No plans - Coming soon - No plans

Regular viewers will know I'm in a Fibre First exchange area and that 99% of streets now have FTTP. I don't and there were "no plans" according to OR at https://www.openreach.com/fibre-broadband/fibre-firs.... I made a fuss with the CEO's office who - after much back and forth - said "no plans" and weren't willing to say why.

Then the Fibre Checker page changed and "we're starting to build in your area". Maybe making a fuss and bothering my MP had made a difference.

But today it's back to "no plans".

Is there any point in taking any notice of the checker? Does it change and change again often?

I guess its because CityFibre - who are building in 99% of the same exchange area - aren't coming down our street either. The roadworks site shows then building cabinets in the next streets presumably for their PIA cabling. In streets a bit further they're trenching so their own ducts. But all those streets already have OR FTTP and Virgin.

Now looking to see if Starlink or FTTPoD at the new prices are options...

Any obvious clues as to why both networks have deliberately decided to missed your street(s) - private roads, wayleave issues, odd paving/cobbles that could too costly to dig and re-instate following new ducts and chambers? A combination of the above?

FTTPoD or private circuit may see the same issues - reflected in the excess construction costs.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Any obvious clues as to why both networks have deliberately decided to missed your street(s)

Unadopted roads? These streets are on a new estate and the roads aren't yet adopted. However, that hasn't stopped OR cabling up half the estate. Easy cos there are new ducts to every house. But they also dug up the pavement in places to unblock ducts. Also - to add insult to injury - the dug a trench to provide fibre from our estate to the older one nearby. Yes, they already had Virgin and are on CF's list.

So the 'private' road answer isn't the actual reason.

I'm assuming any FTTPoD will run in the existing ducts to the last point where know there's fibre and hopefully a splitter. That's well within 500m of me.

Perhaps @witchunt or @kitcat could provide some intel based on your street/postcode.

re FTTPoD that will follow the same basic infrasucture routes as 'regular' native/commercial rollout of FTTP. The forthcoming changes to pricing and coverage could well be favourable in that respect.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Perhaps @witchunt or @kitcat could provide some intel based on your street/postcode.

re FTTPoD that will follow the same basic infrasucture routes as 'regular' native/commercial rollout of FTTP. The forthcoming changes to pricing and coverage could well be favourable in that respect.

Happy to DM my postcode if they haven't already worked it out.

Rough back of a fag packet calculation: Starlink (available mid 2022) comes in at around £1500 for the first year then £89 a month. If I'm 500m from a splitter FTTPoD under the new scheme is around £3350 for a 1G service or £2350 for a 115/20 deal. Then either £72 or £60 per month.

Assuming I'd get 120/20 from Starlink it's the front runner.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Perhaps @witchunt or @kitcat could provide some intel based on your street/postcode.

OK

G53 7HH - a dozen houses in this street have FTTP, the vast majority are "no plans".
G53 7HE, 7HF and 7AS - all have FTTP as far as I know.
G53 7HJ, 7HP, 7AT and 7HG are all "no plans".

Other conspiracy theory reason is OR are waiting to recover the costs of adding an additional FTTC cabinet and a new one for another part of the estate. There are three FTTC cabinets serving the estate, two from Halfway Cabinet 20 (which has around 1000 subscribers!).

As far as I know the first phase of the development got FTTC from the existing cabinet. The second phase had to wait for a new cabinet. Part of the estate is served by a new POTS cabinet and they had to wait for FTTC to be added there. So OR will want that money back before they put more in for FTTP?

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

If I'm 500m from a splitter FTTPoD under the new scheme is around £3350 for a 1G service or £2350 for a 115/20 deal. Then either £72 or £60 per month.

I was assuming the new trial pricing was ex-VAT. So if you take FTTPoD fromCerberus and assuming you meet the requirements for the new trial pricing, the first year cost would likely work out as::

1G: 1625 + 120*12 + VAT = £3,678
115/20: 1625 + 60*12 + VAT = £2,814

Follow-on pricing: if you stick with Cerberus then 1G is £72 per month, 300/50 is £48 per month, 115/20 is £39 per month. But you can also switch to any other FTTP provider of your choice at their standard FTTP pricing. Vodafone is £26 for 100/20 (if they serve your area), and Plusnet might be launching within a year (although it keeps slipping).

I don't think the OR fibre checker is reliable. Here's what the checker, and OR's Fibre Enquiries team, have said so far this year with respect to the inclusion of my house in the town's ongoing FTTP rollout:

April
In scope on the fibre checker and Fibre Enquires team advised FTTP should be available to order by end of October 2021.

August
Address removed from the fibre checker entirely and Fibre Enquiries team advised my house has been descoped (no specific reason given).

October
Address back on the fibre checker and in scope. OR Twitter team advised 'no current project for my cabinet'. Fibre Enquiries team didn't get back to me this time.

November
Lots of activity on nearby streets from OR contractors running fibre through ducts, including past properties that the fibre checker says are not in scope. My home still showing as in scope.

This is all to say that I don't think the fibre checker is necessarily correct. I've failed to get a definitive answer from Openreach in my case so now I'm just waiting to see what happens once properties near CBTs I can physically see start going live.

Might CityFibre be forthcoming as to why they aren't doing your street? As Pheasant said, there may be a common denominator.

In reply to a post by candlerb:

1G: 1625 + 120*12 + VAT = £3,678
115/20: 1625 + 60*12 + VAT = £2,814

That's assuming there's an existing splitter with sufficient capacity for his entire DP and only a CBT needs built. From the sounds of the existing builds around the OP that sounds unlikely.

That £1,625 becomes £2,650 if they need to build a new splitter as part of the FTTPoD build which is more than likely. So possibly an extra £1,025 (+vat?)

In reply to a post by candlerb:

I was assuming the new trial pricing was ex-VAT. So if you take FTTPoD fromCerberus and assuming you meet the requirements for the new trial pricing, the first year cost would likely work out as::

1G: 1625 + 120*12 + VAT = £3,678
115/20: 1625 + 60*12 + VAT = £2,814

I assumed ex VAT too but I'm registered so my prices stand

What I'm not 100% sure is if Starlink's prices include VAT. They should but Musk ... Anyway, if so that makes them much cheaper.