FTTC Northern Ireland

So far, BT have said they will be rolling out FTTC in Belfast. Driving though my local town, Enniskillen today I have spotted 3 new BT Cabs installed beside existing cabs. Me thinks that Enniskillen id close to getting FTTC.

I live close to L'Derry and can only get around 1mb. Woke up last saturday morning and saw KN Networks parked outside installing a new FTTC cab. They installed 2 in the village. BT havn't mentioned our exchange in their rollout so it looks like it is to do with the tender BT won a while a go. The KN guy said it'll be a few months until they bring the fibre out. Can't wait =)

AFAIK it is to do with the money that DETI has pumped into developing the local network. I can only get 1 meg as living outside Enniskillen but it doesnt look like a CAB is being installed locally

Hi our exchange area Crossmaglen is to get 6 new cabinets there are already 9 standard cabs in our area and as postcode checher is not live yet I dont know if our area is to get fttc.

I am on the Lisburn Exchange and ( according to the Samknows site ) FTTC will be available to the end user from April onwards. The Network Engineers installed a new green cabinet just along the road from here yesterday morning. I am with PlusNet so hope to be connected within weeks. Balmoral Exchange is the only other one mentioned as being active. Bangor is promised for later this year.

Is there info available around what areas are benefiting from the new FTTC cabs rollout in NI?

Here is a link to the postcode checker but its not live yet .

http://www.fasterbroadbandni.com/

Checker is going live tomorrow at some stage so I have been informed . Fingers crossed .

In reply to a post by leprechun:

Checker is going live tomorrow at some stage so I have been informed . Fingers crossed .

It would be good to see exactly what areas are getting the benefit of this investment.

No sign of the checker live this morning.

Just keep an eye on it I wa not given an excat time just sometime today.

I have been given the same info. See reply beloe from DETINI:

"You have asked about the delivery of broadband in specific areas of NI. The final detailed implementation plans are being finalised.

On 3 December the Minister announced jointly with BT the Next Generation Broadband project which will deliver Next Generation Services to 85% of businesses across Northern Ireland by 2011. The project will involve the deployment of fibre optic cable deeper into urban districts, towns, villages and countryside and upgrades to equipment across 166 exchanges.


It is possible for us to identify the general areas the project will target . If you can provide details of your postal address we arte able to indicate if businesses in the area will be able to benefit from the upgrade.

As part of the project there is an advertising campaign and we anticipate there to be local coverage of the project using billboard, newspapers and other media. You will also want to be aware that a website is being developed for the project. It can be found at http://www.fasterbroadbandni.com/.

This site will be updated as soon as more details of the project have been finalised. I am informed that a checker will be available some time today. However this is focused at business users. For information on the general areas you may also want to look at DETI's website at http://www.detini.gov.uk/deti-telecoms-index/deti--t...

When FTTC is available will residential users be able to get it straight away or just businesses? Residential users havn't really been mentioned so far.

I think everyone who wants to avail of it and who to say that you are not using it for business anyway .

I dont understand the whole map thing .

I have asked the question around non-business users, just waiting on a reply. I would hope that faster BB will be available to all as BT is putting their own money into this, they will be looking for a return on investment that would include residential users.

When I insert my telephone number I get the answer... "The cabinet serving your Post Code is not being upgraded in the Next Generation Project." It must be that it is being upgraded OUTSIDE the Next Generation Project as a new cabinet was installed last Tuesday morning.

I'm on the Lisburn exchange and I get the same reply... "not being upgraded".

However, there are 2 cabinets in this local area, the closest one to me has been done yet the further away one hasn't.

You are not always served by the cabinet closest to you. The same goes for exchanges.

It's possible that I am indeed served by the cabinet further away, in which case it hasn't been done

When I type in my phone number it says the cab will not be upgraded but when I tried the number of a primary school right across the street with the same postcode it said the cabinet is being upgraded and will be ready by 30th April 2010. I know it is definately connected to the same cab so it must only show certain 'business' numbers. I wonder if it is available will we have to get business broadband?

Hi, I'm on the Forkhill exchange and when I enter a business number that is right beside my house i get the reply:

"The cabinet serving your postcode is due to be upgraded in the Next Generation Broadband project and will be ready for service by 31 July 2010 providing a minimum speed of 2Mbp/s Please contact your service provider for more information. "

Hardly next generation?

FMS

As a business user on Crossmaglen exchange the cab that i am on is to be ungraded by 31 Oct good news yes.

Yet my neighbour next door who is non business user and for sure is on the same cab as me get message saying that the cab he is on is not been upgraded .

So what are they going to do have seperate cab for bis and resid users surley not .

This project is aimed at business users. For now i think that residential users will have be left until ISP's come on board.

That what I dont understand ISP's have to be onboard from the start even for buisness users are we going to be tied to using BT as a provider ?

BT look to be the only main ISP selling FTTC so far. And if it is only for business users first we may need to get BT Total Business Broadband Fibre at £30 or £45 per month. I really don't want to wait as the speeds I receive now are awful. Does anyone know if u can get BT business broadband without owning a business?

I am not sure but I think maybe DETI have just got a list of registered business through out northern Ireland and this is what the checker is going by .

I would say by launch time isp's will be all over this I know Elclips isp is starting to sell FTTC packages soon so i am sure there will be others .

Andrews & Arnold already sell FTTC in enabled areas. One of the best ISPs around, but expensive.

Other ISPs have been conducting trials in it before launching the product to customers, since the technology is still very new.

I think you can get BT Business BB without being a registered business.

Yes so what information is the checker going by ?

My ISP is PlusNet ( a BT subsidiary Company ) This is their reply to my query regarding the availability of Fibre.

Determining who can and can't get FTTC at the moment is a bit of a complicated task as the only easy way to do is to check each phone number 1 by 1. Which is rather impractical when we have several thousand customers on the enabled exchanges. It's was pretty hard to manage when there were just 2 exchanges. So at the moment the trial is pretty low key, if people are interested in it and they can get it, and the accept the trial Ts & Cs etc. then we'll happily add people to the trial but we're letting them come to us at the moment rather than us going to them.

The best thing to do is keep an eye on the BT availability checker here:

http://www.dslchecker.bt..../adsl/adslchecker.welcome

Once your exchange and cabinets have ready dates this will show up, some of the dates do move around, there's a couple of threads on the forum now from people in Luton and Basingstoke where the dates keep changing.

Once it's enabled just drop me another PM and I'll let you know how to take part.

Latest info from DETI:

"DETI�s aim was to target businesses with the aim of boosting Northern Ireland�s productivity. Based on your postcode I can confirm that there are plans to invest in telecoms infrastructure for businesses in this area. However I am unable to precisely inform you of the nature of the infrastructure improvements at this time or which businesses will benefit as I do not have that detailed information to hand.

Although the project is business focused, we expect there to be significant spill over benefits to residential consumers. The contract does not prevent BT, or any other service provider, using the infrastructure to deliver services to non-business users and we expect to see this happening but the decision on to provide service to residential consumers will be a decision of the communications provider to make. In fact, the wholesale provision within the terms of the contract is provided on a non-discriminatory basis so that it will encourage competition and choice in the provision of faster broadband to all of Northern Ireland."

I would say that as this rolls out it will be availible to all for sure .

Aye, i think once FTTC goes live the next thing will be the roll out od ADSL2+ on most exchanges which will provide a futher boost for most people.

Some official Openreach news here - http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/news/productbriefing...

On 3rd December 2009, Enterprise Minister, Arlene Foster announced an investment totalling £48million in Northern Ireland�s telecommunications infrastructure. Minister Foster stated: "Following a competitive tender exercise, I am pleased to announce that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) has entered into a contract with BT for further development of Northern Ireland�s telecommunications infrastructure, specifically the provision of Next Generation Broadband Services.� The Minister continued: �This project is designed to deliver on the key Programme for Government objective to ensure 85% of businesses in Northern Ireland will have access to next generation broadband speeds by 2011.�

As a result of the Next Generation Broadband (NGB) project 1,175 new fibred (FTTC / VDSL) cabinets will be provided across 166 Northern Ireland exchange areas during the next 18 months.

Openreach is delighted to announce that the 1st phase of the NGB Project will go live on 30th April 2010. The initial 299 cabinets will be ready for service on that date � full details will be available on Openreach�s Enhanced Managed Line Characteristics Dialogue Service (eMLC) from 29th March 2010. We apologise for the relatively short notice period for this announcement, but we will endeavour in future to provide greater notice in accordance with normal notification periods for Phase 2 (end July 2010) onwards.

Damn, 299 cabinets ready by 30th April. BT have been working harder than i thought.

Im gathering the eMLC is basically the fancy name for the FTTC line checker, in which case we may get more accurate results after 29th March.

Just got this responce from DETI

The objective of the contract is to provide improved services for businesses in Northern Ireland in the delivery of a Programme for Government target. It is not targeting domestic users specifically. The systems, and the website checker, have been set up reflect this Programme for Government objective.

As cabinets are enabled BT will inform the Communications Providers/Internet Service Providers, who buy services from BT, that services are now available from the upgraded cabinets. It then becomes a matter for the CP to decide if they wish to offer services from that cabinet. This is a new set of products for the CPs to consider so it is an emerging market. On the plus side the wholesale products are the same products as those offered on a national UK basis so we expect the ISPs to start taking orders. Naturally DETI will be reviewing this to see if services are taken up by CPs at the wholesale level and the types and range of services on offer.

As I mentioned previously it will be a matter for the CPs to decide if they wish to offer services. We hope that consumers will have a choice of providers. However we cannot recommend any specific service providers as it is a changing market and lists supplied now are likely to become out of date vary quickly. However a number of websites that have been set up to assist consumers select a service providers including www.ofcom.gov.uk/broadbandcode www.thinkbroadband.com, www.comparebroadband.com

Just checked the Faster BB NI site and got the following result:

The cabinet serving your postcode is due to be upgraded in the Next Generation Broadband project and will be ready for service by 30 April 2011 providing a minimum speed of 2Mbp/s Please contact your service provider for more information.

This is good news as the cabnit is just across the street

You biz user ?

Both!! I work from home and have a seperate business DSL line for access into my employers network. I am more interested in what will be offered for residential. I cannot see ISP's not jumping on and offering out new services!!

There is nothing in the contract for this roll out to prevent faster speeds to everyone.

I see they have updated the site it now shows what cabinets and were will be upgraded .

http://www.fasterbroadbandni.com/

Interesting. They are going into great detail by posting the cabs too.

I don't think the cab I'm on is included in this rollout though unfortunately. Might double check to see exactly where its located.

I really hope this is not just for business users.

FMcS

The cabinet down the road from me has an RFS date of 30th April. The BT wholesale checker says I can get FTTC but the BT Infinity site still doesn't mention it. Im going to give Infinity a try on 30th. Hope I can get it. Only getting 0.7Mb now =(

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

The cabinet down the road from me has an RFS date of 30th April. The BT wholesale checker says I can get FTTC but the BT Infinity site still doesn't mention it. Im going to give Infinity a try on 30th. Hope I can get it. Only getting 0.7Mb now =(
[/quote

are you a business user ? keep us posted .]

Just seen the site today. Goes into good detail. My CAB will be upgraded next April.

In reply to a post by leprechun:

Here is a link to the postcode checker but its not live yet .

http://www.fasterbroadbandni.com/

Does anyone know how accurate this site is? I've checked a number of business numbers but only about 2 are recognised.
Though it does say - "The cabinet serving your postcode is due to be upgraded in the Next Generation Broadband project and will be ready for service over the next few weeks providing a minimum speed of 10Mbp/s. Please contact your service provider for more information. "

I not sure how accurate it is but it works for most numbers in my area and I get the same answer. Min. of 10mbps over the next few weeks. It does look to be updated regularly. Check to try and find a cabinet in the area to make sure.

I think its saying i will get 10 meg in the next few weeks too . I dont know how because my cabinet is yo be upgreaded by 31 Oct .

I think the phone checker is saying that for all biz numbers at the min maybe they updating it or something .

It would be great if it were through . I have contact Trevor at DETI about this I have got know reply as of yet. I let you all know when I hear something .

How does the fasterbroadbandni fit in with BT's FTTC rollout, which includes a few NI towns? If you look at some of the recent ISP's that are offering BT FTTC products, they only list the few towns in the BT rollout list, not the larger list on fasterbroadbandni - are the 2 completely seperate?

I believe that once all the CAB's have been commissioned and intergrated into existing BT Network, they will updated on all the checkers

It appears they are avoiding city centre Belfast...I cant see any planned upgrades in the centre of town I wonder if we are all on direct to exchange lines?

In reply to a post by SilentBob:

How does the fasterbroadbandni fit in with BT's FTTC rollout, which includes a few NI towns? If you look at some of the recent ISP's that are offering BT FTTC products, they only list the few towns in the BT rollout list, not the larger list on fasterbroadbandni - are the 2 completely seperate?

Based on my location in Bangor i'm likely connected to the cabinet listed as:
P40 SILVERBIRCH RD BT19 6EU Apr 30th 2010

People viewing that postcode on google maps can see it's a significant distance from the Bangor exchange. I know that my line is about 2.5 miles long based on info gained in the past from BT engineers testing the line. There is a new fibre cabinet at this location and at others in the area (Kilmaine Road, Ballycrochan Road as examples). I've seen the engineers running the fibre and they appear ready to go.

Only problem is BT is a bit slow on the updates and don't seem able to provide a connection yet. Andrews and Arnolds checker does have the latest data it would appear:

In reference to clueless.aaisp.net.uk/availability.cgi:

Our check also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL Max broadband line speed of 2.5Mbps.

Our check also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL2+ broadband line speed of 2.5Mbps.
Our test also indicates that your line currently supports a fibre technology with an estimated WBC FTTC Broadband where consumers have received downstream line speed between 15 to 17.1 Mbps and upstream line speed between 5.9 to 6.9 Mbps.

My actual speed at the moment is about 3mbit-4mbit depending on the mood of the line, so anything resembling the speeds indicated would be rather fun.

I have more info on a thread I made listing some of my observations here

Still no areas in the city showing up - with the highest density of business's!? Perhaps they dont want to lose any business for private circuits.

I had a bt engineer out this morning, my speed had dropped to 0.75 when it was saying 1.47 on router but anyway he tells me theres a fibre optic cabinet 1mile from my house. my exchange is pomeroy and thats nearly 4miles away. I should get alot faster connection soon right? By using a business number I found out its being enabled 31st july, happy days

Just to update that I've got Infinity installed now and it's running nicely. You can compare my new speed with old in my signature.

Also notice the checker estimated 16Mbit for me...but I actually get 26Mbit.

My cabinet is also different from the one I expected - I'm connected to one about 3 times further away but it's still flying.

What speed roughly would I expect being 1.2miles from the green cabinet? I got into the car and drove to it, 1.2miles exactly. The business checker just says at least 2mb, hardly mind boggling. Do I need order it now or wait till its gone live on 31st july?

I've a feeling that you won't be able to get Infinity from that distance, I'm 0.8miles by road from my cab and the checker doesn't say anything about infinity. I then checked a few of my neighbours numbers, one of which I could throw a stone at and they get an estimated speed of 16meg on BT infinity. Looks like I'm stuck with 0.5meg

Actually I should get it, I've just checked aaisp line checker and it says:-
"Your cabinet is planned to have WBC FTTC by 31st August 2010. Our test also indicates that your line currently supports a fibre technology with an estimated WBC FTTC Broadband where consumers have received downstream line speed of 10.5Mbps and upstream line speed of 3.3Mbps."

http://aaisp.net.uk/

In reply to a post by dills:

I've a feeling that you won't be able to get Infinity from that distance, I'm 0.8miles by road from my cab and the checker doesn't say anything about infinity. I then checked a few of my neighbours numbers, one of which I could throw a stone at and they get an estimated speed of 16meg on BT infinity. Looks like I'm stuck with 0.5meg

Why? You can get ADSL miles from the exchange. You could certainly get a working VDSL connection (for infinity) at similar distances but obviously the speed decreases back towards ADSL speeds as the distance increases. Point is, at lesser distances, which is why the cabinets are installed in local neighbourhoods, you usually end up with a higher speed than was previously attainable with ADSL services.

As for your own circumstance...the checkers update as the work to install cabinets and associated infrastructure completes. Also note that your neighbour isn't necessarily on the same cabinet as you regardless of how close they are to you.

But I don't think they connect lines to fibre that don't achieve the minimum 15mbps downstream sync.

this is worth a read http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/products/nga/fttp/do...

3.1 SERVICE AVAILABILITY

The Communications Provider acknowledges that the bandwidth deliverable to an End User premises
is dependent on a number of factors. The Communications Provider will check the estimated potential
GEA-FTTC Service performance prior to submitting an Order using the Manage Line Characteristics
(�MLC�) dialogue service. Subject to paragraph 5 below, the Communications Provider acknowledges
that BT will provide the GEA-FTTC Service only if the MLC dialogue service indicates that a
downstream speed of 15Mbit/s or greater may be achieved. If the MLC dialogue service indicated that
Service may achieve a downstream speed of 15Mbit/s or higher but the BT engineer is unable to
achieve a minimum of 15Mbit/s on test prior to commencing installation work, the service provided
immediately prior to the proposed provision will be restored, the Order will be discontinued and the
Communications Provider will be informed.

Unless someone who got connected at less than 15meg can say different.
In saying that AAISP aren't saying I can't get it at 10mbps, maybe lines under 15meg come under a different package?
But as you say when the cab goes live sync estimates will change, hopefully for me for the better.

Edited by deleted (Fri 23-Jul-10 18:53:30)

Finally got connected on Tuesday after waiting since February. FasterbroadbandNI website said the cabinet installation date was 30th April but it took a few months to be able to order it. I am 650m from the cab. BT website says I can receive 17.7Mb down but I actually sync at the full 40Mb and usually receive no lower then 30Mb with the highest being around 37.4Mb. (Probably because I live in a newish house so the lines only a few years old) With AAISP so don't use it much until after 6 but the service is great and much better then my 1meg adsl. I think I read somewhere on this site about a BT sub 15meg product later this year but not quite sure.

In reply to a post by swervinc:

I am 650m from the cab. BT website says I can receive 17.7Mb down but I actually sync at the full 40Mb and usually receive no lower then 30Mb with the highest being around 37.4Mb. (Probably because I live in a newish house so the lines only a few years old)

I have just placed an order for the service this evening and, like you am about 650 metres from the green box. My estimated speed is also 17.7Mb down which would have been a bit disappointing bearing in mind my current line speed is quoted at 10000 by PlusNet. I hope I can manage your speed of 30Mb +

Can't believe that this thread has been idle since the end of July!

Have many people in NI now got FTTC?

There has been ongoing work on a new cabinet 150m from my house and all I can find out is that

1, SamKnows says I am on an FTTC enabled exchange (Antrim)

2, FasterBroadBandNI says that the cabinet I can see has an installation date of 31 Oct 2010.

I have checked at various times on the BT Infinity site and I did get an estimate once of 17.7Mbps for FTTC but it doesn't get a mention now at all.

This whole FTTC rollout in NI seems shrouded in mystery.

There are a number of cabinets being installed in my area over the past few weeks (Lisburn) and the sites say it is available to me from 30-09-10.
They give me an estimate of 22meg down and 8meg up.

My order will go in on the 30th. I'll update with the progress here.

Just checked fasterbroadbandni.com and the list has updated! Belfast - City, now has a larger list of enabled cabs than before. Still not my cabinet, but at least new ones are still being added!

In reply to a post by tallseabird:

Can't believe that this thread has been idle since the end of July!

Have many people in NI now got FTTC?

There has been ongoing work on a new cabinet 150m from my house and all I can find out is that

1, SamKnows says I am on an FTTC enabled exchange (Antrim)

2, FasterBroadBandNI says that the cabinet I can see has an installation date of 31 Oct 2010.

I have checked at various times on the BT Infinity site and I did get an estimate once of 17.7Mbps for FTTC but it doesn't get a mention now at all.

This whole FTTC rollout in NI seems shrouded in mystery.

How is it a mystery? every cabinet being upgraded is online.

I have checked at various times on the BT Infinity site and I did get an estimate once of 17.7Mbps for FTTC but it doesn't get a mention now at all.

http://www.trefor.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/exc...
says "Accepting orders from CPs now" but I can't find one

In reply to a post by tallseabird:

I have checked at various times on the BT Infinity site and I did get an estimate once of 17.7Mbps for FTTC but it doesn't get a mention now at all.

http://www.trefor.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/exc...
says "Accepting orders from CPs now" but I can't find one

. My area was due to be enabled the end of October . It has now been enabled but i have some problems .



When I done the wholsale checker it showed that my line was able for half meg for both max bb and FTTC this was before cab became enabled . Now when I do the same check the option for FTTC has gone completely and only left with the MAX bb option . It is avilable to my neigbours around me .



I have just ordered FTTC with BT for my friend today and he has got an install date for 29 October . He had an estimate of 18 meg down . I am a little bit further than him from the cabinet that we are fed off . His line lenght is estimated at 16 k anf mine is 10 k from exchange .

I did speck to a KN engineer working on our cabinet and he said that the cabinet had not even gone live yet . I ask Trevor at DETI about this and he said that it was normal practice for CP's to presell FTTC .

I am a buisness and have been contacted three time in the past year by the fastbroadband people confirming to me that this service would be available to me . Trevor at DETI is looking into this for me and will get back to . I will let you know how I get on



Any ideas folks ?

I see BT have updated the Infinity Online Checker. It is now show that I can get it from the 31st March 2011 with an estimated speed of 23meg down and 10meg up!!!!!

All I can say is roll on March next year

leprechun

Just to be clear are you and your friend 16K and 10K from the exchange or from the cabinet?

The intention is that the cabinet would be closer to you than the exchange but the speed would drop off quicker using the new FTTC technology

In reply to a post by tallseabird:

leprechun

Just to be clear are you and your friend 16K and 10K from the exchange or from the cabinet?

The intention is that the cabinet would be closer to you than the exchange but the speed would drop off quicker using the new FTTC technology

From the exchange but he is closer to the cab than me

So you are at least 6K apart and you are both served from the same cabinet?

One or other of you must be at least 3K from the cabinet which is not good

Just an update on my line.

It took just over one month from order to BT visit.
I am 400m from cabinet and have obtained the full sync!

Speedtests show 37.2Mb/s down and 8.15Mb/s up !
Ping of 24ms.

Happy person.

(near Lisburn)

Work has started on the upgrade of my local cabinet, with the base for the new FTTc cab being set and ducting work being done.

Post deleted by BuckleZ

Just had the CAB installed across the road

Mine has been in place for a couple of months now - but still no acknowledgment from BT that it is even there.
I think that there must be some stumbling block on the Northern Ireland rollout - but I can't find any information on it! Anyone heard anything?

In reply to a post by nelix01:

Just had the CAB installed across the road

Now you just have to hope you're connected to it.

In reply to a post by orly:

In reply to a post by nelix01:

Just had the CAB installed across the road

Now you just have to hope you're connected to it.

I believe that I am.. We are quite rural and it is the only one within 3 miles!!!

In reply to a post by tallseabird:

Mine has been in place for a couple of months now - but still no acknowledgment from BT that it is even there.
I think that there must be some stumbling block on the Northern Ireland rollout - but I can't find any information on it! Anyone heard anything?

Have you checked http://fasterbroadbandni.com/checkcabinet.php ?

It has been updated from an installation date of 31st Oct 2010 to Ready for Customer Orders but still no indication from the BT checkers that anything is available

Theres 2 cabs installed on the main road to my house, I am pretty sure I am served by at least one of them, however it seems the filling station 500 yards from me can get bt infinity but its still showing bt broadband 1mb connection for my line.

I take it businesses are getting priority before residential? Anyone an idea on when they plan to offer residentials.

Phone and Ask?

Sorry, I have been overlooking this thread

Bad news for me - the new cab is across the street and it serves the people across the street, I would appear to be too close to the exchange and already get quite a good speed (about 12/13Mb/s on ADSL2+) - in this case I would be better if I was as little as 50yards further away from the exchange.

Oh well - it'll come to me eventually!

In reply to a post by tallseabird:

Sorry, I have been overlooking this thread

Bad news for me - the new cab is across the street and it serves the people across the street, I would appear to be too close to the exchange and already get quite a good speed (about 12/13Mb/s on ADSL2+) - in this case I would be better if I was as little as 50yards further away from the exchange.

Oh well - it'll come to me eventually!

Seemed obvious when it was ready for service and your number returned nothing. Bad luck but as you say it should come eventually. I believe BT is getting a lot of help in NI from the government to do the roll out so I'd expect it to the be the first UK region with 100% cabinets done similar to when it had the ADSL rollout completed ahead of others.

Cabinets further out get done first and work in, or so it seems.

I think you will find that the FTTC rollout was initially deployed for businesses in NI and as such I am also lead to believe that the Cabinets will be in place and serving businesses for 3 months before they are then opened up for consumer orders.

I rang up BT some time ago when I saw the 3 new local cabinets going in to see if I would be connected to one of them and to also get some idea of what cabinet I currently connected to to save me flogging a dead horse if I stood no chance of getting it. BT could not (or would not) supply information to support either so I took the sneaky route in.

I am fortunate enough to have a friend who is a BT engineer and he checked to see if I did connect to one of our new cabinets. He confirmed I was, advised of which cabinet, and indicated that BT's in house system acknowledged that I could receive FTTC through that cabinet back in early January. Unfortunately the BT Wholesale website just reflected good old ADSL when I checked at the time despite the cabinets going live at the end of October 2010 and still does to this day.

He was also unable to force anything through so he just suggested ringing up BT and banging on at them until they took an order (if you are connected to an FTTC cabinet of course).

It appears that it is a waiting game for consumers and good luck in tracing your connectivity to one of the shiny tall green cabinets!

In reply to a post by DBNI2K:

I think you will find that the FTTC rollout was initially deployed for businesses in NI and as such I am also lead to believe that the Cabinets will be in place and serving businesses for 3 months before they are then opened up for consumer orders.

I rang up BT some time ago when I saw the 3 new local cabinets going in to see if I would be connected to one of them and to also get some idea of what cabinet I currently connected to to save me flogging a dead horse if I stood no chance of getting it. BT could not (or would not) supply information to support either so I took the sneaky route in.

I am fortunate enough to have a friend who is a BT engineer and he checked to see if I did connect to one of our new cabinets. He confirmed I was, advised of which cabinet, and indicated that BT's in house system acknowledged that I could receive FTTC through that cabinet back in early January. Unfortunately the BT Wholesale website just reflected good old ADSL when I checked at the time despite the cabinets going live at the end of October 2010 and still does to this day.

He was also unable to force anything through so he just suggested ringing up BT and banging on at them until they took an order (if you are connected to an FTTC cabinet of course).

It appears that it is a waiting game for consumers and good luck in tracing your connectivity to one of the shiny tall green cabinets!

Be interested to see how many businesses are connected to the cabinet i'm on, slap bang in the middle of a residential area with 0 businesses seemingly connected to it. Also one of the earlier cabinets completed...

Think your analysis is unlikely as it's not economically sensible.

In reply to a post by orly:

Be interested to see how many businesses are connected to the cabinet i'm on, slap bang in the middle of a residential area with 0 businesses seemingly connected to it. Also one of the earlier cabinets completed...

Think your analysis is unlikely as it's not economically sensible.

Whilst I agree (to a degree) that it may not make economical sense to upgrade to FTTC country wide I think we need to appreciate what the NI Executive are trying to achieve by part funding the project with BT and attempting to bring 100% FTTC or other faster Broadband technologies to NI.

This product is not being put in for us consumers, we are an after thought and can obviously avail of the facilities once they are there. It's all about business and luring big businesses to the province. If businesses know that we have a fast and reliable communications and Broadband network (amongst other factors of course) then it can be a big swaying point in our country being used as a prime location for any new businesses.

If it pays off then the gamble and the huge expense would be worth it. Would you not agree?

Also you may find there are a considerable number of small businesses around you that you cannot actually see. With more and more people working from home, having FTTC available to them would have huge benifits what with VOIP and remote connectivity as a small example of the technologies that they could be using.

I dont agree with you on this one sorry. I know plenty of residential customers who were able to place orders as soon as the FTTC CAB went live in their area. There is no benefit of having a couple of business connected to CAB when there are far many more private properties that could be bringing in additional revenues. Remenber, BT have invested alot more money that DETI and will be looking for a return on their investment as soon as possible.

Rules may be different in NI, but for mainland it is very often the case that 'aid' to help with broadband has to be seen to be helping business needs. Thus there are often IT education programmes to help businesses make the most of the online world.

In terms of raw numbers of people who benefit the average consumer will out number the businesses, but the businesses generally have a much larger say, due to the revenue and jobs they bring to an area.

Agree with what you are saying but in NI I know a few business customers who just like me are waiting on the new FTTC CAB in our area to be commissioned. I really dont think residential customers have to wait until business customers have been using the service for 3 months before being allowed to place orders.

if the cab has not been commissioned, then how can residential customers order from that cabinet?

or are you saying that in a town, some cabinets that you view as purely residential have been enabled before yours? If so then sorry but it is just the reality of a roll-out where you cannot click your fingers and drop this stuff onto the pavement in a minute or two.

I think you have taken me up wrong on this.

I understand the roll out process in NI and the work that is involved to deliver the infrastructure.

The point I am making is that I know of CAB's going live with both Residential and Business customers being able to place orders at the same time. Therefore the OP's point that they have to be live for 3 months before Residential customers can order is not the case.

I live in a small rural community this is due to be upgraded shortly. I know a number of local business, who when they check their details are being given the same RSD as their Residential neighbours.

The Faster Broadband NI website has been updated and now states that 85% of the project has now been delivered. This would be the CAB's that were to be installed by the 31st January.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-12524277

any idea if this is a seperate project or just part of the DETI one?

Alun,

Think this can be related to the exisiting project in that BT have taken on additional staff to help with the build and then home install of FTTC.

The article mentions "over the next year" and "by March 2012" - the existing project was to be by April 2011 so this should be additional investment and it is a BT investment, I think so far the Assembly have been footing the bill.

Interesting...thanks!

So far DETI and DARD have invested £18 million and BT £30 Million on the current project. Reading the artical again, it doesnt make it clear if this is a further investment but it does hint at it.

This is further investment onto of the DETI Project. See this NI Broadband Website for full details.

Edited by nelix01 (Mon 21-Feb-11 16:31:54)

There you go

I was disappointed because the cabinet 150M from my house didn't serve my house - now I find out (very provisionally) that the cabinet 20M from my house will (at least I think so) in Dec 2011 - good things come to he who waits!!!!