Exchanges and cabinets

Is it possible to find out how many cabinets an exchange feeds?

You can allways try asking here

In reply to a post by Ribble:

You can allways try asking here

Err, I thought I had!!..Background is my unhapiness at the Staffordshire CC/BT BDUK rollout.

The first place to benefit is Rugeley - a town which is not rural and not isolated.

It also has blanket coverage already by Virgin Media.

I was assured by a highly placed CC official that an area immediately adjacent to the exchange would be fibre enabled by BT (as it was the only are not covered by VM, although using a postcode search revealed that superfast Broadband was available from VM immediately outside the exhange).

The latest coverage map now shows blanket coverage by BT as well and the cabinets are going up everywhere.

Bear in mind that 3% of the population (who happen to live in rural areas) are being left out of the BDUK project because its 'too expensive'.

Simple question is how much money is being spent providing the lucky residents of Rugeley with 2 separate fibre networks - a) it appears to be against EU state rules and b) I want to give the info to my MP/Margaret Hodge/Local newspaper etc.

If it has blanket cable coverage from Virgin that it is outside the scope of the BDUK project as you have a superfast provider already.

Openreach has not finished the commercial roll-out so these cabinets might be going in as part of the commercial roll-out. Has the council confirmed these new cabinets are part of the BDUK project or not.

Some overlap is allowed but a duplication on a whole town is not.

There has been no press that I've spotted about the first cabinets being live as part of the project which is normal, so lends towards thinking these might be commercial roll-out.

http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/News/Superfast-broadband... Talks of Turbury. Where have they said Rugeley is in the first phase?

http://www.coolwebhome.co.uk/media/rugeley.jpg is a map I've just done for the town showing the superfast postcodes and others

In reply to a post by knighton:

In reply to a post by Ribble:

You can allways try asking here

Err, I thought I had!!..

You could have meant all or any of the exchanges in the country . You didn't say.

It turns out you mean a particular one, and nothing I can see to do with how many cabinets it has.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/News/Superfast-broadband... Talks of Turbury. Where have they said Rugeley is in the first phase?

It actually says, "including Tutbury". Given the generally lethargic approach to Broadband in Staffordshire, friends in the area tell me they'll believe it when they see it. And, they don't believe it will be anytime soon despite the warm words coming from the politicians.

Not only that but given the age and poor quality of most of the cables in the Tutbury/Hatton/Rolleston area, they believe it will probably be a half-baked implementation if it ever does go ahead.

Edited by Tacitus (Wed 05-Feb-14 18:28:03)

Just look at a fibre cabinet going up in a commercial area. BT is doing exactly the same for the BDUK projects.

So only if the wiring between the home and the cabinet is a piece of long string should there be any difference really.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

So only if the wiring between the home and the cabinet is a piece of long string should there be any difference really.

They tell me a long piece of wet string would most likely be an improvement at present�..

Mr Saffron

On the 'When and Where' section of Superfast Staffordshire, there is a zoomable PDF showing the BDUK deployment.

Rugeley now appears to have multiple areas within it which are to be covered with BT Fibre. Your map shows blanket coverage available from VM.

BT had not rolled out Fibre to Rugeley as part of their commercial plans.

I have an email from a senior CC member specifying a single area adjacent to the exchange to be upgraded - this is now clearly not the case.

Via my MP I have had a letter from the leader of the council simply repeating their press release about 'doing the bst they can with the money blah blah'.

Comparing your map to the rollout area in Rugeley its clear there is significant overbuild which I understood was forbidden by EU State funding rules.

I don't live there. I am one of the 3% excluded.

Edited by deleted (Thu 06-Feb-14 09:21:22)

"Rugeley now appears to have multiple areas within it which are to be covered with BT Fibre"

In which case I would suggest they are part of the commercial roll-out and thus not using public money. Why, because the first areas are expected to be live in April and the commercial roll-out is still going pretty fast.

Why? Because they have not been announced, so unless the CC is engaged in a top secret roll-out, I am not convinced this an overbuild.