Please be aware that I am not connected with any division of the BT Group, so do not take my comments, etc, as definitive.

Openreach have been known to come back to an area and deploy further FTTC cabinets, as circumstances change. (Perhaps financial. ??) As for how long -- six months, a year? (I could ask the rhetorical question "How long is a piece of string?")

I would not expect a "small plastic unnamed / unnumbered" box to be the PCP. That said, is it wider than it is high? Possibly constructed of fibreglass? Perhaps you could show us a photograph of your "suspect"?

Thanks for help.

RONSKI on this thread has identified my plastic suspect with a photo.
It is definitely not metal and it is is smaller and has no markings other than 'BT'.

In reply to a post by R0NSKI:

There's a cabinet here, but it looks like it may be 9,

Purely by eye I would say that is either a 5 or a 9. Definitely not a 17.

<snip> There's one here, but no number <snip>

That's the fibreglass type I was thinking about, when I mentioned "wider than it is high" to the OP.

Edit: I have never known those squat fibreglass PCPs to be given a FTTC twin without the PCP itself being upgraded (i.e. replaced), to allow room for the tie-cables. That could account for the delay.

Edited by burakkucat (Sat 16-Jun-12 21:12:47)

In reply to a post by burakkucat:

I would not expect a "small plastic unnamed / unnumbered" box to be the PCP. That said, is it wider than it is high? Possibly constructed of fibreglass? Perhaps you could show us a photograph of your "suspect"?

Do you think my 'suspect' PCP17 is the genuine article or should I continue my area search for a more robust structure?

The one you pointed out - http://goo.gl/maps/JONl is PCP17. Unfortunately it only serves 4 postcodes and it not being upgraded to FTTC. Whatever BT told you is not correct and they got that wrong.

The cab is not plastic by the way, and its a normal PCP, there are loads of these around the country. They are made of Fibre glass as others have mentioned These Fibre glass cabs were the norm before the newer metal PCP's were deployed. The cab is not the problem though, as many of these older cabs get FTTC, there is no technical problem (although its tight for space!)

James

Edited by deleted (Sat 16-Jun-12 21:38:31)

In reply to a post by burakkucat:

In reply to a post by R0NSKI:

There's a cabinet here, but it looks like it may be 9,

Purely by eye I would say that is either a 5 or a 9. Definitely not a 17.

<snip> There's one here, but no number <snip>

That's the fibreglass type I was thinking about, when I mentioned "wider than it is high" to the OP.

Edit: I have never known those squat fibreglass PCPs to be given a FTTC twin without the PCP itself being upgraded (i.e. replaced), to allow room for the tie-cables. That could account for the delay.

Well mine has NEAT PCP 55 the fibreglass PCP has been retained (so far). The FTTC CAB has mains and tie cables in but is not live yet. Several others in the area seem to be retained as well.. Much digging in streets between us and the exchange

Many thanks for giving me this disappointing News.

At least I now know that it is poinless waiting for BT to make this FTTC so I might as well change my current BT phone with Be Broadband to Sky.
At long last Sky have put an LLU in Skelmanthorpe Exchange so I can go with them for financial and standardisation of phone bills.

In reply to a post by PE06MCG:

Do you think my 'suspect' PCP17 is the genuine article or should I continue my area search for a more robust structure?

Yes, that is it. No further searches are required.

Thanks due to James, for his ISP "insider" information.

Thank for that information, James. I won't bore you with the history of PCPs, SCPs and TCPs from their introduction post-WWII but those late 1970s - early 1980s fibreglass cross-connection cabinets were preceded with ones constructed from cast-iron and were superseded with those constructed of pressed-steel.

Those fibreglass cabinets are almost impossible for one person to shut and fully lock. Much kicking and cursing was prevalent. "Fred" would often call "Bert" to come and help (learn on the front), whilst "Fred" operated the locks.

Edited by burakkucat (Sat 16-Jun-12 23:52:36)

In reply to a post by greenglide:

Well mine has NEAT PCP 55 the fibreglass PCP has been retained (so far). The FTTC CAB has mains and tie cables in but is not live yet. Several others in the area seem to be retained as well.. Much digging in streets between us and the exchange

Thank you for that information, GG. I've learnt something new.

You street excavations could be the result of blocked ducts.