FTTPoD - Survey backlogs

Just called Cerberus for an update on the progress for having a full survey done.

I placed the order on 10 Jan 2019 they estimate it will be at the earliest April before they will be able to request the survey to be done as Openreach is limiting and proportioning the distribution of the available slots to all providers.

You would think they would be falling over themselves to satisfy customers who are willing to pay for Fibre. At this rate I should sell up and move to the new housing estate being built 300m away where they are all being built with fibre connected.

Openreach are �falling over themselves to satisfy customers� .... but you must remember that there are plenty of others who need �satisfying� as well as those requesting bespoke fibre solutions.

Unfortunately there's a limit of 20 FTTPoD orders per month until the earliest of April this year, where Openreach aim to increase the limit to 100 FTTPoD orders per month. I doubt they expected this much demand for FTTPoD. Patience is a virtue I'm afraid. I was fortunate enough to get my order in before the initial 'stop' (temporary pause) last year due to the number of orders Openreach have received for a full survey.

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

Openreach are �falling over themselves to satisfy customers� .... but you must remember that there are plenty of others who need �satisfying� as well as those requesting bespoke fibre solutions.

I would concur, especially the engineers once they hit the ground. But you have a single order for FTTPoD and it may be competing for resource against a community partnership or even a regional program such as SFNY (Super Fast North Yorkshire) or are organising hundreds of connections. Plus new connections for infill sites, new housing estates, and maintenance of the existing network.

They also have a limited number of trained surveyors, works programmers, and competent engineers. It looks like they are scaling from April onwards but how long does it take to train a surveyor on Openreach costs and requirements for surveys, or a fibre engineer who will needs tickets for pole climbing, roadworks, H&S, and various other items before he can hit the road.

When you are next out think about where the network is, which roads it runs down. When I walked the 2-mile home from the pub the other week and all the concrete lids of the joint boxes were visible as they had been dug out to install my fibre. I then thought about the miles of country lanes we have. The network is mind boggling in size.

Come on Zarjaz pull your finger out. (for the avoidance of doubt this is a joke).

Dave