what is codebook?

Magenta Systems CodeLook

It can be a great resource, but not reliable as far as postcodes and locations of cabinets are concerned.

For example, it has information about which EO bundles are going to be rearranged for FTTC by next year, but you would have to know, and not just suspect, what EO bundle you are on to trust it. Also, the dates might just be placeholders, which isn't really anyone's fault, they usually just get pushed back 3 months until it's actually done. A bit like the weather forecast only being accurate on the day.

You also have to take into account that BDUK and any local schemes for which BT has won the contract for, will probably take priority over their commercial rollout (i.e., the original plans) because they must meet targets as a result of getting the contract. There is one cabinet in my town which was due to be FTTC'd by 2012 because of the commercial rollout, but because of flooding at the site, they couldn't do it. They still haven't quite completed it, even though they're meeting their 2015/1016 BDUK and Superfast Extension Programme targets.

So in summary, I would ignore Codelook's postcodes and Google Maps locations, BUT if you know which cabinet you're on or which EO bundle you're unfortunately connected to, you can take the information if it says "Doing design" or whatever and take a bit of an optimistic view of things from that.

I believe that if your particular cabinet or EO bundle is "not available", then the route to pursue is pestering local MPs and/or Openreach directly. Probably getting an MP to personally pester Openreach is the strongest way. Tell him/her you and your extended friends and family, your whole street, will all vote for them next time if they manage to make an impact. If they don't respond to a "surgery" visit then Google their address and turn up at their house, I bet they'd put in a few phone calls to stop you turning up again.

In short: If you really want it, go nuclear.

Edited by deleted (Sat 26-Mar-16 03:41:58)

Why are you replying to my post? I have already stated that codelook often gives and incorrect post code for the location of a cab.

As for EO bundles and the cab to which a bundle may be being connected, I know exactly to which bundle our development of 75 properties is connected and the proposed number and precise location of the AIO cab that has been erected to "replace" the bundle. I also know the current state of the installation, that it is currently "stalled" and the reason. All this without the help of codelook. How? The new cab is community funded, I signed the contract on behalf of the development and am the development's contact with BTOR.

I probably have a different layout to you with regards to the forum, sorry if it seemed like I was replying specifically to you. My reply was basically "general", and to the original post, if anything.

I have the forum laid out verticaly, I think it's impossible to reply properly to someone without specifically quoting them. So again, sorry if it seemed like I was replying specifically to you. I probably should have pressed "reply" to the OP. No offence intended, i.e. I didn't even mean to reply to your post.

Edited by deleted (Sat 26-Mar-16 04:31:30)

Thanks gazzyk1ns and understood. I shouldn't have posted as it was late and I was tired. My apologies.

In reply to a post by gerarda:

Thanks for that.

So at the worse case it should not be more 5 or 6 weeks out of date so before the end of April we should see the cabinet being identified by postcode and shown as being built .

The BT database is now up to 14 April but the cabinet is still not showing. I am beginning to think the cabinet installation is just a spoiling tactic because there is an OMR being held and we have a wireless altnet in the area and that BT have no immediate plans to do other than leave it as a shell.

No need to deploy anything under an OMR it is just a declaration of plan to go to an area commercially in a three year period and carries no obligation to do so.

In theory a firm could declare an aim to FTTH a whole county in a three year period and if the plans look sensible rather than on back on a beer mat a county would not be able to do any public intervention.

For FTTH this might be the case, but in the real world things work differently - especially for fixed wireless networks. BDUK programs - Digital Scotland in our case - will casually ignore the presence of existing and planned wireless networks. This is based on the provision which requires plans to install fixed line networks before they can be counted as qualifying as superfast networks. So BT gets money to overbuild existing networks and the knowledge that this will happen means that WISPs have little incentive to provide either basic or superfast broadband service now in villages which are at the end of the BT queue.

I doubt whether the process would survive a challenge based on EU law but no-one can afford the time and money to go down that route. This is a dispute that is going to resurface again in trying to write rules for the USO. There are many operators who would prefer to delay or stymie the introduction of a USO if the alternative is that BTOR becomes the monopoly universal service provider, so a legal challenge is much more likely.

However the presence of a cabinet shell would be enough to deter any altnet from investing in an upgraded service in competition with that cabinet and so not declare any plans to do so.

BT installed fibre and a node in the village three years ago and then did not activate it, so this may be a repetition.