cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Is there any way to determine if/when my cabinet will be upgraded to FTTC?

Froug
Grafter
Posts: 109
Registered: ‎21-03-2013

Is there any way to determine if/when my cabinet will be upgraded to FTTC?

Subject says it mostly.
I think the answer is mostly 'no' (according to Google :'(), and that even though my exchange has been upgraded and that there are lots of new shiny fiber cabinets in my area, there may not be enough folk connected to my particular cabinet to make it worth BT's while.
I love monopolies Angry - nothing like the free market, and the situation with BT is NOTHING like a free market.
6 REPLIES 6
x47c
Grafter
Posts: 881
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎14-08-2009

Re: Is there any way to determine if/when my cabinet will be upgraded to FTTC?

Well, it is indeed a free market
As your exchange has been upgraded it would be quite easy for you and the rest of your neighbours to club together to pay the price to upgrade your cabinet to a FTTC activated cabinet.
(assuming you are on a cabinet and not on a exchange only line).
Indeed this has already been done in the UK.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-21039717
I think the price does vary considerably depending on the circumstances. This one looks distinctly on the cheap side to me - I suspect a fibre access point on their doorstep. I would have expected £30K-40K  rising to £60K+ for a cabinet a long way from the exchange with duct problems en-route.
I will however guess that you will not find enough volunteers willing to cough up the wonga to do it.
So you will discover,like BT, that upgrading the cabinet is not a viable commercial proposition.
Presumably you will have to wait for BDUK funds (ie that's taxpayer money let's not forget) ) that will be in part be going towards infilling non-commercially viable cabinets in otherwise already enabled FTTC areas.
Froug
Grafter
Posts: 109
Registered: ‎21-03-2013

Re: Is there any way to determine if/when my cabinet will be upgraded to FTTC?

Thanks for the information - just tough luck for folk like me, as I suspected.
It is a free market in that you can pick and chose your ISP/phone supplier BUT BT own the infrastructure to your door, and always get a slice of that cash. They don't do things that are not profitable unless forced to do so, so I will never consider it a free market (unless Virgin runs cable to everyone's street).
spraxyt
Resting Legend
Posts: 10,063
Thanks: 674
Fixes: 75
Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: Is there any way to determine if/when my cabinet will be upgraded to FTTC?

You could email Openreach's NGA enquiries office concerning plans for your cabinet. The address is in the last but one FAQ question here. You need to include your phone number and postcode in the message. A response is likely within 2 weeks.
That FAQ also provides guidance on contacting your local authority to enquire about their plans for deploying superfast broadband in non-commercially viable areas.
David
Froug
Grafter
Posts: 109
Registered: ‎21-03-2013

Re: Is there any way to determine if/when my cabinet will be upgraded to FTTC?

Cheers - thanks for that  Smiley
wintonian
Dabbler
Posts: 18
Registered: ‎25-04-2013

Re: Is there any way to determine if/when my cabinet will be upgraded to FTTC?

http://fttc-check.alc.im/ will tell you what cabinet you are connected to (or if your directly connected as in my case) and if it's currently in Openreach's roll out plans.
Obviously I wouldn't move house or anything based on it's data but it gives you a pretty good idea of the state of play.
The only way to get a definitive answer is to email nga.enquiries@openreach.co.uk and wait several weeks for a response I believe.
njay
Grafter
Posts: 185
Registered: ‎05-04-2013

Re: Is there any way to determine if/when my cabinet will be upgraded to FTTC?

I emailed nga as the estimate towards end of march as checker went from march 2013 to march 2014 Shocked After a few weeks they got back to me and said its available now. Checked and yep it was. Now I'm not saying my email jogged them into doing something but hey it worked first me as I'm now on 78mb fttc unlimited package  lol