Vodafone Ultrafast/Gigafast (Cityfibre 1Gb rollout)

Seems they were telling the world it would be H12018... which is now upon us. Has there been any rumours or news of an actual launch date. Here in Aberdeen they have finished laying fibre in the 1st phase (big chunk of the city basically, 100km of network in Dec 2017) a good while ago, same in my home city Edinburgh...

My contract for FTTC is up in a few weeks..

Edited by Binary_Digit (Tue 05-Jun-18 01:14:32)

If using financial talk, H1 2018 can be April to October

Suspect you might see some local marketing first ahead of the big 'press' launch e.g. leaflets through letter box to get a few early signups and give the installers a ramp up before the big demand of a big launch.

If you are talking financial then it would not refer as dates because the H refers to the word "Hypothesis"

In the case of H1 2018 it just means sometime in 2018

https://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/H1
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/H1.html

Edited by robertcrowther (Mon 04-Jun-18 20:22:46)

Guess its wait and see then

There is another guy waiting on this too.

The last time I checked through all the CityFibre information I read they were aiming to offer it by mid-2018.

I've not heard any update since. I guess you'll have to keep your eyes peeled about it and let us know.

It will be interesting to hear of the install process and performance.

In a strange coincidence just after this post I received an email just thanking me for showing interest. So they must realise people like me have twigged it should be time now! If and then it happens, i'll document the install process.

In reference to :

Thanks for your interest in Vodafone Gigafast Broadband - coming soon to selected UK cities.

Raising the bar for UK broadband
Vodafone Gigafast is full-fibre broadband, which sets a new standard for speed, reliability and near-unlimited bandwidth. It delivers speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second (1,000Mbps), meaning you’ll be able to stream movies, download music and browse your favourite sites faster than ever before.

We’re working hard to bring Vodafone Gigafast Broadband to you as soon as possible and we’ll be back in touch soon with more news.

Thank you,
Vodafone

I was told installs should be starting end of oct/ early nov


Where i live i can order 500/500 package right now on a business plan but its £239/pm

It’s starting in Milton Keynes about now. I’ve been involved with the construction of a “Gigafast Cafe” and Vodaphome have a “Gigafast” truck with six reps trying to push it (the product that is, not the bus).

They tell me that it’s standalone from all existing infrastructure, and that they are building “mini exchanges”. Not sure how true that is, but have just read this on the City Fibre website:

Our purpose-built full fibre and duct network is independent from all other infrastructure providers, making it ideal for those seeking resilience or a fresh, agile alternative to existing suppliers.

Can anybody explain the route theory to me? Would it still be reliant on BT backbone services?

In reply to a post by mrnelster:

Our purpose-built full fibre and duct network is independent from all other infrastructure providers, making it ideal for those seeking resilience or a fresh, agile alternative to existing suppliers.

Can anybody explain the route theory to me? Would it still be reliant on BT backbone services?

I think only Cityfibre can answer that, but FWIW Hyperoptic - who also make similar claims - use Openreach leased fibre in some cases (eg central London). Even if Cityfibre do use BT/Openreach leased fibre backhaul somewhere along the line, they will have total control over it. Also don't be surprised if Cityfibre use BT exchanges to house their fibre head end hardware in some locations, ie leased space from BT. They can't just build brand new mini-exchanges wherever they like, especially not in congested city centres.

The CityFibre model very much relies on not using BT Group fibre assets, i.e. they push dark fibre via their metro networks - which is a bit different to the GPON Vodafone roll-out but tells you a lot about the core network.

I also doubt they will be using leased space in a BT exchange either, their network layout does not follow the old Openreach loop they are designing from scratch and when you do that the existing exchange network is often not the logical location.