Yeah I never understand Plusnet is a big company with BT (EE) and still no G.fast product on it. Plusnet know G.fast are pointless and too costy and will not offer this.

In reply to a post by adslmax:

Yeah I never understand Plusnet is a big company with BT (EE) and still no G.fast product on it. Plusnet know G.fast are pointless and too costy and will not offer this.

Just because you are not able to either receive the full benefit or can't afford it anyway doesn't mean that G.fast is pointless.

There are many people that are enjoying the benefits of g.fast who otherwise would be waiting a long time for a full fibre connection to achieve the speeds they are getting with G.fast

In reply to a post by robertcrowther:

There are many people that are enjoying the benefits of g.fast who otherwise would be waiting a long time for a full fibre connection to achieve the speeds they are getting with G.fast

51,000 in fact - as of 30th September - according to BT results released a few days ago.

As of the same date, it was nominally available at 2.417m properties. But the low take-up of 2.1% is not all that surprising, given that the people who can take it are those who get full 80/20 on FTTC already.

It would be interesting to know the number of G.fast pods which have been deployed, and therefore the average number of users per G.fast pod.

In reply to a post by candlerb:

In reply to a post by robertcrowther:

There are many people that are enjoying the benefits of g.fast who otherwise would be waiting a long time for a full fibre connection to achieve the speeds they are getting with G.fast

51,000 in fact - as of 30th September - according to BT results released a few days ago.

As of the same date, it was nominally available at 2.417m properties. But the low take-up of 2.1% is not all that surprising, given that the people who can take it are those who get full 80/20 on FTTC already.

It would be interesting to know the number of G.fast pods which have been deployed, and therefore the average number of users per G.fast pod.

Interesting as even though I saw the figures on the post you quoted, I could not find them on the PDF that BT have released, but instead found this:

"Openreach�s ultrafast broadband network now covers 4.2m premises, comprising 2.4m premises passed with Gfast and 1.8m with FTTP"

One advantage FTTP has over g.fast in regards to take up is the fact that you can order a 80mb FTTP connection, which you can't with g.fast.

This is something I have noticed as I install networks for both domestic and commercial/industrial purposes and find that mostly with the new builds some people are only ordering 80mb FTTP.

The main advantage that g.fast has is the fact it's quicker to deploy than FTTP in an area that is already covered by FTTC.

Edited by robertcrowther (Sun 03-Nov-19 09:34:07)

In reply to a post by candlerb:

But the low take-up of 2.1% is not all that surprising, given that the people who can take it are those who get full 80/20 on FTTC already.

I think the low take up could be improved a little if Openreach mail shot all those customers where the product was available (they could even make out of it by charging CP's for putting their names on the mail shot for a fee) or alternatively CP's could mail shot customers themselves once a new area went live. This also goes for FTTP as I know some people who previously complained about there broadband but don't know FTTP has become available.

I wonder if Openreach will ever achieve a positive ROI on G.Fast.

In terms of the product itself I doubt it. In terms of retaining end users in pockets of VM availability very near to FTTC-enabled PCPs until such time as they can replace the FTTC + G.Fast with FTTP it may ultimately recover its investment, but it�s a long shot.

When people compare FTTP and G.fast take-up they need to compare similar areas.

All the indicators point to FTTP take-up being similar to G.fast take-up in areas with similar existing service availability.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I wonder if Openreach will ever achieve a positive ROI on G.Fast.

I doubt it.

I feel OR has missed an opportunity for G.Fast in multi-occupancy-dwellings (MDU) e.g. small blocks of flats. Small blocks often have entry phone and fire detection systems (a lot have been installed since the Lanarkal House fire). This means communal power is available.

The lengths of copper wiring through the property to 6 / 12 / 18 flats from a interior DP would make G.Fast much more cost effective than drilling FTTP through the walls. Problem is most flats are wired to external DP's in ground chambers, with no power.

What you observe and say is happening in terms of take up fits perfectly with what I posted.

People who take G.Fast would obviously have taken FTTP if that were or became available to them. Both the numbers and percentage will be roughly the same.

But any replacement FTTP would achieve considerably higher take up because it would cover a wider area and provide a more consistent speed.

I�m not familiar with navigating your coverage maps and availability numbers, but would assume that FTTP coverage and numerical take up nationally is already higher than for G.Fast. Even if I�m wrong, it soon will be. Percentage take up is likely to be similar at the moment where FTTC is already in place, but where FTTP comes to ADSLx areas it will be higher.

However that was not what my post was about . The opening line was � I wonder if Openreach will ever achieve a positive ROI on G.Fast�. What do you think?

Will they ever achieve a direct excess of total income from it over the total cost of development, hardware, installation, and maintenance? That is the basic meaning of ROI. They may achieve it indirectly, by end user retention against VM until they bring along FTTP, as I posted, but I have my doubts.

In reply to a post by robertcrowther:

Interesting as even though I saw the figures on the post you quoted, I could not find them on the PDF that BT have released

Start at Quarterly Results

Expand "Results for the half year to 30 September 2019 (31 October 2019)"

Click on the "Q2 KPIs" which gives you this PDF

Go to page 9 (Openreach). Look for the tables under "OPERATIONAL" - "Network Deployment" and "Network Usage".