Network Expansion

Could someone please explain in non-technical terms what this means for Zen FTTC customers not connected to an exchange covered by this expansion? I am on the Malvern exchange with the nearest expansion point some 7 miles away at St Peters in Worcester. I should add that I currently get a very stable 76/16 service from Zen so I am not unhappy just interested.

Our 200 PoPs plus another 270 exchange locations will enable us to provide services to at least 6 million UK premises. We will use BT Openreach local loop access to deliver services directly from our owned and managed equipment located in local exchanges.

have zen released these prices yet? they dont seem too keen to sell these services or is it one of those "contact us for quote" things.

G'Day lexden16,

In non-technical terms, for the quote below, it means we can now allow at least 6million people to connect to us in a similar way to our LLU connections. This means the supplier to them is Zen and OpenReach and not, Zen, BTW, OpenReach.

Hope this helps.

In reply to a post by Azzaka:

G'Day lexden16,

In non-technical terms, for the quote below, it means we can now allow at least 6million people to connect to us in a similar way to our LLU connections. This means the supplier to them is Zen and OpenReach and not, Zen, BTW, OpenReach.

Hope this helps.

Thanks - I think. To put it another way, what does it mean for a Zen subscriber on the WMMAL exchange post your network expansion? Am I likely to see any benefits in (a) QOS, (b) cost or (c) bandwidth allowance or are the benefits likely to be restricted to Zen customers on a Zen/Openreach connection?

Hmm that's a better question. I can't answer it @11pm at night, however I will email a colleague and ask them if they can answer it for me.

I am hoping (as a zen subscriber) that the cost for FTTC would come down across the board, however I honest am not sure.

Leave it with me and I'll find out for you.

All the best,

I have spoken to our Broadband Product Manager and have been provided the following information which I hope will be helpful.

"There will be no direct impact on the service that users on the Malvern (WMMAL) exchange, or other exchanges not included as part of this expansion, receive . However we hope that the benefits of this work will reach you in some way in the near future. As Leo has indicated, this network expansion takes more of the connection between our customers and the internet away from BT Wholesale and puts it into the ownership and control of Zen. Although this takes a lot of upfront investment it will reduce our operational costs over time particularly bandwidth costs.

While this is new we�re still working on finding a balance between passing on these cost benefits to our customers and funding further expansion beyond 200 PoPs. One step has been to cut our fibre optic broadband installation by more than 50% which is available to all current copper broadband customers and new customers whether they are on one of the affected exchanges or not.

To reiterate, the speeds and performance of your performance will be unaffected. As for changes to costs and bandwidth allowances all I can say is that lots of things are under consideration but you will certainly see our products and services evolve over the coming months."

I am a lot wiser: thank you for such a comprehensive response. Tell me that I am wrong but, in the future, I can well see a divergence emerging in the QOS that Zen offers to its Zen - OR customers compared to those remaining on a BTW connection. I appreciate that this is a Zen business decision but it could result in a loss of some customers. I await developments with an open mind and interest.

In reply to a post by Azzaka:

G'Day lexden16,

In non-technical terms, for the quote below, it means we can now allow at least 6million people to connect to us in a similar way to our LLU connections. This means the supplier to them is Zen and OpenReach and not, Zen, BTW, OpenReach.

Hope this helps.

So, you have a PoP at Bedford Town, but will this make any difference to the likelihood of getting fibre service on the SMWLS exchange?

Unfortunately we don't own the cabs, only the connections in the exchange. If your Cab is enabled we should be able to provide you with Fibre whether it is one of our POPs or not.

PM your username to Mick or myself and we'll have a look for you.

Kindest Regards,

In reply to a post by Azzaka:

Unfortunately we don't own the cabs, only the connections in the exchange. If your Cab is enabled we should be able to provide you with Fibre whether it is one of our POPs or not.

PM your username to Mick or myself and we'll have a look for you.

Kindest Regards,

No point Leo, my exchange is a Market 1 and I anticipate FTTC could be several millenia away, Bedfordshire BDUK contracts are still not signed.

I was wondering if proximity to Bedford Town PoP was worth anything, it seems it isn't at present.

No we still need the cabs sorry bud.

In reply to a post by rippedcotton:

No point Leo, my exchange is a Market 1

The market classification has no direct bearing on the availability of FTTC.

A number of small exchanges have been upgraded for FTTC - it is provided from a neighbouring exchange which is enabled.

Presumably the routing of ducts etc is a key factor along with how many cabinets are commercially viable.

In reply to a post by greenglide:

In reply to a post by rippedcotton:

No point Leo, my exchange is a Market 1

The market classification has no direct bearing on the availability of FTTC.

A number of small exchanges have been upgraded for FTTC - it is provided from a neighbouring exchange which is enabled.

Presumably the routing of ducts etc is a key factor along with how many cabinets are commercially viable.

Just discovered that the next rural exchange along, with 3,900 premises, is to get FTTC. Officially ours has 3,110, but that figure doesn't include the large new development that could take the exchange to 10,000+ premises. It must be approaching 3,700 now so where is the point at which an upgrade is triggered?

The funding is limited so is worked out on a per cab basis and new build is only worried about once people have moved in, unless builder negotiates fibre into build

With aim of two thirds of uk enabling such relatively small areas is low down priority list.