FTTP Rollout

I'm sat here in deepest rural Yorkshire sat under my rock and would like to know....

Are Openreach on schedule with getting FTTP to homes they said would get it.

My personal experience is we were told it would be live late 2018 to early 2019 but they seem to have a mad couple of weeks working very hard (certainly on our install) then disappear for weeks if not months on end leaving the job unfinished yet so close to it.

Are others finding their install much the same as I know they have thousands to connect all over the country which I do understand.

My thoughts are "Should they do bits of install for everyone over a long period of time but leaving unfinished"

Or should they start an area and complete it (going live) before moving on to the next job.

Your thoughts please.

Experiences seem to vary. Paul (can't remember his full username) on here I think had to keep chasing BT because despite the hardware being installed it took I think something like 4 years to get BT to actually believe it was there and deliver it.

Some areas the install starts and then they hit some major issue so the install gets stopped and may or may not start again - some are just abandoned.

And then for me we didn't even know it was coming, no announcements or communications. BT were around for a few weeks and then I was checking for a different reason on my account and suddenly it offered me FTTP (I was only looking at the options for the wireless mesh hardware at the time).

It is a real mix and match depending on local conditions and what they find whilst doing the work or how well BT keep their databases up to date.

Sensible answer Ian and taken on board.

The situation with PaulKirby was a legacy issue around the original full spliced FTTP roll-out, a very different set of issues today.

In terms of the 4 million target roughly on target, for individuals though there are many reasons for delays

It is not uncommon for chunks of work to be done by a team to keep them busy rather than sat in an exchange drinking tea, and then the already busy other team will finally work their way around to you.

Possibiities

1. Waiting on a new handover cabinet to be commissioned in the handover exchange
2. One bit of fibre needs roadworks at a busy junction and permission has not been granted or was for a long time in future https://one.network might help in that respect
3. If in or near to flooded areas, teams will have been diverted to work on that
4. They've forgotten, which is very rare now, there is usually a reason just these vary a lot

A good guide is to look at other FTTP bits in the area and if they are going live.

It is not uncommon for physically everything to be done, and ability to order not appear for around 4 weeks based on the various areas I've been able to track activity closely.

Roadworks.org has been on my daily check list for sure thank you.

Also just had an email this morning explaining further problems which explains a lot about my post this morning.

From: [email protected]

Sent: Friday, March 13, 2020 8:45 AM

To: xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Cc: [email protected] ; [email protected]

Subject: C9166799 - FTTP Availability - Deleted for privacy

Dear Mr Procter,

I have now had a response from the delivery manager. She has advised that this single pole is causing them serious headaches. They do need to renew the pole, however there is nowhere for the new pole to be sited nearby. As you are aware the existing pole is on a bank on a rather tight bend. An extensive survey now needs to be carried out to come up with a suitable location for the new pole so this can be sited and then all existing furniture moved from the old pole to the new.

I understand the survey is to be completed at some point during next week.

As soon as I have been advised the results of the survey I will of course update you accordingly.

Kind regards

Richard

Hopefully you wont have wait too long. I don't know whats worse, not knowing when you are going to get fttp or actually knowing and the date slips with no idea whats going on

In reply to a post by ian72:

Experiences seem to vary. Paul (can't remember his full username) on here I think had to keep chasing BT because despite the hardware being installed it took I think something like 4 years to get BT to actually believe it was there and deliver it.

It was about 5 years of me constantly contacting BT's Chairman and CEO via the phone and email and I mean sometimes it was on a daily basis, but mostly weekly.
BT still today block my emails LOL phoning still works though

Also got my local MP involved and BT was fobbing him off too that kind of annoyed him a bit going by the letters he sent to them.
But yeah even sending photos of all the hardware (DP, Manifold, Splitter and CSP etc) they still said there was no hardware there.

It was only when I told them that they are wasting their shareholders money paying for all the hardware to be installed and only using it for 1 home.
Then after a few days I saw it was available, sure there was issues having it go live on install day, but that was resolved after a few weeks.

In reply to a post by ian72:

Some areas the install starts and then they hit some major issue so the install gets stopped and may or may not start again - some are just abandoned.

A lot of FTTP installs back in 2011 / 2012 (part of the %66 Commercial Rollout) got put on hold to complete all the BDUK Contractual work, which makes sense, sadly they lost track of what was completed and what wasn't with the Commercial Rollout, hence the mess they are in now.

Over the last few years I have helped over a dozen people in my area / village get their FTTP installed by talking on their behalf, it helps knowing what is and isn't installed

In reply to a post by ian72:

It is a real mix and match depending on local conditions and what they find whilst doing the work or how well BT keep their databases up to date.

Yeah, that is part of the issue, their left and right hands do not know what either are doing, like BT say no, but their child company Openreach says it is.

But I have a feeling its all happening on purpose, think about it, BT says they plan to roll out FTTP to everyone by a set date, and you might think its impossible, but what if most of the area already had the hardware in place, and BT are just waiting for the government to help them out with funding, all BT would need to do is just flip a switch.

Paul

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

The situation with PaulKirby was a legacy issue around the original full spliced FTTP roll-out, a very different set of issues today.

Yeah, everything was in place since 2011 / 2012 using the old hardware, there was a build issue which they found out on install day where split fibres in their trays didn't match their database.

The one home that had FTTP had BT alter the database to have it installed, sadly they refused to do that for the 3 homes that wanted it on our phone pole, which makes sense, better to resolve that issue and work around it to later on have more issues.

So we had to wait a bit longer for them to send engineers out to re-do the fibres and put them in the correct trays, then all was go

Paul

PaulKirby

WOW what a good read and very informative too although what a nightmare you had.

Glad you persisted Paul or you might still be in the dark ages like I still am now.

Thank you for posting.