Is this fibre being deployed?

Hello all,

Openreach Fibre Checker says my property is due to be built before Dec 2026. Today, I've spotted their van doing something nearby:

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/YC8bSCx7/IMG-5473-3200.jpg[/img]

Does anyone know whether this reel of cable is fibre?

Thanks in advance.

It's a cobra - used for pushing through the duct (and any obstructions) ahead of roping & cabling.

Edited by hunnymonster (Thu 11-Jul-24 11:52:21)

It's a good sign anyway

Mine was scheduled by 2026 too but recently it went live without warning and I can order.

In reply to a post by hunnymonster:

It's a cobra - used for pushing through the duct (and any obstructions) ahead of roping & cabling.

Agreed.

What the rope will be used to pull through afterwards is anyone’s guess

Ohh ok thanks everyone for your responses

In reply to a post by SpeedySlow:

Mine was scheduled by 2026 too but recently it went live without warning and I can order.

Is yours SDU (house) or MDU (block of flats)?

One thing to note - were they Openreach (or their contractors) doing the work? Good way to tell is to check the van or even just walk over and chat to them!

The reason I ask is that more and more altnets are using PIA to put their own fibre through Openreach's ducts and it may be that this *is* preparation for fibre, but it won't be from Openreach. This is exactly what happened in my street and all of the duct clearing work (and digging required to achieve this!) were done by contractors from the altnet, not ones from Openreach.

(Since earlier this month, I now have lovely 1G/1G fibre and Openreach are still yet to come up my street)

In reply to a post by daern:

One thing to note - were they Openreach (or their contractors) doing the work? Good way to tell is to check the van or even just walk over and chat to them!

The reason I ask is that more and more altnets are using PIA to put their own fibre through Openreach's ducts and it may be that this *is* preparation for fibre, but it won't be from Openreach. This is exactly what happened in my street and all of the duct clearing work (and digging required to achieve this!) were done by contractors from the altnet, not ones from Openreach.

(Since earlier this month, I now have lovely 1G/1G fibre and Openreach are still yet to come up my street)

OK I wasn't aware independent companies use the same ducting. However as I live in a flat, I'm not sure whether those would be up to deploying to the block. Not sure if the management company would be happy with multiple companies setting up communal distribution boxes either.

Sadly Openreach won't deliver symmetric speeds like yours as they use GPON. I'd rather go with a 3rd party in this case (if possible).

In reply to a post by squarecrumpets:

OK I wasn't aware independent companies use the same ducting. However as I live in a flat, I'm not sure whether those would be up to deploying to the block. Not sure if the management company would be happy with multiple companies setting up communal distribution boxes either.

Sadly Openreach won't deliver symmetric speeds like yours as they use GPON. I'd rather go with a 3rd party in this case (if possible).

You're quite right about MDUs (i.e. flats) - they are a more complicated connection than a freehold house. Something to discuss with your management company probably, but I'd still recommend chatting to people working on your street to find out who they are working for. These days, it's as likely to be a third-party as it is to be Openreach and it can sometimes be tricky to know which third party services you can get.

In reply to a post by daern:

One thing to note - were they Openreach (or their contractors) doing the work? Good way to tell is to check the van or even just walk over and chat to them!

During the last couple of weeks Kelly have been in my area installing fibre for OpenReach. City Fibre was here three years ago. (I did speak to them as well.)

Sorry to highjack your thread squarecrumpets, but my area is also saying between now and 2026 and I don't want to start a new thread but I have noticed in my area that there are about 40 locations scheduled for the 21st-24th of July and it says OpenReach and Utility Asset Works. There is no road or footway closure - could this also be BT putting FTTP in? The whole area around there is fed by Poles Here is a screenshot

https://ibb.co/wK5VMD6
https://ibb.co/XYzSD7j
https://ibb.co/VgXjqYf

I have never seen such activity going on in my area - not in the last year I have been looking at one.network

Thanks

Edited by VMDIAPunter (Sat 13-Jul-24 16:30:14)

In reply to a post by VMDIAPunter:

could this also be BT putting FTTP in?

It might - or it might not. It could also be inspections, surveys, spine work, leased lines, even work on behalf of an altnet or Virgin Media.

85% of the country is expected to have Openreach FTTP by Dec 2026. With coverage currently around 45%, if you don't have it today then there's a roughly 3 in 4 chance that you'll have it by then. (i.e. 40/55 = 72.7%)

But nothing is certain until it's complete and available to order. Many times rollouts have been started and stopped before completion.

Thank you I will have a look next time i got to the Doctors as that's one of the roads being done. I think I am looking for new black boxes on the poles.

The works are FTTP. Duct unblocking and duct overlays explicitly for FTTP rollout.

Subtle username.

Edited by XGS_Is_On (Mon 15-Jul-24 01:09:14)

BTW one.network doesn't give the work detail like it used to. https://mastdatabase.co.uk/maps/streetworks/ usually gives a better insight.

Thank you I will take a look.

Thanks - that's good information. and not really. It's what I am

In reply to a post by VMDIAPunter:

Thanks - that's good information. and not really. It's what I am

Indeed.

Your links give...

That page doesn't exist

The requested page was not found.

Sorry they were set to expire, I don't know why I set them to never be deleted. It's FTTP for sure as they have put yellow markings by the BT chambers now.

In reply to a post by daern:

In reply to a post by squarecrumpets:

OK I wasn't aware independent companies use the same ducting. However as I live in a flat, I'm not sure whether those would be up to deploying to the block. Not sure if the management company would be happy with multiple companies setting up communal distribution boxes either.

Sadly Openreach won't deliver symmetric speeds like yours as they use GPON. I'd rather go with a 3rd party in this case (if possible).

You're quite right about MDUs (i.e. flats) - they are a more complicated connection than a freehold house. Something to discuss with your management company probably, but I'd still recommend chatting to people working on your street to find out who they are working for. These days, it's as likely to be a third-party as it is to be Openreach and it can sometimes be tricky to know which third party services you can get.

Thanks. I’ve seen Openreach’s training video for deploying to MDUs. They just need space to install the communal distribution box that doesn’t require power. Cable from the road has 3 strands of fibre, 2 of which are coiled and tucked away for future use, the single service strand is then split to individual fibres for each home.

Openreach does this for free even if there are no subscribers. When the time is right, I’ll speak with the management company. It’s way too soon now. I’ll keep monitoring the SDUs across the road as I’m quite sure they’ll get FTTP first.

In reply to a post by squarecrumpets:

In reply to a post by daern:

In reply to a post by squarecrumpets:

OK I wasn't aware independent companies use the same ducting. However as I live in a flat, I'm not sure whether those would be up to deploying to the block. Not sure if the management company would be happy with multiple companies setting up communal distribution boxes either.

Sadly Openreach won't deliver symmetric speeds like yours as they use GPON. I'd rather go with a 3rd party in this case (if possible).

You're quite right about MDUs (i.e. flats) - they are a more complicated connection than a freehold house. Something to discuss with your management company probably, but I'd still recommend chatting to people working on your street to find out who they are working for. These days, it's as likely to be a third-party as it is to be Openreach and it can sometimes be tricky to know which third party services you can get.

Thanks. I’ve seen Openreach’s training video for deploying to MDUs. They just need space to install the communal distribution box that doesn’t require power. Cable from the road has 3 strands of fibre, 2 of which are coiled and tucked away for future use, the single service strand is then split to individual fibres for each home.

Openreach does this for free even if there are no subscribers. When the time is right, I’ll speak with the management company. It’s way too soon now. I’ll keep monitoring the SDUs across the road as I’m quite sure they’ll get FTTP first.

i would do this now, and also theres now a smaller cbt which is about the size of an a4 paper ......