FTTP Fibre First Build - Due to start in the next 3 months

Thankfully I did not purchase FTTPoD at a much increased price from the desktop survey as it has been announced my exchange will start building in FTTP within the next 3 months.

Is it correct in assuming that it won't be possible to know when FTTP will be available once the build begins, but does anyone have any experience of when it has become available to them after the build started?

I will keep an eye on the BT wholesale checker as I believe this is the best source of info.

Many thanks

Plenty of example stories on here of the journey to FTTP.

Mine for example started in late Sep 21 and finished today! (changed to available to order)

Others can be faster, others even longer.

Luck of the draw

one of the first things you will need to check is how much of that exchange is actually going to get covered by the build - dont assume its the whole exchange it might only be percentage of it

In reply to a post by Fastman3:

one of the first things you will need to check is how much of that exchange is actually going to get covered by the build - dont assume its the whole exchange it might only be percentage of it

Thanks for the reply, how would I go about checking this?

In reply to a post by kjwkjw:

Plenty of example stories on here of the journey to FTTP.

Mine for example started in late Sep 21 and finished today! (changed to available to order)

Others can be faster, others even longer.

Luck of the draw

Great info, thanks. They do sometimes release availability before the whole exchange is listed as complete though?

In reply to a post by donkay:

In reply to a post by kjwkjw:

Plenty of example stories on here of the journey to FTTP.

Mine for example started in late Sep 21 and finished today! (changed to available to order)

Others can be faster, others even longer.

Luck of the draw

Great info, thanks. They do sometimes release availability before the whole exchange is listed as complete though?

Yep, mine is the first part of a much larger rural build to go live.

My exchange (Colaton Raleigh) is a "Fibre First", and there have been CBTs on many poles since October that are still not live. It depends on many things.

Edited by Grimers (Thu 27-May-21 09:23:50)

May I ask, what exchange are you connected to?

Edited by Grimers (Thu 27-May-21 09:24:19)

Put your postcode in here.

In reply to a post by Grimers:

May I ask, what exchange are you connected to?

Llanishen exchange

https://availability.samknows.com/broadband/exchange...

https://www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/open...

Post deleted by donkay

In reply to a post by donkay:

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

Put your postcode in here.

CF23 6PU

No, you do it! Its a link, click on it!

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

In reply to a post by donkay:

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

Put your postcode in here.

CF23 6PU

No, you do it! Its a link, click on it!

Haha apoligies did not see the link.

Yes I'm aware of what I can currently get. But this link https://www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/open... shows that Fibre First will start building in FTTP within the next 3 months. The thread is for info on that, thanks though

In reply to a post by donkay:

Haha apoligies did not see the link.

Yes I'm aware of what I can currently get. But this link https://www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/open... shows that Fibre First will start building in FTTP within the next 3 months. The thread is for info on that, thanks though

Yes but no. Earlier you were warned that just because you're in a FF exchange it doesn't mean you are guaranteed to be part of the build. I know this from experience. If you follow the link I gave and find your address you will get one of two replies. Either words to the effect, "we're building in your area", that's good. Or "no plans", not good. There are addresses in FF areas with "no plans". So go see if you are in plan before getting your hopes up.

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

In reply to a post by donkay:

Haha apoligies did not see the link.

Yes I'm aware of what I can currently get. But this link https://www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/open... shows that Fibre First will start building in FTTP within the next 3 months. The thread is for info on that, thanks though

Yes but no. Earlier you were warned that just because you're in a FF exchange it doesn't mean you are guaranteed to be part of the build. I know this from experience. If you follow the link I gave and find your address you will get one of two replies. Either words to the effect, "we're building in your area", that's good. Or "no plans", not good. There are addresses in FF areas with "no plans". So go see if you are in plan before getting your hopes up.

Apologies again and thanks


"We're starting to build our ultra-fast, ultra-reliable Full Fibre broadband in your area."
My hopes are UP!

In reply to a post by donkay:

https://availability.samknows.com/broadband/exchange...

Beware that Sam doesn't know very much these days.

https://www.telecom-tariffs.co.uk/codelook.htm is more up-to-date, and gives info on FTTC cabinets too.

Yeah, the last update to the BTW side was back in November, so does need an update!

In reply to a post by donkay:

Thankfully I did not purchase FTTPoD at a much increased price from the desktop survey as it has been announced my exchange will start building in FTTP within the next 3 months.

Is it correct in assuming that it won't be possible to know when FTTP will be available once the build begins, but does anyone have any experience of when it has become available to them after the build started?

I will keep an eye on the BT wholesale checker as I believe this is the best source of info.

Many thanks

FTTP can be hit and a miss in some area, If it come to your area I am sure it won't be 100% coverage for full fibre. Just like G.fast some area have it some don't!

Well, looking at the OR FF map, the whole of my exchange is going to be covered!

Then you are very lucky indeed

In reply to a post by Grimers:

Well, looking at the OR FF map, the whole of my exchange is going to be covered!

Same here! The map for my Fibre First exchange shows the whole area will be covered. It's been under construction for over a year and most streets are now live. But I can give you a list of those which aren't and - direct from Openreach - ain't gonna get FTTP.

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

Same here! The map for my Fibre First exchange shows the whole area will be covered. It's been under construction for over a year and most streets are now live. But I can give you a list of those which aren't and - direct from Openreach - ain't gonna get FTTP.

In every FF exchange area I've looked into (that has now been completed) they haven't done 100% of the exchange even though the whole exchange is/was highlighted on their map.

Edited by deleted (Fri 28-May-21 10:50:58)

Getting the marketing team to pull a non-definitive exchange area map would be far simpler (and without fear or prejudice of upsetting folks from the outset that may get missed for various legitimate reasons).

OpenReach's Fibre First programme aims to cover the majority of properties on an exchange but I always caution people that not every property will be covered.

The OR map usually shows whole Fibre First exchanges getting covered but that doesn't mean every property within that coverage area will get FTTP.

Some MDU's will be missed (usually wayleave), some private roads may be missed, and some logistically challenging/expensive to deploy properties (or whole streets) will be missed.

Edinburgh is a great example. It was 1 of the 1st Fibre First cities.
If you look at the OpenReach Fibre First map it shows entire exchanges in Edinburgh to be covered.

If you look at ThinkBroadband FTTP coverage maps for parts of Edinburgh that were completed a couple years ago there are lots of bits that are missed.

Well, looking at the OR FF map, the whole of my exchange is going to be covered

They won't deploy FTTP to every single property within that coverage area shown, though they will do most of it.

Edited by j0hn83 (Fri 28-May-21 11:44:10)

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

In reply to a post by Grimers:

Well, looking at the OR FF map, the whole of my exchange is going to be covered!

Same here! The map for my Fibre First exchange shows the whole area will be covered. It's been under construction for over a year and most streets are now live. But I can give you a list of those which aren't and - direct from Openreach - ain't gonna get FTTP.

How did you get this list please? Do you have an email/contact for them? Thanks

In reply to a post by donkay:

How did you get this list please? Do you have an email/contact for them? Thanks

No, I did my own extensive research. I looked at the TTB Map zoomed into my area. I did my own checks to find any streets not on the map showing as "no chance" at the Fibre First site. My street and a few surrounding are in the "no hope" list. Plus one further north but they're getting CityFibre...

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

Some MDU's will be missed (usually wayleave), some private roads may be missed, and some logistically challenging/expensive to deploy properties (or whole streets) will be missed.

Some of those you can understand. I live in what I guess is classed as a private road, it being newish and not yet adopted by the local authority. So we don't have FTTP despite being in a Fibre First exchange area and Openreach say there are no plans. 99% of the area does have FTTP including the street next to me which - guess what - is in the same estate and unadopted status.

Openreach are opaque and no one can reliably guess why some streets are missed. I can only speculate that they've spent money on FTTC and they plan on sweating those assets before spending any more cash.

Gotcha. Thankfully, our property is in the rollout, but I do know of some that will be very hard to get to, so they may be left out. The problem is, a lot of those have very slow speeds...

Edited by Grimers (Fri 28-May-21 16:07:24)

I wonder if it's due to some properties being fed by DIG with no nearby overhead poles?

That is quite misleading. We will struggle to get to 100% FTTP, then!

In reply to a post by Grimers:

That is quite misleading. We will struggle to get to 100% FTTP, then!

Did anyone ever imply or promise 100% FTTP coverage?

It may take a very, very long time indeed before copper completely disappears.

In reply to a post by Grimers:

I wonder if it's due to some properties being fed by DIG with no nearby overhead poles?

DIG, Direct In Ground? Not in my street, we're all modern ducted, no poles involved.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Did anyone ever imply or promise 100% FTTP coverage?

Yes. Boris did. " We intend to bring full fibre and gigabit- capable broadband to every home and business across the UK by 2025."

Conservative Party manifesto 2019 PDF

Good one 🤣🤣🤣

with no nearby overhead poles?

…. what other kind of poles are there ??



As I mentioned recent, a relative lives in a Fibre First city … their copper lines are via direct in ground lead ins.

A pole has been erected, with two 12 port CBT’s on it …. this means the whole close can be provided with FTTP with no further pricey civils work needed

Post deleted by Grimers

I guess eventually it may be possible, but 2025 sounds very ambitious!

After emailing Openreach regarding this, I got this reply

I have been in contact with the project manager for your area who has confirmed with me that your property is planned to be covered under our fibre first programme in Cardiff (Llanishen Specifically). The area is due to be surveyed later this year and the final build will be subject to a successful survey, financial approval and engineering success.

If all goes to plan, the project to upgrade your area to Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) broadband is due for completion by the end of March 2022, this can change (earlier or later). When we plan fibre jobs we have to take into account all aspects of the work required and give realistic timescales, however these are provisional dates only and are barring no unforeseen issues along the way.

As your area is part of our Fibre Cities programme further updates on the build can be found via the following link: https://www.homeandbusiness.openreach.co.uk/fibre-first

If you have any further concerns just give me a call or drop me an email, if I don’t hear from you by 5pm Friday 4 June I’ll assume you’re satisfied with my response and will close things here.

Best Wishes,