Hi
I'm sure this subject has probably been overdone by now, but I just wanted to get some opinions out there, and pointers to any previous posts on the subject (I did a quick forum search, but I couldn't see anything very recent).
So we all know that FTTC means your broadband speed is largely dependant on your proximity to your cabinet (i.e. length of the 'last mile'), whereas the old DSL would be dependant on the total length of your copper line from the exchange. Presumably one of the primary intentions of the original copper rollout was to minimise the total line length from the exchange, but how often was this aim to reduce the total length now at odds with the new desire to reduce the distance to the cabinet (e.g. in the case of doubling back)? I've attached an image to illustrate the issue, whereby property C may may originally have been best served by Cabinet 1 to reduce the total distance from the exchange to 7km, but under FTTC would now be much better served by Cabinet 2 and reducing the 'final mile' of copper from 5km to 1km!
My parents happen to be in a very similar scenario, where their cabinet (no. 12) is 500m up the road towards the exchange, but the nearest cabinet (no. 11) is actually less than 100m in the other direction! To make the situation even worse, the cabinet no. 11 (100m away) now has a fibre cabinet added, but their connected no.12 (500m away) is still waiting!
Has Openreach taken this into account, and will they be offering to reconnect customers in this situation to a sensible cabinet, or would it be better to wait for a flying pigs connection rollout?
Guy
