Few DSL options in built up area

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone can tell me why my area has so few options for fast internet. We have Virgin Media but DSL based options arent really usable as they are so slow. See attached from dslchecker

https://i.imgur.com/nvrolYB.png

Thanks

Your OpenReach wires may not go via a cabinet so nowhere to add the second FTTC cabinet. You would have to check with local authority as to what plans are.

As you have access to Virgin Cable there may be no public money plans, so you may be waiting a long time for alternatives.

Edited by jchamier (Sun 29-Dec-19 18:53:55)

Presumably you are in an area that BT do not consider viable for FTTC/FTTP and you wouldn't have been helped by BDUK because you can already get a high speed service from Virgin. With Virgin you already have a service that is likely capable of much better speeds than a large proportion of the country.

Openreach FTTC/P seems to be a bit of a lottery, I was in the same situation as well so I sent the chairman of openreach a polite email every 6 months or so and eventually he answered (rather than the normal reply from one of his staff).

To my surprise he forwarded my email to his Fibre management team who promptly arranged for FTTC to be installed (along with 2 other cabs in the area). FTTP has just arrived which is nice, not bad for an area considered to be uneconomically viable for any fibre upgrade previously.

My only speed option at the time was Virgin and the service was appalling, but with no competition they didn't need to bother.

Edited by kebabselector (Mon 30-Dec-19 13:21:43)

I am also in an urban area with good (but expensive) internet from Virgin but appalling ADSL coverage (2.5Mbps). My local cabinet is just across the road but OpenReach won't provided FTTC despite having converted almost every other cabinet in the area. Apparently my cabinet doesn't have enough users to make it economically viable, so Virgin have me over a barrel as I don't have an alternative. I would consider 4G but coverage is poor. I guess FTTP will come eventually but there are no plans as yet.

Edited by HughA (Mon 30-Dec-19 19:25:29)

That was my experience also, all the decent sized cabinets got upgraded. My (and two other) smaller cab wasn't viable - but then it was!

I would recommend emailing the openreach CEO - it worked for me eventually.

In reply to a post by kebabselector:

Openreach FTTC/P seems to be a bit of a lottery, I was in the same situation as well so I sent the chairman of openreach a polite email every 6 months or so and eventually he answered (rather than the normal reply from one of his staff).

To my surprise he forwarded my email to his Fibre management team who promptly arranged for FTTC to be installed (along with 2 other cabs in the area). FTTP has just arrived which is nice, not bad for an area considered to be uneconomically viable for any fibre upgrade previously.

My only speed option at the time was Virgin and the service was appalling, but with no competition they didn't need to bother.

I very much doubt Openreach would decide to upgrade a cab to FTTC based on just 1 query/complaint from Joe Public. The fact that your cab was upgraded after you wrote to Openreach is just pure coincidence. In other worlds, they already had plans to upgrade your cab before your letter. Of course no harm for the OP to do the same but he/she shouldn't get their hopes up too much,

I see the OP's postcode on Digital Scotland website doesn't bring up any plans for a FTTC/P rollour, however DS state they may be included in the future R100 programme. I wonder if DS know that the OP's area is already covered by Virgin? Pretty sure the R100 rollout will NOT touch any areas already covered by Virgin.

I was told many times that the Cab was not economically viable, 2 MPs and local councillors were told much the same. This only changed when Clive Selley took the time to reply to my email.

On codelook the installation phase is listed as 'CEO escalation'

ceo_escalation_phase.png

Edited by kebabselector (Tue 31-Dec-19 10:16:24)

Then in that case others in your area would also have complained to Openreach. No chance on earth would Openreach upgrade an area out of their own pocket based on the complaints of ONE person.

The spreadsheets used for selecting commercial cabs may have missed it if the line count was low or there was a mistake that had gone unnoticed in the spreadsheets and once someone manually looked at the area it was viable...or some other factor changes e.g. cost of getting power to cab was quoted at a lower price in 2017/18 compared to 2014 perhaps.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

The spreadsheets used for selecting commercial cabs may have missed it if the line count was low or there was a mistake that had gone unnoticed in the spreadsheets

I love the thought that a multi billion pounds company is still using spreadsheets to make commercial investment decisions. Maybe someone should introduce them to SQL, Oracle or DB2 and a few inner or outer join queries.

No idea what they are actually using, was just a simple word 'spreadsheets' that people would understand on a wider basis.

No matter how clever the system used, if some underlying data has errors or filtering is done simply and automatically there will be those missed out that with a more human look might have made the original cut. Which was the point I was making.

Sorry, knew what you meant but was just amused by the thought of a cottage industry of people at Openreach working on excel to make these decisions

The line count for the 3 updated cabs was much lower than all but one of the other cabs that have been upgraded. Cab P14 is listed as having 245 connections whereas my cab (50) is showing 255. P14 was updated in 2013 so that one was viable then, maybe my cab is linked via 49 & 51 so not as viable to update at the time?

I note that no other cabinets have been updated since these 3 in 2017/18 whereas all the others were done in 2013/14.

Who knows if my email helped. All I know is the CEO responded and 4 months later I had FTTC. Previously responses from the CEO's office were dismissive - maybe I caught him in a good mood at lunchtime with a nicely worded email.

Anyway, have a good new year to you all and lets hope Fibre makes it way to all that want it.

Edited by kebabselector (Tue 31-Dec-19 13:12:54)

Dect


Massive database with SQL but output is often loaded to Excel or access to allow non computer techies to analyse the data in intelligent but adaptive fashion. Once analyses is repeatable and required repeated times, these will be coded back into the SQL and automated by computing experts.

This prevents database being screwed up by mistake, enables experts in technology, planning and finance to look at data in multiple ways, and then feeds back in to computing side exactly what is required on the final SQL. It is usually far faster and more accurate than trying to get computing people to repeatedly write SQL when you are not quite sure what you want as the end result.

kebabselector

You may find that the change was of the CEO and that this made a difference. Clive Selley was made Openreach CEO in Jan 2016. His first task was to set about separating OR from BT. But he then started to change technology choices and deployments. Your e-mail nay just have triggered him to ask someone to look again and that set your upgrade in progress.

He also changed quite a few criteria using newer penetration figures as shown by more commercial rollout as BDUK dried up and an increase in FTTP rollout leading to fibre first areas.

When boss of the BT labs he quite often set on peoples desks for a chat and would mention issues and expect people to show him what they were doing about them.

If he used your cab as an example on a visit to OR FTTC planners he may well have asked why they didn't meet the criteria and caused an early 2nd look..

In reply to a post by kitcat:

Dect


Massive database with SQL but output is often loaded to Excel or access to allow non computer techies to analyse the data in intelligent but adaptive fashion. Once analyses is repeatable and required repeated times, these will be coded back into the SQL and automated by computing experts.

This prevents database being screwed up by mistake, enables experts in technology, planning and finance to look at data in multiple ways, and then feeds back in to computing side exactly what is required on the final SQL. It is usually far faster and more accurate than trying to get computing people to repeatedly write SQL when you are not quite sure what you want as the end result.

Hi kitcat, what you say makes a lot of sense, thank you for explaining. Happy New Year to you and your family

In reply to a post by kebabselector:

I was told many times that the Cab was not economically viable, 2 MPs and local councillors were told much the same. This only changed when Clive Selley took the time to reply to my email.

On codelook the installation phase is listed as 'CEO escalation'

ceo_escalation_phase.png

Well done for persisting and no doubt you made a difference but I also suspect that others nearby were making a lot of noise too.