In reply to a post by candlerb:

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

In reply to a post by candlerb:

Note that the trial doesn't start until December 1st 2021, and runs for 6 months.

It will be interesting to see, for requests submitted after that date, any desktop survey and/or final quote which reflects these fixed values.

There’s an update this morning over at ISPreview…

“We’ve got a few extra details back from Openreach. Firstly, the coverage expansion for FoD will take effect from 19th March 2022, so it’s not immediate.“

That's the *coverage* expansion (i.e. FoD becoming available at properties which are not currently within FTTC footprint).

Yes. There was no commencement date in the original article on the coverage expansion element, only the cost changes, hence the update.

In reply to a post by candlerb:

(I don't know where you got the £500 figure from, it has never been that).

Ever the pessimist...

The monthly rental is whatever your CP charges. The main provider of FoD is Cerberus and you can find their pricing here: https://www.cerberusnetworks.co.uk/connectivity-broa...

For gigabit it's a rather expensive £120+VAT = £150 per month, but that's for 12 months only. After that you can either recontract with Cerberus for £60+VAT per month, or you can cease and take regular FTTP service from any CP.

But the optimist in me thought this was a whole new FoD system. I could have fibre just by paying a more realistic installation charge, then its normal FTTP pricing. But no. I guess the justification for charging higher monthly fees is 'because we can'.

I'll do the maths but it sound like its going to be fairly expensive. Surprised its a 12 month contract The OR price list I say seemed to say FoD rental was on a 36 month term. In any case I'd have to move ISP/CP and I like my current on (and my block of fixed IPs).

That'll teach me for being optimistic.

I wouldn't bother to pay £1,600 to openreach for FTTPoD. What the point? Cos they will roll out FTTP for free anyway.

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

But the optimist in me thought this was a whole new FoD system. I could have fibre just by paying a more realistic installation charge, then its normal FTTP pricing. But no. I guess the justification for charging higher monthly fees is 'because we can'.

Openreach don't charge any more for FTTPoD monthly pricing than regular FTTP - wholesale pricelist.

Cerberus do, as a way of recouping their costs of managing the FTTPoD delivery. In my case it took nearly 18 months start to finish, with weekly updates and many cases of issues having to be escalated back to BTW/Openreach - they more than earned that money. Without this, FTTPoD would be a huge loss-leader for them - especially for users who migrate away from Cerberus after 12 months.

Previously it was a flat £35 per month on top of their standard FTTP pricing for 12 months. However they've now changed it, so for example there's a £40 premium for 300/50 but a £60 premium for 900/110. That's a bit unfair, but anyone who thinks they need 900M almost certainly doesn't - so they collect a luxury tax.

If you think Cerberus pricing is high, try asking Fluid One for a quote - it was double Cerberus when I tried in 2017.

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

I'll do the maths but it sound like its going to be fairly expensive. Surprised its a 12 month contract The OR price list I say seemed to say FoD rental was on a 36 month term.

You must be looking at pre-March 2018 prices - the current price list still shows historic prices and terms, but if you look carefully these say "Withdrawn from new supply" as of Feb 2018.

It was priced completely differently back then. Openreach charged a fixed fee by distance band but *also* charged a higher monthly rental for 36 months, effectively hiding a bunch of the up-front cost in that rental. If I remember correctly, the retail price from Cerberus was £165+VAT per month (for 300/30, which was the only level available), on a 3 year contract. Of that, £99+VAT was the Openreach wholesale price.

In reply to a post by adslmax:

I wouldn't bother to pay £1,600 to openreach for FTTPoD. What the point? Cos they will roll out FTTP for free anyway.

I'm not surprised you say that, since you already have G.Fast available (or at least, have claimed in the past that you do). For someone else who has only 4Mbps on ADSL, their calculation may be different.

However I agree with the general point. I suspect that FTTPoD orders have now fallen off a cliff given the high costs quoted (typically £8K+VAT) and the expectation of a low return on investment with native FTTP likely to follow soon afterwards. Hence this new offer may be a way of breathing some life back into FTTPoD for the "easy" installs, where the premise is close to an existing splitter or aggregation node. Paying £1600 to get full fibre 2 years early is not unreasonable.

Of course, if they were simply to quote realistic prices for easy installs in the first place, this new offer wouldn't be required.

In reply to a post by adslmax:

I wouldn't bother to pay £1,600 to openreach for FTTPoD. What the point? Cos they will roll out FTTP for free anyway.

It’s like buying anything, people are prepared (up to a point) to pay more for something and have it now, rather than wait to have it in 2, 3 or 5 years time. Post pandemic work and life habits have changed peoples attitudes, especially if they are more reliant on a ‘utility’ as connectivity has become in our modern world.

I heard horror stories of FTTPoD installation take ages waiting for over a year or delaying it etc. I wouldn't bother with all these hassles!

Edited by adslmax (Wed 03-Nov-21 10:14:24)

Both candlerb and I have the scars. 🤣

lol

I think we're both very pleased that we placed our orders in 2018 and got our service in 2019.

There's still no sign of where I live in any published OR FTTP plans, although nearby large towns are. I think it's quite likely I'll get 5-6 years benefit from it.