Fibre, Fibre, Wherefore Art Thou Fibre?

[#1]

I live in Boston which is the second largest town by population in the county of Lincolnshire with a 2001 census figure of 55,800 and a 2011 figure of 64,600 and according to the local council's website only the city of Leicester has experienced a higher percentage population growth rate between the two census dates.
Just looking at the regional map showing which neighbouring towns can either get Plusnet Fibre already or are at least on the future roll out list there seems to be a rather glaring anomaly in that without exception they are all smaller than Boston:-
King's Lynn, Norfolk : 42,800
Grantham, Lincs      : 34,592
Louth, Lincs              : 15,000
Bourne, Lincs          : 16,000
Boston, Lincs          : 55,800 (2001) & 64,600 (2011)
If local population size isn't the main criterion for fibre installations then what is?
My personal interest is due to  the fact that I have just bought a 'smart' TV and will be using the various apps and BBC iPlayer etc to watch available online media. Fortunately I have some leeway as I normally only use around half of my 60Gb monthly bandwidth allowance although a 45 minute BBC iPlayer programme that I watched this afternoon accounted for 1.0 Gb on its own. Hence I was intrigued to note that a comparably priced package on Plusnet Fibre offers up to 250Gb/month which is more than four times as much as my package allows.
So, when can Boston expect a Plusnet Fibre connection?

[#2]

Check out the thread about the launch of the new unlimited packages this Wednesday, that should solve you problem until you get fibre.

[#3]

If increased allowance is your primary concern, from Wednesday you will have available an account that on 21CN will let you use over 6000GB per month for £9.99 (if you take a 12month contract).
Link

[#4]

According to Samknows Boston is expected to get FTTC in 2013. Openreach's plan lists it as a Future Exchange (type Boston in the 'postcode' box). Since the exchange is already in the plans you could try emailing Openreach at nga.enquiries@openreach.co.uk to request an update. See their FAQ.

[#5]

Thanks all for the info.
I'll drop by on Wednesday and see what's cooking. 
It's strange how different things look on an HD TV to the way they look on my PC monitor. BBC iPlayer was just like watching a live broadcast on BBC1 HD with no discernible difference between the two. The downside of that being greater usage and more bandwidth. It's nice to see that Plusnet are keeping up with the times even if BT are lagging behind on the exchange changeovers.
I'll email BT Openreach now and see what they have to say. 
Thanks again.

[#6]

I emailed BT Openreach on 16th December and have just received this quite encouraging reply...

Quote

Thank you for your enquiry.  You are connected to the Boston Exchange, cabinet 28. Our systems indicate that the cabinet will hopefully be ready for service by the end of May 2013, barring any complications. I suggest you continue to monitor our Web-Site which will keep you up to date with our latest deployment news for your exchange, the site also contains FAQs. The Web-Site can be viewed using the following link: http://www.openreach-communications.co.uk/superfast/where-and-when/ I am sorry I cannot provide a definite date at this time.

To be honest I was pleasantly surprised to receive a reply at all so if it does transpire that the local switchover takes place in May 2013 then that's not too long to wait.  

[#7]

Glad to hear the enquiry was successful and with a positive result.
Worth keeping an eye on your cabinet and the availability checker next spring. In the meantime changing product to Unlimited might be appropriate. You'll be able to upgrade to the fibre version once your cabinet is fibre enabled.

[#8]

Quote from: Spruance

If local population size isn't the main criterion for fibre installations then what is?

I would have thought that the main criterion would be the proportion of the population to which BT think they can sell the service. If customers already have speeds in excess of 10Mbps i suggest that this is not going to be as good a market prospect as those like me - large village pop. 5000, 3 miles from exchange & consequent dire speeds 1.5 Mbps on a good day, people have rushed to buy. I have been on FTTC now for > 1year.

[#9]

I also live in a small Dorset village, pop. 3,500. We're nearly 3 miles from the Fordingbridge (Hants) exchange which went fibre at the end of September. Despite the huge expense & some serious problems with broken ducting etc, BT ran the cable to the village. I was connected immediately & now have fantastic broadband for the first time in over 10 years. The uptake has been phenomenal with several Openreach vans in the village every day setting up new connections. I'be just received a broadband coonector box from Sky which has converted my TV to s semi smart model at negligible expense.