FTTPoD

[#1]

I have to stay on FTTC 80/20 for now. Forget the whole pointless FTTPoD 330/30. I doubt that Plusnet will not bring back the trial again.

[#2]

Quote from: goldenfibre

Then why is FTTPoD is more expensive £200 + VAT per month? Doesn't make any sense at all.

In my opinion:
To ensure BT does not by their own actions destroy their own highly profitable leased line business by undercutting it with FTTPoD thereby reducing their profit for no gain.
The great dilemma facing all companies - if you bring out a cheaper product aimed at the same customer sector will you get enough new business to offset the loss of profit from those no longer buying your previously more expensive product version.
For comparison (and obviously only if they are in your area) Gigaclear's 1Gbps business grade connection is £500 per month
Note this is still a contended/shared 'up to' connection.
If you want an Enterprise graded virtual leased line over fibre FTTP then the price for a 1Gbps connection is £2990/month
...and you'd pay a fair wack extra on top for stuff like same day maintenance - I think it's £200pm.

[#3]

Strange BT Business will not offer me 330/30 as they say to me it not suitable for residential customer such as a home user. What the point of BT Openreach telling me that FTTPoD is available? Sound like no isp's want to offer this?

[#4]

BT is simply reporting what is available on the cabinet.
you're not a business so clearly they wouldn't offer it to you.

[#5]

Quote from: goldenfibre

Sound like no isp's want to offer this?

Have you tried Gradwell yet?  
I hadn't realised that FTTPoD is now available in my area until I just checked, so I've entered my details into the Gradwell checker:
From £200/month + £500 direct connection charge + £Variable distance related charge.
That'll be a no from me then!  

[#6]

^^ me too. It's a NO from me. Far too expensive (rip off) because it stated 500GB bandwidth allowance too.

[#7]

I also now have access to FTTPoD, checked earlier, I'm in a reasonably cheap 'band' and I'd be looking at around £2k installation (subject to survey) and circa £120 a month. That's at cost too. I suspect a lot of people will see availability over the coming weeks but how many are prepared to pay for it I wonder?

[#8]

Even if you can afford it, I heard that the lead times were atrocious.
There's apparently a revamp and product relaunch coming up for FTTPoD - I doubt that means it will be cheaper though

[#9]

Quote from: Bob

I also now have access to FTTPoD, checked earlier, I'm in a reasonably cheap 'band' and I'd be looking at around £2k installation (subject to survey) and circa £120 a month. That's at cost too. I suspect a lot of people will see availability over the coming weeks but how many are prepared to pay for it I wonder?

Bob what about me? How much is installation cost? and monthly cost too. Can you find out for me.

[#10]

Apart from the significant cost, one of the other stumbling blocks is the minimum contract length. The current BTO service has a minimum of three years and this limits it to business connections as OFCOM introduced a maximum tie in of two years for residential services some time ago.

[#11]

Band Distance Range Operative date Price (ex.VAT) Estimated % of premises in band
A 0m 199m 29/04/2013 £200
B 200m 399m 29/04/2013 £600 55%
C 400m 599m 29/04/2013 £1,000
D 600m 799m 29/04/2013 £1,400 27%
E 800m 999m 29/04/2013 £1800
F 1000m 1499m 29/04/2013 £2,500 14%
G 1500m 1999m 29/04/2013 £3,500
H 2000 2999m 29/04/2013 Terms on Application 2.97%
I 3000m 4999m 29/04/2013 Terms on Application 1.25%
J 5000m 7999m 29/04/2013 Terms on Application 0.08%
K 8,000m and above 29/04/2013 Terms on Application

[#12]

Remember these distances are from the nearest fibre aggregation node and not your local BT cabinet.
So it its likely to be (much) further than you think though it is possible I suppose depending on the network layout for a node to be placed at a cabinet.

[#13]

I believe those prices are ex-VAT too.

Quote from: AndyH

Even if you can afford it, I heard that the lead times were atrocious.

I think the best we've managed is about 8 weeks. That was to a site where there'd been a previous install though, so I suspect a lot of the work had already been done.

Quote from: pwatson

Apart from the significant cost, one of the other stumbling blocks is the minimum contract length.

Good point. This is one of the reasons I don't think I'll be able to persuade anyone in the office that running fibre to my house is a good idea (I currently live in rented property)

[#14]

I think the concept of FTTPoD is going to be around for years, probably more than a decade. The name might change, perhaps with multiple revamps, relaunches or branding changes - and the prices will certainly drop alongside the change in focus.
Right now, BT only really want it to be used as the access portion of a business leased line - aiming to replace the current product lines known as:
- "EFM Ethernet" (Ethernet in the first mile, based on bonded copper), costing around £150-350pm for 2-20Mbps
- "Fibre Ethernet", with speeds of 10, 100, and 1000Mbps and prices of £350-£500pm for the lower speeds
In this, it would augment the recent addition to the leased line portfolio of:
- "GEA Ethernet", with speeds of 2, 10 and 20Mbps (using FTTC as the access portion) costing £120-£200pm.
The real advantage to BT, to Openreach, is that it allows them to deploy the access portion of the leased line as an integral part of their new GEA architecture, rather than as a product requiring a separate, bespoke, routing back to the exchange. Presumably their strategic aim is to get every bespoke-ish SME order onto the GEA architecture.
I reckon BT will let this settle into the leased-line market for a good while, bringing costs down but keeping SME's focussed on lower/zero contention over the core network & higher SLA's that also help justify the higher costs. I figure this will go on for a while until they have had a chance to educate the market, and get them to consider the higher value products rather than the cheapest internet access provision. It'll be a while before they refocus towards the rich-ish early adopters of the domestic market.

[#15]

I think the distances in that list are as-the-crow-flies distances, rather than the street-following distance.
The wording is also ambiguous as to whether the charge is based on your nearest aggregation node, or the actual aggregation node that you would be connected to.
At least that was the case when first publicised, but perhaps there are a few concrete facts available now.