Is this the start of my cabinet's Fibre journey?

Hi all, after much waiting I think I've stumbled across the start of the work to upgrade my cabinet to Fibre!

I'm on cab 25 of the Exeter exchange (EX2 5JB). I saw some OR guys tinkering with the small cabinets in my street yesterday so I thought I'd do some digging again.
The Mag sys website says "Fibre Phase 17b - FTTC doing Design, live due by June 2017".

The OR site now also says my postcode is in "Design" phase and due live in the next 12 months (although I've heard that one many times before from OR!)

I've also found an entry on the roadworks.org website when searching EX1 3BU saying "(PCP25), NGA RELATED WORKS, (PCP25) SIDE OF 57, EAST WONFORD HILL - Install 10m of 2 poly ducts in Footway,Provide, Renew or Recover 1 DSLAM street cabinet and base".

The cab is listed as in Victor Street but I've just found it tucked away under some bushes, right where the roadworks.org entry says - at the side of 57 East Wonford Hill!

I have some questions please?...

My postcode EX2 5JB is across the main road and about 600m from where the cabinet is (following the road, not as the crow flies).
The yellow and black cables were previously run up all the poles around the area a couple of years ago with new floor ducts installed. Looking at the state of the trenches running across the main road, I think they are BT ones (can you tell from google? - I'll have to check tomorrow I guess) is it safe to assume they already run back to the vicinity of cab 25 and will be connected to the new FTTC cabinet?

If so can I also assume I'm now getting FTTC (and therefore Infinity or the equivalent) instead of FTTP?

Being c.600m gives me a rough 30-35 Mbps I assume?

Does "advance planning" on roadworks.org mean the application has been submitted to Devon County Council for approval? Only, I cannot find any entry on the council's planning site...

Does this mean that OR are taking responsibility for the installation now?

Is June 17 realistic?

Lots of assumptions I appreciate, and I'm trying not to get too excited but I'm just hopeful this is the start of it finally getting done!

Many thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings!

Yup, PCP 25 is getting a cabinet*. A DSLAM is a fibre cabinet, a PCP is the old "phone-only" cabinet. As there isn't a DSLAM there already, it can't be a "remove" or "renew", therefore it is a "provide".

If it's in "advanced planning" status then it might be installed days after Christmas/Boxing Day, when it will change to "planned works about to start", or possibly straight to "work in progress". It may, however, have been planned by OR ages ago, and Roadworks.org has still got the advanced planning stage on record. If that disappears in a few days without any work being done, that's what's happened. So... it's a case of checking RW and/or looking at the site in real life after Boxing Day, really. After the cabinet is physically plonked there, it won't go live immediately... but it would make June 2017 a very reasonable estimate.

By clicking on the little clock icon in RW.org, you can tell it to show you things which it can see are scheduled for two weeks in advance - if there are loads of other BT/OR works scheduled around the same place which seem to be connected, I suppose that might make it a little bit more likely that it'll go ahead soon, but it doesn't make it certain at all.

*You can't assume that you are connected to PCP 25 just because of distance from it, though. Someone else will be able to tell you this. I'm tired.

Edited by deleted (Sat 24-Dec-16 02:49:05)

I just did a check on their postcode and it does say they are connected to cabinet 25.

Exchange name: Exeter
Exchange status: Fibre enabled
Cabinet number: 25
Technology: -

Also on roadworks BT has that work down to be done on 6 Mar 2017 - 17 Mar 2017 dates, so that's some advance planning

But yeah I have to agree with you to-do with them now getting FTTC.

The really strange thing is the area already has the Fibre Manifold up the poles, so once again its BT wasting funding.

Paul

Not unheard of for a cabinet area to get mix of FTTC and FTTP
I presume that if OR were to switch mid way from FTTP to FTTC , they would have to swallow the cost (in a BDUK/ co-funded area)

Edited by witchunt (Sat 24-Dec-16 05:03:35)

In reply to a post by witchunt:

Not unheard of for a cabinet area to get mix of FTTC and FTTP
I presume that if OR were to switch mid way from FTTP to FTTC , they would have to swallow the cost (in a BDUK/ co-funded area)

True.

I know that only 12 (including me) out of the 400 lines on our cabinet can get FTTP, the remaining 388 lines will have to wait for FTTC, even though all the FTTP hardware have been installed and are live.

All the BT engineers that I have spoken to about it just laugh and say this is happening everywhere and its due to BT don't want to pay the amount it costs for the two engineer visits for each FTTP connection.

So the total cost for installing FTTC for the remaining 388 lines would have to be cheaper for the 388 * 2 engineer visits, TBH I cannot see it TBH.

As for BDUK, well I wouldn't know I am part of Greater London, so we are not entitled for any BDUK funding.

Paul

All the BT engineers that I have spoken to about it just laugh and say this is happening everywhere

I doubt that very much. Know of anywhere that's been switched from FTTP to FTTC after the FTTP build had commenced?
Chinese whispers are good conversation pieces and when your working at the sharp end you hear lots of different things from different sources, I know, I've been there, but the real decision makers never speak to those that are doing the builds.

Edited by witchunt (Sat 24-Dec-16 11:37:37)

In reply to a post by witchunt:

All the BT engineers that I have spoken to about it just laugh and say this is happening everywhere

I doubt that very much. Know of anywhere that's been switched from FTTP to FTTC after the FTTP build had commenced?
Chinese whispers are good conversation pieces and when your working at the sharp end you hear lots of different things from different sources, I know, I've been there, but the real decision makers never speak to those that are doing the builds.

Well don't take this the wrong way or anything, but it is happening and has happened to 12K lines on my exchange that was down for FTTP and had got up to having the Manifolds installed, it just never went live and now they are still waiting for fibre and some of those areas have been changed to FTTC.

Also I have seen it happen on other exchanges also, so YES it is happening.

As for taking the word of the engineers, yes I do, they have been 100% correct about all the issues at our exchange, and yes I will take the engineers word over the real decision makers due to they have no clue whats been done and what hasn't especially to do with my exchange, where as the engineers I have spoken to are the ones that did the actual FTTP work.

Now if it was one of Kelly's or Quinn's engineers that would be another kettle of fish.

Don't get me wrong, I can understand the financial side of it, but surly they should of know that the cost of the 2 engineer visits required per home install.
TBH I just cannot see the cost of a fibre cabinet and it being installed for 388 homes costing less than the engineer visits for the same amount of homes with FTTP, the hardware is already there in place.

Paul

Edited by PaulKirby (Sat 24-Dec-16 13:13:22)

Thanks all; this appears to be great news then! I'll keep my eye on the road works site for now.
Pretty excited!

In reply to a post by beercan:

Thanks all; this appears to be great news then! I'll keep my eye on the road works site for now.
Pretty excited!

If you are close then you have every reason to be

i be annoyed if FTTP was available but BT refuse to connect it (i would pay a little more just to have FTTP over range dependant FTTC or virgin cable with random latency )

Edited by leexgx (Thu 29-Dec-16 23:14:13)