G.Fast Trial Extension

[#1]

I read with some excitement that BT have extended their G.Fast trial significantly to 500,000 premises by April next year.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2016/09/bt-reveal-massive-uk-g-fast-pilot-lr-vdsl-broadband-tri...

We are based in Cheltenham which is one of the new areas to be included. So can we order it through PlusNet and if so how and when? 

[#2]

Unfortunately I don't believe anything has been confirmed yet, about if/how/when we'll be offering/trialling this.

[#3]

Thank you HarryB

Its just like FTTP. Openreach make a big noise about trialing new technologies but we can;t access them through our favourite ISPs! Unless you want to be a BT retail customer you can't take advantage of any of these new technologies. PlusNet have had an FTTP trial running for years - but we can't sign new customers up to it. 

Why is this? Is this something Openreach are doing wrong? It can't be price - G.Fast is just under £10 / month wholesale and £99 onetime Openreach installation with a modem. That's a no brainer to me.

I just don't get it - our customers are crying out for better connectivity but the industry is unwilling to provide it - even when the infrastructure is there. 

Bizarre. 

[#4]

I'm in Cheltenham too - would be very interested in getting involved if the possibility arose.

[#5]

Any update on this? 

Steve

[#6]

Nothing yet.

[#7]

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@reformit wrote:

G.Fast is just under £10 / month wholesale and £99 onetime Openreach installation with a modem.

You're no doubt looking at the rental charges published by Openreach. The monthly BT Wholesale rental for the pilot is £16. Rental isn't the be all and end all though and there's things like bandwidth and support costs etc. to consider on top of that.

Detailed eligibility data is yet to be made available, so it's early days. I imagine we'll be looking to partake in some capacity, but how far that extends to customers (if indeed it will at all) remains to be decided.

[#8]

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@reformit wrote:

Thank you HarryB

I just don't get it - our customers are crying out for better connectivity but the industry is unwilling to provide it - even when the infrastructure is there. 

But they aren't. Oh sure some people are demanding faster but the figures for FTTC take-up are pretty clear reading. Only a minority of people are taking up the high speed package where it is available to them. You see the same thing at VM - the top package is only of interest to a relatively small number of people.

The truth is that for whatever reason there just isn't wide-spread demand for high speed services.

I think openreach would do better using G.FAST to push the service to smaller communities. They were talking about that in the early days, hanging them off lamp posts, on top of telephone poles or the sides of community buildings. It reduces the cost because you only need to connect the fibre and provide power. No need for a concrete plinth or to mount a cabinet. Sadly it seems they've given up on that idea. And I think they might come unstuck here. I just don't see much demand for more speed over and above what FTTC is already giving us. And G.FAST at present is only going to help those close to their cabinet. If you can currently get over 60Mb/s G.FAST will give you a significant speed boost but for everyone else it does little to nothing.

It'll be very interesting to see if/how openreach actually make money from this. To me it seems like an attempt to flog a dead horse. G.FAST to the street corner would be a better idea than G.FAST to the cabinet.