PLAXTOL exchange BDUK messed up by Gigaclear?

I have a friend connected to PLAXTOL exchange in Kent.

Originally it looked like they would get FTTC via BDUK.
Kent CC's postcode checker estimated September 2014 (still does!).

Samknows also used to show that as a RFS date - this has now gone to 'not available'.

Openreach Where and When - says coming soon as it has been saying for most of last year.

I'm guessing that the local Gigaclear project nearby has made KCC suspend the BDUK spend as there is some local commercial activity. Gigaclear's own rollout seems to be well behind it's initial forecast - and more importantly won't cover my friend's property!

If anyone has any further info or advice it would be appreciated

All depends on what communication has gone on between Gigaclear and KCC as part of BDUK process

Usually rumour is that if an alt-net arrives then BT pull out all the stops to get to the area, so maybe this is the one exception, or people are overstating overlaps elsewhere.

Does Gigaclear has a roll-out map that can then be used to line up with cabinet coverage.

I think they used to. Their current website only shows a very high level map! http://www.gigaclear.com/discover-gigaclear/where-we...

From what I can see, Cabinets 1 & 5 are being covered by BT's Commercial Programme and due by March 2015.

I cannot see anything under BDUK for that exchange.

Thanks for that.
Where are you seeing that info, any link?

Thanks.

In reply to a post by b4dger:

Thanks for that.
Where are you seeing that info, any link?

Thanks.

I can see the following:

Exchange Name: Plaxtol
Exchange Code: NDPLA
County: Kent

EO Lines possibly to move over to Cabinet 4.

Cabinet: 1
Fibre Phase: Phase 12b 2014-2015
Fibre Information: FTTC Planned (exchange ready 27th January 2012)

Cabinet: 2
Fibre Phase: None
Fibre Information: Fibre Not Available

Cabinet: 3
Fibre Phase: None
Fibre Information: Fibre Not Available

Cabinet: 4
Fibre Phase: None
Fibre Information: Fibre Not Available

Cabinet: 5
Fibre Phase: Phase 12b 2014-2015
Fibre Information: FTTC Planned (exchange ready 27th January 2012)

As for where I am getting this information from, I use a few places but this is the main site: https://www.telecom-tariffs.co.uk

Hope that helps.

Paul

The Kent post code checker is not much use as it just uses post code sectors. i.e. the last two digits of the post code are omitted. For me it now shows Gigaclear.

The Seal cabinet to which I am connected was not upgraded to FTTC most likely because of the Gigaclear project. As there are about 5km of mostly aluminium cable between it and my house an upgrade would not have done me any good.

How far is your friend from the nearest property to be connected to the Gigaclear network? I would expect there to be some flexibility particularly if there were several properties who would sign up.

Thanks for that - I haven't come across or seen that website mentioned before - lots of interesting info!

Some of the dates seem a bit strange? 2012 kept popping up - that seems hard to believe.

That's the first time I've seen the cabinet locations plotted like that - very good!

In reply to a post by b4dger:

Thanks for that - I haven't come across or seen that website mentioned before - lots of interesting info!

Some of the dates seem a bit strange? 2012 kept popping up - that seems hard to believe.

That's the first time I've seen the cabinet locations plotted like that - very good!

Well in this case the "(exchange ready 27th January 2012)" I think is when your exchange was ready for the cabinets, however I may be told I am wrong .

As for the cabinet locations on the map (not too sure if that's their real location), well that's the first time I have seen them LOL, I have seen the postcodes location, didn't think of looking for cabinet locations

Paul

Edited by PaulKirby (Thu 19-Feb-15 16:30:34)

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

How far is your friend from the nearest property to be connected to the Gigaclear network? I would expect there to be some flexibility particularly if there were several properties who would sign up.

Quite a distance. When Gigaclear arrived on the scene there seemed to be more info around from them. But they weren't intending to initially cover my friend's property.

Going by the info others have provided it seems BT haven't abandoned things. Properties are well spaced out though so I'm still not sure what the uplift will be even if/when it arrives (FTTC) as the cabinet is some distance away.

Using the TBB FTTC distance from cabinet calculator my own speed didn't work out as high as expected.

...As for the cabinet locations on the map (not too sure if that's their real location), well that's the first time I have seen them LOL, I have seen the postcodes location, didn't think of looking for cabinet locations
Paul

That made me smile! My own cabinet location looks correct. I've read numerous times on TBB where people can't physically find their cabinet location so this could help a lot of people

EDIT: It also shows the vendor: Huawei etc.
One to bookmark: www.telecom-tariffs.co.uk

Edited by b4dger (Thu 19-Feb-15 16:38:42)

In reply to a post by b4dger:

...As for the cabinet locations on the map (not too sure if that's their real location), well that's the first time I have seen them LOL, I have seen the postcodes location, didn't think of looking for cabinet locations
Paul

That made me smile! My own cabinet location looks correct. I've read numerous times on TBB where people can't physically find their cabinet location so this could help a lot of people

EDIT: It also shows the vendor: Huawei etc.
One to bookmark: www.telecom-tariffs.co.uk

Well its says our two cabinets are located down our road and they are really on the main road about 470m (length of cable) away from us.

Paul

I've just read that the cabinets are only plotted by postcode - still could be better than nothing though.

Yes there are numerous holes in the data but better than nothing, the key is taking that raw data and being able to correct for the oddities. The times we've fed in errors that also show up in the BT Wholesale version also indicates that there are errors in the 27,000,000 line BT data too.

Also don't shout too much otherwise sites like this tend to have to vanish.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Also don't shout too much otherwise sites like this tend to have to vanish.

Yeah, don't really want it to vanish like that other site people use to use, very sad.

Paul

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Also don't shout too much otherwise sites like this tend to have to vanish.

It looks like these people know what they are doing.
The site says it limits the number of daily lookups to 20 and offers a paid for membership service etc. for people that need more than that

This is an example of the level of detail that could be provided by BT or CC's...

It's from OR. But Paul essentially has shown you the same info.

Do those cabinets have the FTTC DSLAMs already in place?

A growing number of BDUK areas do provide a full list of enabled cabinets complete with streetview links to where it is.

In reply to a post by AndyHCZ:

It's from OR. But Paul essentially has shown you the same info.
Do those cabinets have the FTTC DSLAMs already in place?

Thanks. I take it you have inside access rather than via a public website?
I'm not sure what hardware is in place but roadworks.org did show some OR activity last year.

Just to update this thread.

After a few years where BT have been saying �coming soon� they�ve recently changed the status for my friend's phone number to:

Exchange name: Plaxtol
Status: Under Review
We're in your area but we're still assessing whether or not we can upgrade your cabinet.

This doesn't sound so good...
So for those close but not part of Gigaclear's coverage, or for those that don't want to use them and would rather have more choice via normal FTTC ISPs it's not all good news.


A Tweet earlier today from the BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones prompted this update.
There was a short Gigaclear item on the radio today - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06qv3zg from 42.20

Link to Rory's Tweet: https://twitter.com/ruskin147/status/673045689853714432

Edited by b4dger (Sat 05-Dec-15 17:25:41)

In reply to a post by b4dger:

There was a short Gigaclear item on the radio today - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06qv3zg from 42.20

Similar short article in yesterdays Telegraph. Underriver are claiming to be the village with the fastest internet speed in the country. I can't think that they are any faster than any other village with a Gigaclear service. However as I am connected to that network, I am very grateful to Mike Clyne who drove the Underriver project forward.