Fibre Traffic Management and FTTC Cabinet Switch On

[#1]

Hey Plusnet,
These community forums are a great way for users to ask questions like these. Saves me ringing the tech support team or creating a ticket for such trivial questions 
Q1: FTTC Cabinet Switch On
I'd like to know when I might expect to be able to place an order for fibre. Samknows states that my exchange has been enabled for fibre in some areas HERE which might explain the 50 or so BT and various other telecom van's we've been seeing in and around the town. Another check I've made is using the BT Wholesale Checker which states that

Quote

Your cabinet is planned to have WBC FTTC by 30th June 2012.

There's also a shiny new green box sprung up not 15 yds away from my property that has air vents on the front. Also spotted a fair few of these boxes springing up around the town. So I'd just like to know if there's anyway of finding out when I can place an order?
Q2: Fibre Traffic Management
We have every intention of staying with plus.net for the upgrade to fibre. Especially after reading about the 80/20 trials, as I was a little concerned that plus.net would only be providing the 40/10 product. Hopefully when things get off the ground we could sign up to the 80/20 trial. But more importantly I'm concerned about the traffic management of plus.net's fibre products.

We are currently on the Plusnet Pro package which appears as per the chart above to be prioritised more generously than the Fibre Extra plan we are intending on taking out. Please could someone explain how this is possible? Do other providers do this and just not advertise it?

[#2]

You can only place an order when the particular cabinet which feeds your property is up and running and released to service by BT.
When this happens the BT wholesale line checker will change to say something to the effect that fibre is now available to you.
At this point the Plusnet systems will now show that the FTTC can be ordered.
You cannot pre-order before this, and there is no way of knowing exactly when your cabinet will be ready for service.
Treat the announced dates with some sceptism, they tend to be placeholders put in.  Its like when someone asks you when will something you are doing be ready by. You have no idea, so you say anything just to make them go away, when the said date you quoted gets near and you have still not done it...then you simply change the date to another equally invented date.

[#3]

You can add  'pro' to the fibre packages for an extra £5 per month.

[#4]

@x47c
Thanks for the reply. Certainly lowered my hopes. I thought I'd ask the question on here as a friend who's property is only a about 3/4 mile away has been able to place an order with BT. I presume his cabinet has been enabled.

[#5]

Indeed as you have discovered not all cabinets get enabled at the same time.
Some encounter "problems" en-route. One such might be getting a power supply to the fibre boxes (they are mini-exchanges in effect so need a mains power feed).
While on paper this might all have been sorted out/planned whatever, when it comes to doing the job all sorts of things start to emerge such as things in the ground not being what/where the paper plans said they were.  That may mean power has to be taken from somewhere else, that may mean running the cable over private land, that will mean negotiating wayleave/right of access over the land and provisons for future maintenance with the land owner, which in turn means solicitors and legal agreements.....you can see how things can escalate and drag out.
Then there is the possibility of blocked or collapsed ducts leading to the cabinet, meaning that getting the fibre to the fibre box alongside the existing street cabinet sudenly becomes more difficult as the blockages have to be located, then excavated....which in turn may need street works authorisations from the highways authorities...and on and on it goes.

[#6]

I'm aware the cabinet nearest to me is operational as on Tuesday morning I noticed a bloke from a company called Telnet (contractor?) doing some work on it as I was walking to work. I asked him it was ready to go and he mentioned that as far he was concerned everything was good to go and that he would be quote "handing it to over to BT this morning".
There is the possiblity that I was asking about the wrong cabinet and I'm hooked up to a totally different one!
EDIT: Also its apparent that they've already dug up a significant part of the pathway which surrounds the cabinet as there's several fresh tarmac trenchs visible.

[#7]

Sounds promising x47c, hope it all goes smoothly for you.

Quote from: x47c

Some encounter "problems" en-route. One such might be getting a power supply to the fibre boxes (they are mini-exchanges in effect so need a mains power feed).

Our exchange is due to be enabled in September and the cabinet installation is well underway. 'Our' original cabinet is on the opposite side of the road from the power line (overhead) so the new cabinet has been installed across the road from the original. A trench was dug to the nearest powerline pole, a duct laid, and the trench backfilled. At the moment though the only sign of 'fibre' is the blue rope emerging from the end of the duct at the base of the powerline pole! Still, with another 2-3mths to go to the scheduled 'live' date, I remain hopeful.
Trevor

[#8]

I'm just over a week away from our scheduled 'live' date and nothing enabled, probably safe to say you've got a wait on your hands Trevor.
jim:quote

[#9]

you needn't worry about me.........
My exchange is a rural one - with pretty well no possibility at all of a FTTC fibre service without significant government money to subsidise it.
It is simply not economically viable.

[#10]

HI guys,
Bear in mind, dates of 31st March, 30th June, 30th September and 31st December are place holder dates. This means that fibre is planned but there's no set date. These can change any time, so if any of you are looking at 30th June don't be surprised if it changes to 30th September at the end of the month. A date any other than this is a confirmed date.
Jojo

[#11]

Jojo
Could you comment on the traffic management point I raised in my initial topic?
Also, is there any means of obtaining any further info on when my cabinet will go live given what I've mentioned already.

[#12]

HI Pazz,
Even on our supplier's systems it's showing as 30th June. Give us a shout after then and we can check again. As for the traffic management, I couldn't say what other companies do, but our use of it is to ensure the best user experience. As mentioned earlier you can add the Pro add on to your fibre package and this will give you the same experience as the Pro package you're on.
Jojo