In reply to a post by WWWombat:

The latest batch came with the statement "We have now announced the bulk of the exchanges we will be deploying fibre to under our own steam but we are keen to go even further with the help of BDUK [Broadband Delivery UK] funding"

It strikes me that if the above is true then in some areas BT's fibre 'rollout' is going to be very threadbare indeed. When I put my postcode in to the Openreach site it shows 21 exchanges in this area: 2 have dates for fibre (one has already had its date pushed back), 3 have a vague 'end of 2013' timescale, and the remaining 16 get nothing.

Overall, Openreach have only ever committed to make FTTx available to 66% of UK homes by end of 2014, so the vast majority of exchanges wont be covered by the commercial deployment.

Edited by deleted (Tue 25-Sep-12 20:23:40)

The (BT self-funded) rollout amounts to 66% of population, but this is the densest part of the population on the biggest exchanges. So when you just look at the exchange count alone, it does indeed look threadbare.

Even when BDUK-funding is added (assuming it all goes to BT), so that coverage reaches 90% of the UK population, it probably still only hits 40% of the exchanges!

Source: Ofcom's market definitions:

Market 3: 1,540 exchanges, covering 77.6% of UK premises
Market 2: 660 exchanges, covering 10.0%
Market 1: 3,389 exchanges, covering 11.7%

If BDUK funding converts all of the market 3 and market 2 exchanges, we'd hit 88% population coverage, but only 39% exchange coverage (2,200 out of 5,589)

That's pretty dismal for the remainder then .

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

If BDUK funding converts all of the market 3 and market 2 exchanges, we'd hit 88% population coverage

Does that assume that every cabinet on those exchanges is enabled?

Otherwise the real %-age population coverage is likely to be somewhat lower.

Openreach does not need to enable every exchange for FTTC, so you will find many small exchange's will likely be covered in the BDUK projects and the fibre will go back to the larger exchange nearby.

Eventually most of the smaller exchanges will be shut down and sold off as they will no longer be needed.

Also counting the current number of exchanges via the 3 rollout plan lists

1205 exchanges live
247 Coming Soon
335 Future exchanges

Total:1787 exchanges so far in the rollout including the recent ones announced.

Edited by deleted (Tue 25-Sep-12 23:08:58)

In reply to a post by billford:

Does that assume that every cabinet on those exchanges is enabled?

Otherwise the real %-age population coverage is likely to be somewhat lower.

Yes - That "assumption" of using just the market 2 and 3 exchanges to make 88% would require every cabinet to be converted *and* that everyone on those cabinets would be within the (approx) 1500-2000 metre range to get the numbers to add up.

But the BDUK target is 90%, so if we assume that not everyone on a market 2/3 cabinet is capable of being covered, then *some* market 1 coverage must be happening too.

My personal assumption, though, is that getting to the 90% coverage is going to require some additional technology tactics on top of the existing one. I'm expecting BT to need to deploy smaller FTTC cabinets, further out in the network. This would be needed for people with small cabinets covering few premises. It may also be needed further out in the network than the existing cabinets, so as to reduce the D-side length.

Even with this, we need a solution for those with exchange-direct lines too.

If BT are going to continue with the existing size of FTTC cabinets, existing limitations (only putting FTTC cabinets where there are existing PCPs, and only allowing VDSL2 from a cabinet), then a lot of market 1 exchanges will need doing too.

That's one reason to look at the technology that will be chosen for Surrey. As this county is going for near-on 100% SFBB, it'll be interesting to see what adaptations are made to the existing tactics.

You're right that BT don't need to actually enable the exchange in the building as it exists right now.

However, as far as the consumers are concerned, their "exchange is enabled" as soon as the service is available within the exchange area. Even if things are wired differently behind the scenes, I think it is fair to count the exchanges as consumers see them.

I do agree that the smaller ones will be shut down gradually, as fibre backhaul makes the distances irrelevant, and can allow for concentration to happen in the joint boxes under our feet. In fact, ADSL probably gave them a longer lease of life, with the requirement of housing equipment physically close to the consumer.

Good point on counting the exchanges in the existing rollout though... If BT are right, and that is the bulk of their 67% coverage, then we're already up to 250 exchanges beyond "just" market 3 - which itself covers 77% population.

I reckon that means that when we hit that 67% target, BT will have left around 15% uncovered in those 1787 exchanges. And that suggests that around 2/3 of BDUK money will go to infill cabinets, and 1/3 to new exchanges.

Other posters have looked deeper into areas and finding that it is a mixture of positive and negative. Have never denied that Openreach is not pushing back some dates.

Was really asking a poster who has a tendency to post with little actual information to back up comments to provide some information, even if just the 3 or 4 exchanges in their own area.

Current poll running will add some weight to the pestering I do of Openreach on cabinet info. Still does not stop devils advocate posts at times.
Plenty of other projects have had dates slip or never announced dates. Where do I start?

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Plenty of other projects have had dates slip or never announced dates. Where do I start?

That is an irresistible question!

How about your own task list?