not actually the end of this month, who would have guessed we would get shafted for another 3 months!

Putting off the date by 3 months doesnt mean that you are guaranteed to have to wait that long. It might be next week, it might be December, it might be next year .....

It is a lottery but if you have the FTTC CAB installed at least you ought to get FTTC eventually unlike others whose area is deemed "not to be commercially viable".

Yeh, Blackwood now showing as January Despite cabinet being installed and cable pulled.

In reply to a post by Roors:

Yeh, Blackwood now showing as January Despite cabinet being installed and cable pulled.

I have just checked BT Infinity for my postcode (Blackwood) and it says it is now available. Sky also saying they can now offer me fibre. Worth a check.

Cheers, had noticed that in the last few days BT's own checker had actually started showing a date (30th Dec.) rather than just saying not available. Then it suddenly changed to available ... yippee

Now ordered with BT. Very disappointed to be leaving Zen, who I've been with for ever (since dialup) but can't justify their high cost, even for the great tech support they've provided me with on a number of occasions.

Hope I don't regret it... gulp

Whoever has registered for blackwood? Could you keep in touch and let me know how your infinity is? I am so tempted to go back to BT.....................

Well ordered BT Infinity last week. First attempt failed on the website, but at the time I didn't have my MAC from current provider, so once I had got that I re-ordered on Tuesday 16th October.

Much to my surprise, BT said the Infinity package would be delivered on the Friday and engineer would carry out the install on the Tuesday (23rd).

No problems, package turned up as promised. Engineer called at 8am to say he had some work to do at the cabinet and would be around 40-45 minutes. After 1/2 an hour he called back to confirm he'd finished at the cabinet and would be with me shortly.

Was first on the cabinet, but he had 8 or 9 orders (was I was slot 9 but first to be installed). He had expected some difficulty with new "card", but all went smoothly.

Took him about 30-45 minutes to install the cable modem and router, show me it all working. Did a very neat job of mounting the modem to the wall beside my socket.

All seems to be working great. Somewhat variable, with uploads so far varying from 8Mbps - 31.50Mbps and upload of 5-13Mbps ... no buffering any more

Seems like connecting via wifi is possibly now the limiting factor, but not sure. Will need to check out setup options.

[IMG]http://www.speedtest.net/result/2262539633.png[/IMG]

Connected via lan

Edited by deleted (Wed 24-Oct-12 18:40:06)

Wifi connection will always be slower on FTTC, if you want the full speed you need to have a wired connection- can use homeplugs etc.

Connected via a LAN cable

In reply to a post by Roors:

Well ordered BT Infinity last week. First attempt failed on the website, but at the time I didn't have my MAC from current provider, so once I had got that I re-ordered on Tuesday 16th October.

Much to my surprise, BT said the Infinity package would be delivered on the Friday and engineer would carry out the install on the Tuesday (23rd).

No problems, package turned up as promised. Engineer called at 8am to say he had some work to do at the cabinet and would be around 40-45 minutes. After 1/2 an hour he called back to confirm he'd finished at the cabinet and would be with me shortly.

Was first on the cabinet, but he had 8 or 9 orders (was I was slot 9 but first to be installed). He had expected some difficulty with new "card", but all went smoothly.

Took him about 30-45 minutes to install the cable modem and router, show me it all working. Did a very neat job of mounting the modem to the wall beside my socket.

All seems to be working great. Somewhat variable, with uploads so far varying from 8Mbps - 31.50Mbps and upload of 5-13Mbps ... no buffering any more

Seems like connecting via wifi is possibly now the limiting factor, but not sure. Will need to check out setup options.

[IMG]http://www.speedtest.net/result/2262539633.png[/IMG]

Connected via lan

So Jealous! Where abouts in blackwood are you? I'm right in the middle

Would anyone be able to tell me if my cabinet is "on the list"? My postcode is G68 9FF. I believe my cabinet is on the corner of Smithstone Road and Kingsmuir Drive in Cumbernauld.

Thanks in advance!

Cabinet P107 is on the old December 2011 list

I've heard that an FTTC cabinet in the Craigmarloch area (PCP93) which has already been installed will not go live due to greater than expected costs for providing a power connection.

Will BTO leave what they have installed insitu or will they remove / relocate it? Will they have installed any active equipment prior to power being installed?

Del

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Cabinet P107 is on the old December 2011 list

Thanks for the answer. So what exactly does this list represent and does that list mean its likely we will receive FTTC at some stage?

Cheers

I'm connected to Cabinet P75 in Cumbernauld. This doesn't even appear to be scheduled to be connected at any time. Is there anywhere that I can check this?

Send a email to this address and inclue your phone number and address- will take about 5-10 days due to the high volume of requests.
Openreach will be able to say if your cabinet is planned to have FTTC or it may have to wait for for local BDUK project- lead by the main CC in your area for a upgrade.

[email protected]

Anyone?

If you use the above email address for Openreach, they will respond within 5-10 days and they should be able to say what is happening with that cabinet.
Or if you can find a engineer or get in contact with the project manager for the area, its the only way to know what will happen.

And it's now gone back another three months to the end of March, now a full year's worth of fake dates I think.

Has anybody found a contact at Openreach to which complaints can be directed? One with a real human who has some accountability for all of this?

You can get some humans to respond at nga.enquiries -at- openreach.co.uk

However, their job is to respond to emails, so don't exactly have any accountability for what the planners decide when making - and changing - the plans.

Thanks W - I wasn't optimistic about anybody with authority answering to the plebs. But some official response would be better than seeing ever-changing, evidently meaningless dates on a website. Here goes...

The dates are just holding slots, each a end quater date. If the work is not complete the exchange/cabinets move into the next holding slot.

So their are no missed dates, just the cabinet and exchange are ready once the work has been completed, expect delays in a rollout this large.
The above email, openreach staff can give a estimated date of when they expect the cabinet live, though this can slip as it all depends on the progress of the work to enable the cabinet/exchange.

(this is only for exchanges in the rollout, if your exchange is not they wont be able to help)

Thanks ccxo,

I can readily accept delays, but when it becomes a year, coupled with watching surrounding areas seemingly being fasttracked, it becomes annoying. I'd like to know the reasons for their decisions.

When you say that Openreach can give estimated dates for a given cabinet, would they be doing anything more than reading the same availability checker that I've wasted time with for the last year?

Different exchanges will complete at different times, its down to available manpower and the issues that they encounter on each exchange and its cabinets- rollout procedes at best speed.
Openreach may say the reasons for the delay but they may not though its usually blocked ducts/power company which are the big hold ups.

The information that the openreach staff has comes from the project mangers across the country, this does change frequently as the project hits delays, so any date they can give can slip due to delays.

Cheers ccxo - if they can provide me reasons like the ones you suggest, it'll be somewhat better than relying on best guesses.

There were some road works by BT mentioned on http://www.roadworksscotland.org recently for Grampian Way (gone now though). I'm guessing there may be blocked ducts in the area if they are having to do some digging.

Did you see any works a couple of weeks back?

Del

That would have been about the time when leaving my bed was a struggle, Del - can't say for certain that there wasn't work in the area. No sign of anything new in the area that I can see during my usual two second examination of the cabinet from the car.

Received my reply from Openreach, citing the general 'works issues' for the ongoing delay. 'Close February 2013' was given as a current, prospective date, assuming no 'further issues arise'.

From the unanswered questions and the invitation to register my interest in FTTC on the website (again), I'm not confident. But the earlier date and a cabinet-level check is a bit more reassuring for now.

Apparently my exchange that had infinity enabled now doesn't seem to according to checkers! (Postcode G68) Surely that not right?

@Nutter: sounds familiar:

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/fibre/f/4171201-bt-...

Not sure if the 'oversubscription' explanation is right, but a few days after I posted that my sister was able to order Infinity which is due to be installed in a few weeks time. I guess if there was enough demand to have it running in your area previously, BT/Openreach will do the necessary to increase the capacity (and their revenues) before too long. Good luck!

There is at least one Cabinet in the G68 area that is no longer going to be upgraded for FTTC although it was in the original plans. Something to do with the power connection being too expensive.

I think it is in Craigmarloch.

Del

Either BT have increased capacity or people have left already as infinity seems to be available for me again (41.6 down 6.8 up) and the cabinet has the fibre broadband sticker on the front now (wasn't there before)

The BT Wholesale checker is now showing an availability date of "31-Mar-14" for me - anyone else? I'm going for denial mode and to assume that this is a typo!

In reply to a post by Gal12:

The BT Wholesale checker is now showing an availability date of "31-Mar-14" for me - anyone else? I'm going for denial mode and to assume that this is a typo!

Someone mentioned the same date in the Banockburn FTTC or was it the Hereford FTTC thread so it may or may not.

Edited by simon194 (Tue 12-Feb-13 16:35:12)

There was a Quinns van with a 'on behalf of Openreach' sign at the cabinet this morning.

Co-incidence?

Del

In reply to a post by delone:

There was a Quinns van with a 'on behalf of Openreach' sign at the cabinet this morning.

Co-incidence?

Del

I'm guessing not, Del, but that's probably me refusing to believe the worst. I walked past an Openreach engineer working on the old cabinet outside the primary school on Friday morning, probably irrelevant. There were a few vans at the top of the road that leads to the path to Ravenswood (Southfield Rd?) this morning too, couldn't see whether they were installing it for a home or working on more general stuff.

Another e-mail to them might be in order!

P.S. Just checked the roadworks site - "minor work with excavation", the location being given as, "roadside, Cumbernauld, various locations" from Mon to Weds next week. Sounds vague enough to be promising, or am I trying too hard?

Edited by Gal12 (Tue 12-Feb-13 21:25:14)

E-mail to BT is probably your best bet for an update.

Del

The latest information following pressure from politicians and the local community is that the following cabinets will be enabled in the new financial year:
PCP 46 serving Westfield, PCP 69 serving Carrickstone, PCP 75 serving Smithstone, PCP 93 serving Craigmarloch and PCP 107 serving Smithstone.

Great news and thanks to all those who applied pressure to BT.

Is this from a public source? Any chance of posting a link?

I've been in touch about this issue over recent months with the local MSP, Jamie Hepburn, who emailed me a couple of days ago and followed this up with a letter dated 12th February, stating that BT had been in touch with him to say they have undertaken a commercial review of the planned Next Generation Broadband installations in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, and that they have now reinstated the cabinets listed in my previous post in the infrastructure upgrade programme for the coming financial year.

Thanks for this, McGuire. I've seen Hepburn campaign about this before, interesting to see that lobbying can work. Were these cabinets previously designated by BT as not being viable? I don't want to be cynical and think that the end of the coming financial year coincides with the 31/03/2014 date they are using as a forecast for FTTC availability in some areas - not exactly an ambitious timescale.

But enough pessimism from me. Well done to you, here's hoping you your efforts work in quick time!

I know that enabling cabinet 93, which is the one serving (or currently not serving!) my address in Craigmarloch, was said by BT to be uneconomic. The reason they gave was that although the plans they initially consulted indicated otherwise, there was in fact no power supply near to the cabinet and the economics of putting this in didn't add up for them. I'm not entirely sure whether they've simply bowed to pressure or whether the local campaign to get people to register an interest has led them to believe that enough people are now likely to sign up for fibre thereby making it a viable proposition for them. In any event it looks like good news, though it's not clear how long we may have to wait!

For all the talk of power supplies and my own frustrations about the long delay, I can understand their thoughts about going for the low-hanging fruit of those areas that are likely to bring profits sooner. For the area around me in Eastfield, a map of those areas with FTTC products being available to order today would sit well over a map of the more affluent areas. Your point about having people register an interest also makes sense; after asking Openreach for a better forecast date than the online checker, the adviser ended her reply by asking me to go indicate my interest at the website. Having done so already last year, it seemed a bit odd that she was giving me a date for planned availability while suggesting that level of interest might still be a deciding factor.

Still hoping for next week though!

The new fibre cabinet and power have been installed this week (P107). Doesn't look to be active though yet as no signs on it and still nothing coming up on the line checker. I think we are close now though!

So happy to announce that down here in the middle of blackwood (G68) I'll have infinity option 2 installed by the 4th of June! I never been happier

I hope the extra speed brings you lots of viruses, nutter, not that I'm jealous or anything!

Congratulations, good luck and happy surfing when it comes. For what it's worth - precious little - Openreach now tell me that they hope to upgrade Eastfield in early July. They didn't say which year.

Given all the activity at the Eastfield cabinet in the last few days with all the SP Energy Networks vans and equipment I think it's safe to say no nearby power was the issue.

July sounds about right, so fingers crossed for you.

Del

Got my hub today (HH3) I intend to take a speed test on my old ADSL before FFTC is up and running tuesday just to compare the 2

Cheers Del - assuming the very same since seeing the work being done on Thursday morning. Nothing since, but here's hoping that it's not a saga.

Old ADSL:

(Monday)

http://www.speedtest.net/result/2750529186.png

FTTC (From pretty much tuesday onwards):

http://www.speedtest.net/result/2752041983.png

It's such such a life changer FTTC. Really is. Internet will never be the same again!

Nice one, Nutter - using friend's Infinity for uploading stuff was even more eye opening for me

Out of interest, how far are you from your cabinet?

Roughly I think between 800/850 metres. Obviously nearer the cab you get the better speeds but i'm more than happy with 51MB

FTTC on Cabinet 49 is now available according to BT Wholesale checker.

Del

Hi All - Good news

I am in Earls Hill, Balloch. I am served by Cabin 49

I have been checking for FTTC availability for over a year. About a month ago I inquired about from BT and I was told not to expect it before 31 Dec 2013.

However, and learned never to give up, I was checking yesterday, Saturday 16 June, and suddenly FTTC is available for our street with more than one Broadband provider.

So I have just placed an order with Sky (the cheapest) and it is scheduled to be installed on 5 July 2013.

Just to make sure it is real this time, I have actually received an email from sky to say that their engineer will be visiting the house between 8am - 1pm to carry out the installation. So it looks like having FTTC is a reality at last.

Hope this bring some smiles to some

Salah

Edited by deleted (Sun 16-Jun-13 11:30:20)

I think there are just a couple of cabinets still without FTTC north of the M80 in Cumbernauld. As I'm on one of those I just have to hope that the Scottish Government / BDUK come through with some funding.

Cheers

Del

Edited by delone (Sun 16-Jun-13 12:14:59)

Wow, should have had the patience to wait for the 20th promise to be fulfilled. Think I'll wait for a few months, no point in rushing into anything...

Are you even being given the default 2014 date for availability, Del?

Nope, the checker doesn't mention FTTC at all for the cabinet I'm on. The closest I've got is an e-mail from the team at the Scottish Government dealing with the BDUK tender confirming that I'm in a "white area" which means funding is a possibility.

Could be a couple of years yet, if ever

Del

Was trying to help a friend out here who is connected to cabinet 90.

Does anyone know why on the DSL checker, that it doesn't show any reference to Fibre? Is it because there is no capacity there now?

How would we find out if BT are planning to add another cabinet?

Yes, its maxed out awaiting an additional cabinet
Be a few months at least. Keep checking in case a port becomes availability

The best way to check when its avainable is use an automated checker, see this post for details. Simply set it to email your phone, and however many times a day you want it to check.

Cheers guys.

I've set that up. I was under the impression that when the cabinet was full, the DSL database would actually say that.

Thanks!

What URL are you using for a checker?

The BT Wholesale one often has extra information compared to what providers show

This one:

http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/pls/adsl/ADSLChecker.Ad...

I just entered an example postcode and number for a nearby property.

Ok so the best BT Wholesale one.

Sometimes it does give an estimated date and a message and other times it does not. Suspect that the available removal is automatic and adding the estimate for clearing capacity issue is a manual process, hence a possible gap.

When I was signing my sister up to FTTC (Via Aquiss) it was the same thing but was slightly different as you posted hippy. The checked (I used the phone number) kept saying spaces we're available but the order failed a few times as the BT checker was wrongly saying space was available (but turned out it wasn't) eventually it did come good for her (on new year's eve funny enough) but eventually it did get put on for her (also on cabinet 90)

Cheers everyone! Tracker updated today to say it was available so my friend has just got his order placed.

Thanks again!

Just a question for people in the know (I assume I know why) but notice BT Openreach have been busy recently in Blackwood again (wondered why half the road down the bottom of the estate was dug up) I noticed a new fibre optic cabinet getting made. Would that be due to demand for the service?