The cabinets normally come complete as they are staged in the factory before shipping to site. So you are looking at several thousand pounds worth of kit plus some labour and transport cost sitting idle for several months. Clearly you are not going to get it down to one day but these cabinet installs could be don a lot more efficiently and cost effectively.
The biggest variable is probably getting the fibre to the cabinet so it would be logical to do that first before thinking about placing the cabinet

So before thinking about placing the cabinet or you feed the fibre? To where, you've not yet thought about where the cabinet would go, what size, is power available etc

THe suvry would be done before anything so you would know where the cabinet was going and you would no where the nearest power is. There are very few locations where power is more than a few metres away as the cable runs down the road

I think you're right that the cabinet is pre-built in a warehouse, and arrives on-site in a pretty-much working state.

However, I guess the "lost" money isn't in the value of the cabinet (or the included kit) - as that can be re-deployed elsewhere.

We've also seen that some cabinets can end up left unused for quite a while, so BT obviously aren't overly worried about the lost income from a small number of cabinets - especially if the big picture has sufficient custom coming in.

That leaves us with the fact that the real lost money is in the civil engineering work to prepare the site - build a concrete plinth, and set the ducting within it.

While pulling fibre is probably the variable with the biggest distance involved, it is also within BT's control more readily. And where the fibre is part of a spine, then there is more than 1 cabinet to bring into the equation.

However, I don't think the fibre itself amounts to the biggest variable - even if there are duct blockages - in terms of cost.

I think the biggest variable comes down to power again - but this time *not* in the distance that the power has to be connected, nor in the leadtime that an order has to be placed.

Instead, I think that the cases where an installed cabinet suddenly becomes so unviable it is worth removing (and yet was once viable in the spreadsheets) come down to a huge price spike in supplying power. It might be because power isn't available where the planners thought it was, but I bet the real reason is when transformers or substations need a (pretty costly) upgrade, and the charge is planted 100% at BT. In such circumstances they might as well wait until someone else foots the bill. A property developer perhaps, or the council.

Can't be power as Bob told us that is only an issue very rarely.

Or is Bod wrong?

I think it is safe to say that the cases where a cabinet goes in, to later be labelled as unviable, are distinctly rare events!

Or they put it in the wrong place, like one of ours which appeared on street corner, it has now been removed, and has not been relocated. I wonder if they will put a cabinet back for the pcp involved.

That's another one. I guess the financial viability isn't going to change much, but it will very much depend on whether there is an alternative location within 50-100 metres.

If it helps I've seen this where a long run for power is required across a major road.

Another gotcha is where they need traffic lights for health and safety reasons. That seems to take a bit of time to organise.

I suspect you'll see that sorted before March.

All the best

Regards,

Gareth

In reply to a post by Bigmonty:

Thought I'd share a reply I received today to an e-mail I sent to Openreach:

"Thank you for your email

Information about the commercial fibre project can be found on the rollout site :-
http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/where-and-when/

In your locality work is ongoing. Currently this is awaiting power and other works. The estimated date for Dunfermline cabinet 86 enablement is close March 2013 assuming there are no major issues.

Your Communications Provider (CP) is responsible for all aspects of your service including advising on the services they can supply at your address. Please contact your CP to register your interest so they are aware and can contact you at such time in the future as they have additional information."

So I guess what people were saying about the Dec 12 date getting put back is correct but hopefully it looks positive for getting FTTC within the next 6 months.