It will be the local power distribution company that will have made those decision, no doubt in consultation with local council representatives. It could easily be that the cable powering the street lighting has reached its power loading limit. The costs of digging up the pavement to install an uprated power cable back to the local substation might have been prohibitive. It's very possible local councilors were presented with the choice of reducing traffic sign illumination or not upgrading local broadband (or at least not for a long time).

As far as peed limit signs are concerned, I rather doubt there's a legal requirement to illuminate them (even 20mph signs). Fe round here are illiuminated, even when signifying a change of speed zone).

From what I can gather, OR in their planning process do agree the power supply with the local distribution company. However, Ive no doubt that their information isn't wholly accurate either and might get faced with unexpected obstacles.

nb. judging by where the trench was dug, my local VDSL cabinet is connected to whatever powers the local street lights.

SSE have a set of instructions for connecting to supplies: HERE

BT can no longer loop out of existing street furniture and must have a connection to the main cable. Other distribution companies will have similar.

I was referring to the complete absence of the "End of 20 MPH ZONE", NOT the end of a 20 MPH Limit - distinctly different signs.

And the missing Zone ones were not illuminated per se, just happened to be mounted on the same pole, so not deliberately illuminated, nor positioned in a way to get maximum benefit from any accidental lighting - in fact at right-angles to that aspect.

The ZONES can cover complete areas, without having to also install the small Repeater signs that a conventional "20 MPH" Limit signage requires.

Thus the 20 MPH Zone signs are more akin to 30 MPH Limits and the Digonal Bar "National Speed Limit "signs, both of which do not require Repeaters ( although I am aware of one road with 30 MPH Limits that dis also have 30 MPH Small Repeaters).

Other Speed Limits, eg 50 MPH do legally require Repeaters.

I actually watched the SP Electrician making the connections at the Access Panel near the foot of the (subsequently bare) pole; and I have assumed that it was to the Supply.Generator side.

All the signs were removed from that pole about two days later, which was probably so that it was no longer conventional "Street Furniture" etc.

And at that time, there was some moving and removal of various signs from other poles around the junction, including the removal of the "End of 20 MPH Zone" signs - which were on two other poles.

As you'll appreciate, it has resulted in the present confused/confusing situation.

This clearly wasn't planned as twice the Fibre cabinet upgrade was shelved, once in February and now in September. Perhaps if they hadn't abandoned ADSL completely on this exchange I wouldn't be as annoyed, 1-2Mbit on a line that syncs at 8Mbit. I doubt they will build the new cabinet now until the power issues are sorted?.

I had a better connection 5 years ago...

It is odd.

We had quite a battle to receive FTTC here, and are now almost half way through the second Huawei 288.

Openreach seemed to have badly underestimated takeup and as a result built where it would be cheapest to rather than where it would sell.

It's really interesting the range of experiences that are coming to light, makes the actual installation of our local FTTC itself a good example of HOW TO DO IT.

Including about a dozen total in the town, they were scheduled for RFS at 31st May 2014.

KELLY was the main Contractor.

From mid-November 2013, their squads could be seen first opening up the basic trenches, concrete bases etc, apparently doing each phase at all the locations simultaneously.

The local FTTC went active about late March 2014, so clearly ahead of the RFS date.

soon after the local cabinet was erected, BT connected the already available fibre; and also the double links to the PCP.

The local electricity company, SP, did the connecting in to the street-lighting power circuit at the foot of the later-bare traffic sogn pole.

The council then did the "re-arranging" of the signs etc.

The disturbed ground around the FTTC was levelled and grass-seed put down.



So looking at the FTTC installation only, although apparently pro-longed as it involved all of the cabinets in town, it went ahead apparently smoothly and was finished significantly earlier than the published RFS Date.

In reply to a post by eckiedoo:

From mid-November 2013, their squads could be seen first opening up the basic trenches, concrete bases etc, apparently doing each phase at all the locations simultaneously.

The local FTTC went active about late March 2014, so clearly ahead of the RFS date.

soon after the local cabinet was erected, BT connected the already available fibre; and also the double links to the PCP.

The local electricity company, SP, did the connecting in to the street-lighting power circuit at the foot of the later-bare traffic sogn pole.

The council then did the "re-arranging" of the signs etc.

The disturbed ground around the FTTC was levelled and grass-seed put down.

And we wonder why deployment is an expensive game?

It reminds me of a quote from last night's parking programme. To solve a problem with commuter parking near a station, one solution was to paint a yellow line... cost £10,000. The line didn't cost that much, but the surrounding processes to make sure it was a legal yellow line is what made the cost so high.

In reply to a post by MHC:

SSE have a set of instructions for connecting to supplies: HERE

BT can no longer loop out of existing street furniture and must have a connection to the main cable. Other distribution companies will have similar.

That could indeed be the kind of instruction that the council referred to.

The document makes interesting reading, especially when you can see that some situations create "private lighting circuits".

My first FTTC line was on a cabinet that was heavily delayed compared to all the surrounding ones. From the different roadworks, and the different patches of tarmac that gradually appeared over 6 months, it looks like they went in 3 different directions looking for a suitable power supply; this cabinet was sited next to a lit traffic sign, which presumably couldn't be used.

BT finally got permission to install cabinets with unmetered supplies at the end of last year. I wonder if that changes any of the emphasis on power supply?