FTTC Rollout - WIDNES (LVWID)

Hi,

My 1st post on 'Thinkbroadband', so hello from me! I thought I would register/start a thread to allow comments & feedback on the rollout of FTTC in my hometown of Widnes.

Here is what I know so far:

Openreach installed a large number of DSLAM cabinets across the town in the summer

The RFS date was set initially as 30th September, but around mid September, slipped to 31st December

The exchange started accepting orders on 16th October, but only a small amount of cabinets were live/accepting orders on this date

My own cabinet (PCP76) is not yet live & now has a 'Yellow Pin' against it on the Openreach 'Where & When' website, along with a comment that it is taking longer than planned to get the cabinet ready for service. The other 'non live' cabinets have the 'Yellow Pin' & same comment.


Is there anyone else in Widnes who is monitoring the progress of the rollout? Does anyone know what the delay is for the cabinets not yet live? I suspect that the delay is with the Fibre spine?

Any information/comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks : )

Firstly wellcome to the forum, I too am in a somewhat similar situation to yourself regarding the FTTC rollout, my cab has also a pushpin next to Which i'm thinking is going to be their next excuse for not enabling it ,

By regularly checking the local councils roadworks site ,i have seen they (BT openreach) have failed to carry out work as planned on a regular basis,
and therefore only recently completing work that should of been done some 3-6 mths ago,
But if VM cable was available to me here the cab would be by now live, because for some strange reason they think they will get a good take up in these areas ,lol no wonder they have been moaning about the lack of takeup, fools is what they are or rather their organ grinder is

Received an email from NGA Enquiries at Openreach today, with an update:

'I have been advised that we have been experiencing slight delays with our engineering work and the Council have also stipulated weekend working only. We are hopeful that the completion date for the rollout will be early in the new year, but we cannot guarantee this.'

Back in September, the same team informed me that there were no known problems with my cabinet & that they estimated the cabinet would be ready for service mid to late October, thus, I had been hoping to be connected before Christmas.

Despite being told that the council have stipulated weekend working only, I have seen large Openreach vehicles working in the town today (& other weekdays), so maybe there is still hope of my cabinet going live this side of Christmas.

Openreach looked as if they were trying to pull fibre through a few days at the Four Topped Oak and Upton Grange ends of Queensbury way. Surely they must have managed to get P76 working by now?!

Date on Openreach checker is now "by March 31st 2013", so it would seem that P76 is proving even more difficult to get sorted.

I also live in Widnes and like you have been monioring the FTTC roll out. I am on cab 24 and the date has slipped again (March 2013). I have come to the conclusion that there is no logic in the way BT work. The new FTTC cab has been there now for nearly 5 months, has power and i have been told that the fibre has recently been laid to it. So I can see no reasons why it can not be swithch on.

Just checked Halton Council road works web site, It shows one road dissruption for BT " Locate and excavate 1 blockage in existing BT duct, Liverpool road 18th Dec to 20th Dec". This I think is the main cable route back to the exchange. Could this be the hold up?.

It could well be, while power/fibre can be installed to cabinets if the main fibre spine is not connected and the exchange is not ready the cabs cannot go live.

In reply to a post by NGA:

Received an email from NGA Enquiries at Openreach today, with an update:

'I have been advised that we have been experiencing slight delays with our engineering work and the Council have also stipulated weekend working only. We are hopeful that the completion date for the rollout will be early in the new year, but we cannot guarantee this.'

Back in September, the same team informed me that there were no known problems with my cabinet & that they estimated the cabinet would be ready for service mid to late October, thus, I had been hoping to be connected before Christmas.

Despite being told that the council have stipulated weekend working only, I have seen large Openreach vehicles working in the town today (& other weekdays), so maybe there is still hope of my cabinet going live this side of Christmas.

Although in a different part of the north west, they told a friend that they where told by the L.A, that they where restricted to working at night to put the fibre spine in to his cab,Thing is that who ever sent that e-mail didn't know that this was checked with the L.A and no such restrictions had been placed on OR in fact the work had not even been booked with them as far as they could tell, and then they wait until today to do what they do best, push the date back by 3 mths Maybe they will actually finish the job they started back in July 2012 by June 2013 or 14 perhaps
So the someone is telling porkies ,so maybe take the info supplied with a pinch of salt as they say,

Edited by tommy45 (Wed 19-Dec-12 20:21:29)

In reply to a post by aavid60:

Just checked Halton Council road works web site, It shows one road dissruption for BT " Locate and excavate 1 blockage in existing BT duct, Liverpool road 18th Dec to 20th Dec". This I think is the main cable route back to the exchange. Could this be the hold up?.

Yes, I noticed this on the DirectGov roadworks site too. There have been a few instances of roadworks for BT to clear existing ducts over recent weeks, including other parts of Liverpool Road & on Prescot Road, in particular on the footpath alongside the bridge that crosses the railway line - I think the fibre spine would need to cross the bridge to reach cabinet 76? BT also erected a new telegraph pole close to PCP76 last week (just across the road from Lingwell Avenue) - could they now be resorting to bringing in the fibre spine overhead?

Last weekend, I noticed an Openreach engineer working on cabinet 76, so I asked him if he knew when fibre would be up & running - he looked confused & said he had no idea, but that 'they are rolling it out everywhere' . To be honest, I think I was probably more clued up on the rollout than he was!

RE the date on the Openreach site slipping to 31st March - don't be too disheartened, I assumed this would happen as we approached late December. The date is a quarterly placeholder & means very little.

Searching the local authority will not always identify work restrictions. OR will survey sites and place restrictions on working themselves. And restrictions aren't always related to roadworks.

A box on a main road than needs access to cable could only be done at night and won't be highlighted with the L.A. and is not related to roadworks.

Of course there is a reason... otherwise it would be live by now.

My cabinet (P16) is also showing 31st March. On the Openreach website for my telephone number the yellow pin says;

This is the intended area for the cabinet that will provide fibre broadband services to your postcode. We're sorry but it�s taking us longer than planned to get your cabinet ready for service. Please bear with us.

We're sorry that the work we are doing to bring fibre broadband to your area is taking longer than first planned. This can be for many reasons that include blocked underground cable routes, issues with providing electrical power to the cabinet and issues with the cabinet�s location. Please bear with us while we work to resolve this which may take some time. We will continue to work on this and apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.

If you would like any more information feel free to contact us at [email protected]

I have emailed asking for an update and will post their reply

Hi all

I too have been keeping an eye out on the Fibre roll out in Widnes. My Cab P82 has no sign or date for upgrade (according to checker) which is confusing, i just hope OR don't deem us as not commercially viable which im dreading to be honest.

But there has been a significant delay in the rollout, everywhere i go there are shiny new green cabs popping up round Widnes but no sign of them actually providing a service. Although i was out running today and seen BT Openreach running fibre up Hale Road towards the St Michaels area.

I know how everyone is feeling, and hopefully come spring/summer we will have a service. I also try the above email also and see what the reply is.

Thanks

Hello

Cab got fitted on Monday but it is still waiting to be connected to power etc

this is reply I got from Openreach on 03/01/13

"Your locality has recently been reassessed for inclusion in a later phase of work in your area. At present all the works steps have to be done and the current estimated date for cabinet lvwid** enablement is close June 2013 assuming there are no major issues"


Checker shows 31st March for my postcode ...I know that Mill lane in Widnes can order fibre as I checked a relatives numb er and she lives in Mill lane. She has not ordered so not sure if it would go thru but is available on BT's retail site to order

Edited by deleted (Thu 17-Jan-13 18:36:05)

The "Earliest you could get it" date is now 30th June 2013..! I fear P76 is never going to be part of the Information Superhighway!

In reply to a post by applemacster:

The "Earliest you could get it" date is now 30th June 2013..! I fear P76 is never going to be part of the Information Superhighway!

Yep, I noticed earlier today that the date on the BT Wholesale Checker for P76 had slipped to 30th June. I also noticed that other cabinets in Widnes ARE now accepting orders.

Getting back to P76, I emailed nga enquiries (Openreach) last week to ask if they had any further update (previously they had mentioned the cab might be ready 'close January'). Received a response today - they now advise that the date has slipped to 'close April' due to 'recent conditions'. I can only assume that by 'recent conditions' they mean cold weather/snow. It must just be coincidental that the 'recent conditions' have not impacted the cabinets which have just gone live in the areas of Widnes which are covered by Virgin Media!

Edited by NGA (Tue 12-Feb-13 20:52:58)

I've noticed a few cabs around widnes swapping to June date...

cab 16 leigh ave/Highfield road and cab 55 Hough green have moved date's to june

my cab is still showing March ..fingers crossed

According to the leaked PCP spreadsheet, 100% of homes that share my postcode are served by the same cabinet, however, I have noticed that the BT Wholesale Postcode checker shows a date of 31st March, but the BT Wholesale Address checker shows a date of 30th June ???

Its best to use the phone number or address checker if you have a llu number as they are more accurate.
Postcodes can be covered by multiple cabinets so the postcode checker is not as accurate as the other two.

Some work being carried out today at cab 24. looks like they were terminating the fibre cable

More work being carried out today (Tuesday 26th) at the Four toped oak,. There is hope yet.

I noticed Openreach working close to the Four Topped Oak on Sunday also. NGA Enquiries are stating that they expect cab 76 to go live in April. Not sure if the same date would apply to cab 24? Fingers crossed that both cabinets are live sooner than later.

My cab 53 has been fitted since 1st week January 2013 still no fans running inside tho

and checker is still showing end March

Just been told that Cab 76 has been turned on. Possible that cab 24 will be turned on today with a bit of luck. Should accept orders in about 2 weeks. Fingers and everything else crossed

Just found out some good news and some bad news. Cab 24 will be switched on today and now the bad news. The copper cable has not been laid between the old and new cabs. Not enough room in the duct under the road to get it through.
Wonder how many months, weeks it will take for them to get permission to dig up the road? This must have been know about for some time

Thanks aavid60 for the updates on cabinets 24 & 76. Good to hear that both cabs are at least now switched on. RE the copper connection linking cab 24 to the new fibre cab - what a shame that this is not yet in place. I hope that Openreach manage to install the Copper link ASAP & that you get to place an order for FTTC in the very near future.

There was an openreach van next to the Liverpool Road / Kingsway junction on Wednesday. It looks like they have replaced the old cab as there is a new shiny one but its only small. It has 16 written on. This is the cab Im connected to. I wonder why they have replaced it?

The BT checker for me says June 2013

Usually its down to lack of space in the existing pcp for the connections or if the old pcp has rusted away.

Good news for anybody connected to Cab 24 in Cronton.
I have heard from Openreach that all works will be complete shortly and the cab switched on mid April

My cab has just gone live (halton view area)

placed order with BT ...install 14/03/2013 (if they turn up after reading bt community forums )

Not too to bad seeing as cab didnt go into 2nd week of of Jan this year

Update ..

Got BT fibre installed today...

http://www.speedtest.net/result/2573019694.png <-- thats directly into modem

tho with the HH3 my uplaod drops to


http://www.speedtest.net/result/2572980415.png


Looks like the HH3 is going then and a new router is in order

Can confirm that P76 is live as well! Engineer reckoned I was the first to be connected to it yesterday. My SamKnows box is reporting 74.72 Mbps Downstream and 19.86 Mbps Upstream. (I'm not using the HH3). Quite an improvement from the 1.4/0.7 two days ago!

Yay!

In reply to a post by applemacster:

Can confirm that P76 is live as well! Engineer reckoned I was the first to be connected to it yesterday. My SamKnows box is reporting 74.72 Mbps Downstream and 19.86 Mbps Upstream. (I'm not using the HH3). Quite an improvement from the 1.4/0.7 two days ago!

Yay!

Yep, cab 76 went live on 7th March - I placed an order for Sky Fibre on the 7th...engineer booked for 21st, so I will be joining you on cab 76 very soon!

In reply to a post by NGA:

In reply to a post by applemacster:

Can confirm that P76 is live as well! Engineer reckoned I was the first to be connected to it yesterday. My SamKnows box is reporting 74.72 Mbps Downstream and 19.86 Mbps Upstream. (I'm not using the HH3). Quite an improvement from the 1.4/0.7 two days ago!

Yay!

Yep, cab 76 went live on 7th March - I placed an order for Sky Fibre on the 7th...engineer booked for 21st, so I will be joining you on cab 76 very soon!

Finally connected to FTTC today. Wired speed tests are generally reporting 72-74mb down & 18-20mb up

To anyone in Widnes still waiting for fibre - hope you don't have too much longer to wait now.

Hi,

Delighted to read that progress is being made in Widnes & that you're finally SuperFast!

could you advise a site to locate my local cabinet - I know it is P77 , I just dont know where it is !! (despite driving around like a kerb crawler).

would you have any info on P77 ?

many thanks
Steve

Try This http://www.coolwebhome.co.uk/fibre/checker.php

Their are no sites that locate cabinets, your exchange was in the December 2011 spreadsheet so looking at all the postcodes this is the closest cab that could be 77.

http://goo.gl/maps/IQ9qn

Thank you - i'll take a drive up and check that one out !

In reply to a post by prices04:

Hi,

Delighted to read that progress is being made in Widnes & that you're finally SuperFast!

could you advise a site to locate my local cabinet - I know it is P77 , I just dont know where it is !! (despite driving around like a kerb crawler).

would you have any info on P77 ?

many thanks
Steve

Cabinet P77 is not listed on the leaked rollout spreadsheet. Additionally, the Openreach wholesale checker makes no reference to FTTC when using an address served by P77. This is not good news & indicates that P77 is not in the current rollout plans.

I would recommend that you & as many people possible that are connected to P77 make contact with your internet service providers to register demand for an FTTC product. Also email [email protected] as they might be able to tell you why the cab is not in the current phase of the rollout or if there are any plans to include it in any future phases. Good luck

Edited by NGA (Sat 23-Mar-13 09:13:25)

Work starting this Wednesday to put new ducts under road so old and new FTTC cab can be connected with copper. Hopeful cab 24 will be up and running very soon now

Good news that people are finally getting fibre installed. Does anyone have insider knowledge? Any news on cab 16 would be most welcome!!

I started this thread way back in 2012, to prompt discussion of the rollout of FTTC in the town of Widnes. Seven years on (wow!) I am bumping this thread to mention that yesterday, I noticed a team of contractors working on Cabinet 43 & upon checking this morning, I can confirm that a Gfast cabinet has been installed (definitely Gfast, not a PCP expansion POD).

This is the 1st Gfast cabinet I have seen in Widnes. Has anyone else in Widnes seen any sign of Gfast? Is it now likely that the same cabinets which were upgraded to FTTC as part of the Commercial rollout, will also be upgraded to Gfast in the coming weeks/months?

I have mixed feelings about this development. Part of me had hoped that Openreach would skip Gfast in Widnes & deploy FTTP in a future phase of Fibre First...but then the prospect of receiving Ultrafast speeds in the near future is appealing.

Assuming I am close enough to benefit, if my cabinet is upgraded to Gfast? I am connected to Cabinet 82 & believe that my line length is probably around 150m to 200m. When connected to FTTC in March 2013, I synced at the full 80mb, but over the past year, this has dropped to 77mb (probably due to crosstalk?)

Edited by NGA (Sun 25-Aug-19 20:48:07)

Widnes has always been a curious one. Very, very long E-sides (many miles) for quite a lot of the cabinets. So FTTC really benefited a lot of people there. Also some crazy long D-sides too, in some cases. So they wouldn�t benefit from G.Fast.

If you have G.Fast you likely won�t get FTTP for a long time, I was told that anyone that can get G.Fast is to be skipped for FTTP, even if it comes to the rest of the exchange area.

You may have been told that but reality in Fibre First areas where G.fast was available is different,

We see some premises have both G.fast and FTTP available, and some where the G.fast vanishes and FTTP/VDSL2 become the choice and this is not just at the fringes but can be right on top of the pod