Communication has always been a problem with Superfast-Cyrmu, the FTTP message originally told us that FTTP was in scope but they couldn't provide stage by stage updates due to the process it took but that they had a beta test in progress which would provide further information. That beta test turned out to be telling everyone that they should have FTTP by June 2017.

I don't blame the people responding to my requests for further information as I'm sure they're just relaying what they've been told, though I have noticed that the two lines of communication I had with them, Twitter and Facebook have both been closed in the last few weeks without a replacement, at a guess I'd say they'll hold onto the 'available by the end of June 2017' message, at which point Superfast-Cymru will cease to exist and BT Openreach will wipe their hands of the whole thing...

It is probably wise to draw a distinction between the original coverage target being reached, from the phase 1 work being completed, which could extend actual coverage beyond the target. And to keep that separate from phase 2.

I tend to think of the percentage figures as nice targets for publicity.

However, the detailed contract requires BT to "pass" a certain number of properties each phase, following their detailed speed templates, and allowing substitutions when a cabinet area gets delayed.

It is quite plausible to reach "job done" by the detailed contract, without appearing to in publicity terms, and while leaving some work ongoing. And, of course, any "long delays" at this stage are bound to cause things to be substituted into a phase 2, if not abandoned.

BT has publicised the risk of engineering challenges, so abandonment isn't impossible; the public have never been misled on this. BT only get the money for those they do pass within contract terms, so they won't, of course, be getting any public money for those pieces of abandoned work. No public waste involved - that's all part of the risk taken by BT.

Dont lose heart!

Waterston has finally gone live, and yesterday there was a contractors van parked next to the new chamber and pole at Bush Hill Pembroke, the van was liveried as a fibre contractor, so maybe the people on PCP4 are finally going to catch up with the rest of the area.

Don't worry, I'm sure something will be done eventually (ribble did say so)http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/fibre/t/4483715-fib...
We were one of the last exchanges in Wales to get ADSL (July 2007) and no upgrades since.

It's difficult to express the sense of frustration felt in rural communities, especially like ours that have coils of fibre tubing on every other lamppost with little yellow badges nailed to them indicating fibre ahead, for whom fibre has always been a distant promise that stands little chance of being fulfilled.

SFC/Openreach appear to have picked the low hanging fruit to get their stats up but ultimately making little difference to access. My parents, like many in their street, have had VM fibre for years as part of their package and have absolutely no intention of having a BT line installed just to be able to get FTTC broadband. Didn't stop Openreach putting in new cabs just to be able to say that those homes have been "passed".

For us, it just feels like we've been lied to right from the start, with each query being answered that anyone who read SFC's facebook page and twitter feed regularly would know was subterfuge.

Shortly before SFC withdrew from social media, I was advised that we'd have FTTP by the end of the summer 2016. Now the checker says 2017. I'll bet come end of 2017, I'll still be scraping by on 2meg if the weather conditions are good and [censored] all when the wind rattles the line through the trees for the 3 miles from the exchange to here.

The coils of fibre are for FTTP. Which means your parents couldn't get FTTC even if they put a "BT" line in.

What new cabs have been put in?

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 26-Jul-16 18:16:05)

Am seeing more of the Welsh FTTP getting done and the majority of the rest is showing as in build phase on the Openreach checkers, i.e. less secret than in the past, so they might be still reaching for the 4% (80,000 target) but it takes longer to do FTTP.

The coils are near me, not them.

Any chance of an update on Llandovery Cab 2, SA200YW?

Alas nothing other than in its build, but will say it is a very large FTTP area, so it is likely that some areas will go live before others.

In some area large areas it is the business heavy postcodes that have been done first, but that is an observation not a hard and fast rule.