1. Will I have to pay anything for either the new kit and installation?

No, there will be no charge for the modem or installation.

2. Will there be a new 18 month contract?

Not for joining the trial, there will be no change to any contract length unless you specifically change to a new account with a new contract or take a recontracting offer independently of the trial.

3. What happens if the trial ends will 1. or 2. apply in order to reverse the process?

If the trial ends there would be no cost for the kit or installation or recover of the modem. BT will post a jiffy bag out to return the modem, the new face plate and any wiring kit installed to connect to the modem can be retained free of charge,

4. Will it cost any extra per month for this greater speed?

For the trial there will be no extra charges for the higher speed, you would remain on your existing account type, subscription fee and contract. We have not decided what will happen post trial.

5. Will there be any special limitations on usage?

There will be no limitations on usage other than those applicable to your account type. We have not decided what will happen post trial.

6. Will I have a dynamic/static/same IP address?

You will have the same IP address as you have on your existing account type.

7. I’d prefer to use a VDSL2 capable modem of my choice, can I?

For the trial BT will install their modem at your premises, a “wires only” VDSL2 service will likely become available at a later date so we would advise not and wouldn’t be able to provide any support on it.

8. What is the timescale for bringing this new technology to <<enter your exchange name here>>?

A further 29 exchanges are due to be enabled later in the year. It is estimated that 500,000 homes will be able to receive VDSL2 by the end of March 2010 and 9.500,000 by the March 2012. We don’t have any details on specific exchanges beyond the initial two at this stage. Openreach have published this list of proposed exchanges.

9. If/when the trial ends, will I have to give the VDSL2 modem back?

If the trial ends and we revert you back to ADSL or ADSL2+ or you cease the service (including migrating to a non VDSL2+ service with another ISP) BT would send a jiffy bag out to recover the modem. If the trial ends and moves to a fully live service and you remain on the service you would retain the modem as long as your service remained active.

10. If the end of the trial were to coincide with the offering of this as a standard service, would I keep the modem and continue on, or would I have to be removed from the trial and returned to the previous setup prior to moving to a commercial VDSL2 product?

It is unlikely we’d move you off of FTTC and back to ADSL/ADSL2+ only to switch you back to VDSL2 as a live service. It is expected that you would either just continue on VDSL2 as a live service or would be moved back to ADSL/ADSL2+ depending on the result of the trial and what products were available to you.

11. Will the VDSL2 modem work with my <insert wireless router model, in particular whichever router the trialist was most recently issued by Plusnet>?

The VDSL2 modem has a single ethernet port so your wireless router will need a LAN port that can be connected to the VDSL2 modem. We have yet to test the VDSL2 modem with any of our hardware.

12. Will the other existing T&Cs remain the same as my current tariff, with any necessary changes being in place only for the duration of the trial?

The main T’s & C’s will remain unchanged however there will be a set of trial T’s & C’s for the duration of the trial, these are available here:

http://community.plus.net/fttc_terms/

13. Does not having an NTE5 style master socket preclude volunteering for the trial?

Not necessarily, the engineer should be able to fit either an NTE5 or an extension kit as part of the installation.

14. Will Plusnet be offering any guides to help users configure hubs/routers to provide a wireless connection?

If there is sufficient demand we can look into doing this or customers can create tutorials for publication on the Community Site.

15. If the new service is problematic can I go back to my existing one?

We would initially want to progress it as fault with BT and try and resolve it for you. If this doesn’t prove possible a migration path back to ADSL or ADSL2+ does exist however would take 5 working days to complete.

16. If the new service is problematic will I get a refund or credit?

We will look at all faults on the FTTC trial on a case by case basis. However, we should stress that this is a trial and we cannot guarantee the service to be fault free. If loss of broadband would cause you significant problems (e.g. you use it for work) we would recommend not taking part in the trial.

17. What if I have a faulty modem?

During the trial BT will own the modem so if it develops a fault BT will arrange an engineer visit to repair or replace it. Diagnostic checks (including remote diagnostics from the router if possible) will be run as part of the fault finding process.

18. What happens if I move house?

If you move to a property outside of the trial area you would be moved to ADSL (or ADSL2+ if applicable.. If you stayed within the trial area it is expected we would offer you the choice of staying on the trial or moving to ADSL.

19. Is the trial available to everyone?

We expect the trial will be available to all Plusnet (including Force9, Freeonline and Metronet) and Madasafish customers across all broadband products. Migration to the trial will be possible from IPStream, LLU and ADSL2+. However, as above we must stress that this is a trial and that we cannot guarantee the service to be fault free.

20. How will being on the FTTC trial affect any decision to migrate to another ISP using a MAC? Who will organise / pay for the migration back to ADSL / ADSL2 as appropriate.

Migration from FTTC to another ISP using IPStream, Datastream, WBC/WBMC ADSL2+ and SMPF LLU will be possible using a MAC key. The reprovide charge would go to the gaining ISP and would be their decision as to whether that was passed on to end user. We will issue a MAC on request via the normal channels but would recommend advising the new ISP you are switching from FTTC.

21. Will the FTTC trial be included in the proposed TR-069 (auto setup of routers) trials?

The TR-069 trial will likely be complete by the time the first customers are moved to FTTC however as the modem is BT installed it won’t be compatible with our TR-069 platform.

22. Can the modem only be installed in the master socket?

No, the engineer will either install the modem in the master socket or if this isn’t convenient or near a power socket they will install a data extension kit up to 30m from the master socket.

23. What appointment times will be available?

We anticipate the appointment times will either be AM (8am to 1pm) or PM (1pm to 6pm) Monday to Friday. Openreach will contact each end user 3 working days in advance of the appointment date to confirm the slot and installation location.

24. Does the modem need to be left on at all times?

The modem allows BT to monitor and test the service provided. The modem must be within reach of a power supply, and must remain connected to the power and data port of the service specific front plate at all times.

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This entry was posted by Dave Tomlinson on Friday, June 12th, 2009 at 5:02 pm and is tagged with PlusNet News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.