EO Line

I guess here in Derry we are lucky with our 100% coverage, also there is a cab right infront of my exchange (LD/Waterside). Just wondering why all exchanges don't have something the same instead of restricting people getting FTTC

Picture of FTTC Cabinet Outside NILDW

Edited by BuckleZ (Sun 18-Nov-12 16:34:33)

Because Northern Ireland has had not just Openreach money being spent - they have slightly different goal/timelines for broadband than the mainland.

FTTC cabs outside exchange or hybrid ones that are closer to the cluster are what Openreach plan - see
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5473-suffering-an...

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

FTTC cabs outside exchange or hybrid ones that are closer to the cluster are what Openreach plan

Which is, of course, of little help to those on long EO lines. What's worse in the case of the 75 lines on the development where I live is that we are surrounded by FTTC enabled cabs and also VM. For example the houses on the opposite side of the road enjoy 80Mb FTTC as well as VM whereas on this side we're limited to EO ADSL so whilst we might expect to see some improvement in speeds it would be far from stellar.

"closer to the cluster"

They are planning cabs that are NOT just outside the exchange. This is where the hybrid solution comes into play, as the new PCP and fibre node share the same cabinet.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

"closer to the cluster"

They are planning cabs that are NOT just outside the exchange. This is where the hybrid solution comes into play, as the new PCP and fibre node share the same cabinet.

Doh! My apologies - I totally missed that. I was convinced I had read Exchange!

Of course still no guarantee they will fix your cluster, so be sure to keep badgering away at BT/council etc

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

"closer to the cluster"

They are planning cabs that are NOT just outside the exchange. This is where the hybrid solution comes into play, as the new PCP and fibre node share the same cabinet.

We've seen Openreach respond to some queries indicating that they're not willing to make "network alterations" to re-route people's lines amongst cabinets. In particular they very much give the impression that they're not very willing to redo E-side cables for any reason.

Now, I understand the reasons behind that, in general. I also know that the E-side cables are a bit more than just twisted pair - large, armoured, and pressurised. They have hundreds of pairs involved - and presumably are very organised in the way they are ducted.

The question is... Are EO lines similarly organised? Or do they leave the exchange building in considerably lower-tech ways? Smaller, disjoint bundles?

I'm just wondering what kind of re-organisation is needed to either put cabinets outside the exchange, or hybrid cabinet out "somewhere" in the network.

In one village I know there are large numbers of EO lines and just a couple of cabinets.

It looks as though the cables leaving the exchange are 25 pair and possibly 10 pair. the 25 pair will be ducted to a pole, rise up te side of te pole to a box - several lines go direct to properties and others go to another pole before distribution.

There might be say 4 x25 pair cables running together to the first pole then three go 5 poles further, 2 continue for a way further and then the final one disappears into the sticks and at a guess just 30% usage. So, yes it could be possible to install a box by that first pole and route all four cables through it, however there may not be enough slack in the cable to allow the work so it would need a new cable from exchange to the first pole. Not a cheap exercise to dig 400m of trench to install a new cable ... for what might only be 10 or 20 connections.

That is because of the cost, not some religious zeal.
EO lines, depends on the number, i.e. answer varies, may be a 10 pair cable or a heavy 100 pair one.

The BDUK/LA funding changes the game, and to meet targets some EO will need enabling.

North Yorkshire and Cornwall both have things progressing for EO lines.

There is a price list for Network Alterations, so if willing to pay the costs you can do things, but consumers will end up having to remortgage

however there may not be enough slack in the cable to allow the work

If there's a damaged (or stolen) cable they do this sort of thing overnight as a repair, so I don't see why it should be possible to as it were put an axe through the cable, wire the exchange end into a cabinet than add a short length of cable to reconnect the other end.

Perhaps the service outage is the concern ?

Or do VDSL from the exchange