Once again we see confusion with BT's USO

BT have to provide a voice capable line to your home, they don't have to provide any type of broadband service.

Sorry but that is just how it is, there are many providers that can provide internet services to your home with or without a BT line, have you complained to them also?

Once again no one is forcing you to pay that much for broad band
What you do is call your isp and tell them you dont want broad band any more and hey presto no more large internet bills

The BP petrol station 2 miles from me is 2p cheaper than the one 2 mins from me
Should i cry about that

Some big brand clothes shops are doing a deal in the next town from me but the ones in my area are not
Should i cry about that

BT is a company so remember it's shareholders first and customers second, Ofcom is as good as the FSA were with the Banks etc so don't expect any miracles from there.

It's a bit like the saying "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer" when you mean "the fast get faster and the slow don't"

Remember life is full of inequalities and you won't get frustrated with BT ....... life's too short.

Clearly OFCOM agree there is an imbalance now that works against those in Market One areas as they are looking at the unfair pricing for a service that is provided on equipment that at our price point is long ago paid for.

And yet it is Ofcom that have forced this situation. Ofcom essentially ensure that BT prices in market 1 exchanges are higher because that allows LLU providers to be able to compete if they choose to unbundle that exchange. If BT prices were set at normal BT levels (ie those in market 3 exchanges) then many exchanges wouldn't get unbundled as it wouldn't have been worthwhile for the LLU providers in the first place.

So, market 1 is higher because of Ofcom wanting to "stimulate" competition. And, there is the undeniable fact that many of the market 1 exchanges are more expensive to run than many of the market 3's (due to economies of scale, length of lines, etc) - that may not be the case with your exchange but for a lot it will be.

And it could also be that the exchange itself could be expensive to upgrade for LLU/FTTx due to various factors (size of exchange, building works, issues with land ownership, local infrastructure, distance to next hop for backhaul, etc).

My exchange has about 25,000 lines and whilst we have had LLU for about 5years and ADSL for over 10 there is no sign of it being enabled for FTTx - and very few exchanges in this "affluent" south coast county have any FTTx announced.

In reply to a post by Koppo:

The North/South Wales divide is particularly irksome. Most of the infrastructure investment takes place around Cardiff and Swansea. Loads of little exchanges around Cardiff, far smaller than ours, are state of the art. North Wales gets next to nothing. Unless you are Hawarden, or one of the chav-centrals (Rhyl, Wrexham).

Errrr, whatever your views on 'chavs', I think you need to check your facts before commenting on Wrexham/Wrecsam.

Wrexham has around 20K lines, Wrexham North another 10K lines, but until last year there was no service from Sky for ADSL, and even now, neither exchange is listed for FTTC. I agree N Wales is being left behind by what's going on in S Wales, and agree it is very annoying. To me, the inclusion of Hawarden is more because BT will lose out to O2/BE unless they can offer reasonable (OK, HIGH !) speeds.

Wrexham has council HQ, hospital and university plus sufficient numbers to presumably make it worthwhile over time, and probably would have the demand if the facility was to be offered. Thing is that it is not being offered, and no dates even rumoured yet.

Seeing Middlewich (Cheshire) and Bagshot (Surrey) with fewer than 10K lines, and some exchange in S Wales with only 2.5K lines, really annoys me, and I'd like someone to interview Ms Ann Beynon (Director, BT Wales) to get some explanation about it all. Article in Daily Post in January suggested FTTC yet I think she meant ADSL 2+ as no mention of 40 Mbps was made.

In reply to a post by Koppo:

The North/South Wales divide is particularly irksome. Most of the infrastructure investment takes place around Cardiff and Swansea. Loads of little exchanges around Cardiff, far smaller than ours, are state of the art. North Wales gets next to nothing.

The fact that the BT network in Cardiff/South Wales etc. is so modern is likely to have more to to do with the fact BT trialled its 21CN network there.

Which means they probably have the newest exchanges and kit in the UK..

Regards
Sunil

In reply to a post by gt94sss2:

Which means they probably have the newest exchanges and kit in the UK..

Don't worry.....In a few years we'll all be able to laugh at them and their 1st generation old equipment

I am in a city area and the same boat, both leics and nottingham not in plans at all.

yet little seaside towns and villages getting FTTC hahaha.

BT crumbled to the rural brigade and political pressure, awaiting a nice tax break soon I guess.

I live in about as far south of Wales as you can without being in the sea, and our exchange doesn't have anything more than ADSL max. We have a few FTTC exchanges around here, but not all of South Wales has FTTC.

Edited by deleted (Wed 15-Jun-11 14:08:56)

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

I am in a city area and the same boat, both leics and nottingham not in plans at all.

yet little seaside towns and villages getting FTTC hahaha.

BT crumbled to the rural brigade and political pressure, awaiting a nice tax break soon I guess.

Hi, don�t be a spoilsport! It�s nicer for the engineers to work in the countryside and at the seaside in the summer.