SamKnows RFS Date

All,

SamKnows has just updated the details for my exchange for FTTC to 11/12/2011.

Does this mean the work in the exchange only?

If so how long between this and the ability for users to place orders?

Thanks

That's for the exchange, your cabinet and then ordering will likely be after or around the same time. As an exchange is RFS once some cabinets are also ready (but not all) there could be some gaps. For instance my exchange is listed now on SK as enabled in some areas for FTTC but my cabinet is yet to have a mate installed let alone the databases updated to let me order. All this and the checkers say end of June for me (but I suspect it will be July more likely or even August before I get a visit booked).

In reply to a post by Redadamd:

All,

SamKnows has just updated the details for my exchange for FTTC to 11/12/2011.

Does this mean the work in the exchange only?

Given the experience of the last year (ish) I'd fully expect your date (of December 2011) to move back April 2012. BT will probably decide this during August or early September.
I base this assumption on BT having many, many, dates pushed back (ours is currently mid-Sept, with our cabinet scheduled for 30th Sept - every three months our dates get pushed back three months - we were originally scheduled for the end of last December / early Jan 2011).

I wouldn't bother counting chickens until BT actually let you place an order.
There have even been reports on here of cabinets being installed and BT still pushing the enablement dates back.
Basically the whole thing is a mess with someone (either BT or the power companies) vastly under-estimating how long it takes to prepare each cabinet/exchange to go live.

I reckon you are spot-on with this analysis of the last year.

However, I suspect that they have learnt from the feedback on this, and re-arranged both their plans *and* the way they present them to us, earlier this spring. For example, the Openreach "Where & When" page has now split the future exchanges into 2 lists, with 2 ways of presenting the dates.

The actual roll-out of cabinets seems to be still goingfaster than ever - it is just changes to the planning timescales, and the reporting mechanisms that we are seeing.

I guess we'll only know if the current plans turn out to have been any more realistic in another 9 months time or so...