Depends on infrastructure they are using, FTTC can be converted to FTTP at a later date, the 97% coverage in South Yorks is well beyond what current VM/BT next gen projects manage for an area this large.

As with all internet builds, you have to plan ahead, and that is why many are calling for a bigger vision, from all the parties. Alas the UK is run by the accountants, so prudent slow progress is what happens

If they connect 500k homes it will cost £63.5m just in connection fees payable to BT PLC Openreach (£127 per connection).
Doesn't add up (if they only have £90m to spend) unless they are relying on the Ofcom consultation to get these fees lowered or will pass on these connection fees to ISPs who in turn pass them on to end users.

When we asked if these costs would be passed on to the ISPs we did not get an answer (we expressed interest in reselling the service - gave up in the end).

We also understand it is SMPF so no voice just broadband i.e. the end user still needs to sort out line rental or the ISP bundles it with WLR.

The concern would be getting major ISPs on board.
Why would they do so compared to BT PLC Openreach FTTC where the costs are much lower - no huge connection fees.

Perhaps it will get as far as cabinets and fibre then flop and be taken over by white knight BT Openreach - become part of the BT PLC FTTC system nicely funded by EU money?
Those connection fees which end users would not like paying would then disappear!

There was a rumour Plus Net (=BT PLC) was going to be an ISP reselling it.

More worrying is the disconnection fees £106 per line in FTTC/subloop unbundling.
If SYDR connect lots of users a liability builds up (500k x £106 = £53m) payable to BT PLC Openreach if these users leave (or the ISP pulls out). But who pays and who gains?


.

Well it all appears to have gone a bit quiet around here regarding the rollout. I've seen new cabs popping up here and there but there's scant news on their website... and the ISP's concerned aren't much better either.

That said there's still only 4 ISP's signed up to provide services.. and they're all business orientated it would seem.

On another note the Digital Region website mentions again and again a guaranteed 25Mbs download, however looking at the ISP's concerned the guarantee is is for 10Mbs, unless you pay for a particular business product with one of the ISP's where you get 15Mbs guarantees.

Which again leaves me feeling that especially with BT's Infinity push.. by the time we see this come to fruition it'll be old hat technology.. unless there's some inherent scalability. And we in South Yorkshire will be left with this expensive white elephant and BT or other Telcos won't come near for some considerable time.

Same technology aspect in terms of VDSL, so line speeds should be similar. Only difference with Infinity is that once all current plans are complete around 17% of the roll-out will have fibre direct to the home.

I have been talking with with someone directly involved with Digital Region Ltd as well as asking questions via e-mail to Digital Region Broadband.

What it seems to be is that DRL guarantee a minimum of 25Mbit per customer, but that is basically network capacity per customer, nothing to do with your ISPs contention ratios.

Basically, the network was design so you could buy Internet from one service, and TV from another, and presumably VoIP from yet another - all coming in via the same VDSL connection. This makes sense with them using a fully managed router (in bridge mode) as presumably they assign each service to one of the ethernet ports. Even some ADSL2+ providers function the same today where their VoIP service is a separate virtual network from their Internet, presumably so they can operate QoS on the router and guarantee VoIP has no contention.

The 25Mbit minimum is so that VoIP and/or TV will always have at LEAST 25Mbit between them on your line, as obviously anyone delivering those services HAS to guarantee no contention at all for those services so it would be no good having 50:1 contention on the network, it could break those services completely. An ISP service on the other hand are still left to decide their own contention ratios although I think its safe to say they will always try to keep performance up or lose customers.

Its also worth noting the 10Mbit guarantee Ripwire quotes on their site actually refers to a minimum SYNC speed, not actual throughput. The idea being that if your line cannot obtain a 10Mbit minimum sync you are allowed to refuse connection, any greater than that and you are tied into a 12 month contract. Likewise, DRL have a 15Mbit minimum, the same rules apply.

As for residential services, I believe all the ISPs do provide them but none are advertised on their websites yet. The prices I know of are Ripwire at £25/month and DRB is £35/month. DRB claim you can cancel your land line once you are connected with them and use VoIP instead (even porting your BT number over to the service), saving you line rental. Ripwire are unsure about that, but I suspect they will eventually discover you can do the same.

As for activation costs, the burden lies on the customer for now. Ripwire charge £75 inc VAT, DRB charge £75 also but there is some confusion over if theirs is inc or exc VAT. According to the person I have been talking to at DRL, BT charge slightly more than £75 to wire up the connection so as usual, its BTs pockets we are lining even when getting as far away from their services as possible.

Also I believe anyone can order fibre to the home on Digital Region, but its likely to cost a fortune as you will have to pay the cost of laying the fibre from the cabinet to your house. Its generally businesses who will do that I think.

Edited by alexatkin (Thu 28-Oct-10 05:10:11)

On dropping voice service, I'm not so sure.

Also FTTP has been possible for 10+ years, just costs a fortune for dedicated fibre between property and POP.

FYI
Whilst DRBL will allow you to port your telephone number to their VOIP service (and then cancel the BT line) apparently you will not be able to port the number back...

anon coward

Seems Digital Region Broadband has hiked their published prices, and quite significantly..

The top tier.. Business 40, now costs from £85 ex vat/month.. up from a previous price of £45 ex vat

The mid tier.. Homeworker 40 has gone up from £40 ex vat/month to £50 ex vat/month

The basic.. Basic 20 (as the name suggests a 20Mbps product) has stayed fixed at £30 ex vat/month

http://www.digitalregionbroadband.co.uk/internet-sol... for current pricing

Google cached copy.. http://goo.gl/tmlau

Seem Digital Region Broadband (now Digital City Broadband) has kiked their prices again..

The basic 20Mb Broadband has had a name change and is now called Business 20, this now costs £45 per month

The Mid Tier Homeworker 40 has gone up from £50/Month ex vat to £70/Month

The Higher tier Business 40 has gone up from £85/Month ex vat to £100/Month

So effectively over the last couple of months their prices have doubled!

Digital Region retails via a number of providers

http://www.digitalregion.co.uk/servproviders.html

of which Digital Region City is just one.