In my case Thinkbroadband info is a bit too pessimistic. This particular post code area has 100 or so flats. A few of them, about 10, can get FTTC with a decent speed, the rest is EO. Statistics based on speed tests seem to be correct. As for postcode search, TBB shows "no fibre products available", despite being available to a small percentage.

I do not know what TBB "should" show in these cases where some can get FTTC, while the majority cannot. Nevertheless, TBB figures are more correct than Ofcom figures, as the pessimistic view is what the majority sees.

H

Edited by deleted (Tue 25-Apr-17 17:44:42)

Ofcom's data for my postcode is way out too.
It claims 92% have NGA but reality is none have as we are approximately 5km from the nearest FTTC cabinet.

Once we get beyond 95% we will start hopefully to show the splits, its is a whole new level of working, so all depends on whether it proves worthwhile.

Current system works on a majority decision for each postcode.

In that case your numbers are correct. Ofcom's numbers seem to be somewhat fictional. They might not do splits within postcode area either and make the area 100% NGA if there is a property that can get it. I was just curious about that as politicians and BT spokesmen seem to be referring to Ofcom figures showing everything is fine. <rant> No wonder no one is interested in upgrading our EO lines if they think it has already been done. </rant>

H

In reply to a post by hvis42:

They might not do splits within postcode area either and make the area 100% NGA if there is a property that can get it.

Cant be that. Ofcom show my postcode as 92% have NGA. Not one can order a fibre based service from BT. There were errors in the BT DSL Checker database a few years ago that has several properties in our postcode listed as having full 80/20 FTTC but I contacted them to highlight the error and they have been corrected. Perhaps Ofcom data is based on old data sets?

I've also noticed that if you are too far from the FTTC cabinet, BT's DSL checker doesnt display any FTTC results but for ISP's reselling Talk Talk "fibre" products, they sometimes show FTTC as being available albeit at less than 2Mbps speeds. Perhaps this counts as NGA in Ofcom numbers?

Premises where VDSL2 is at the cabinet but distance means speeds likely to be marginally better than ADSL or sometimes worse still count as NGA. The Ofcom data is March/April/May 2016 roughly, variation down to no idea which data sets providers give out e.g. Openreach delivers quarterly reports to counties so likely that Ofcom got one of those so may actually be 31st March 2016.

On the providers checkers, with the move towards 'more honest' speeds then expect to see more variation in what different providers do or do not offer you, i.e. I expect it to be harder for those with sub 0.5 Mbps ADSL but where VDSL2 may manage 5 Mbps to find it harder to find an ISP willing to sell them a service.

In reply to a post by hvis42:

In that case your numbers are correct. Ofcom's numbers seem to be somewhat fictional. They might not do splits within postcode area either and make the area 100% NGA if there is a property that can get it.

There was a time when Ofcom did do that, but eventually they realised the figures were nonsense.

Ok. Not that then. In my postcode area they claim 99% is NGA, but only 10% of properties are connected to a cabinet. Others are definitely EO, which means the number is horribly wrong.

Wouldn't matter otherwise, but just a couple of weeks ago someone near BT started a Twitter brouhaha by tweeting that BT/OR have fulfilled their promises to our area (SE16) and 95% have now superfast, and based this on Ofcom data. TBB data shows a completely different picture with only 81,2% superfast.

It appears Ofcom figures, erroneous as they are, are used in decision making or at least propaganda, despite being more or less work of fiction that Mr Trump would categorise as "alternative facts".

H

Which Ofcom dataset are you using? A link might help...

The data behind the Connected Nations 2016 report

We integrated it into the postcode search on https://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/postcode-search so people can see what we hold and what Ofcom hold in just one place