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How can I find the reason that my cabinet is not FTTC enabled?

Diggory
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎26-02-2010

How can I find the reason that my cabinet is not FTTC enabled?

Hello,
My Exchange (Bayswater) has been fibre enabled for a while, and I see many FTTC cabinets near my house.  The fibre checker states that fibre is available for other properties on my street.
However the cabinet that serves my house (Cabinet 80) doesn't have a matching FTTC cabinet.
How do I find out why this is?  OpenReach don't want normal punters contacting them unless they are reporting damaged equipment etc...
Can I ask Plusnet to ask OpenReach for the reason?
Has anyone else managed to get this kind of info from OpenReach before?
Thanks
17 REPLIES 17
Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
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Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: How can I find the reason that my cabinet is not FTTC enabled?

We can ask the question of when you might get it but it's unlikely we'll be given a reason why it's not there yet really. We'll reply when we get more info.
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
Diggory
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎26-02-2010

Re: How can I find the reason that my cabinet is not FTTC enabled?

Thanks.
HughA
Grafter
Posts: 142
Registered: ‎30-07-2011

Re: How can I find the reason that my cabinet is not FTTC enabled?

Try this link: http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/faq/contact-us-form.aspx
I got a response within 24 hours and replies to follow up questions within a couple of hours. Unfortunately they basically told me they had no plans to upgrade my cabinet!
Andrue
Pro
Posts: 775
Thanks: 90
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Registered: ‎12-01-2015

Re: How can I find the reason that my cabinet is not FTTC enabled?

Some possible reasons:
* Not enough lines on that cabinet so not enough potential customers to generate sufficient revenue to make it worth the cost.
* Most users already have a pretty good speed (10Mb/s or better) so again number of potential FTTC customers may be too low.
* Too many users on your cabinet have very long lines and won't be able to get FTTC so again not enough potential customers.
* Surveys suggest unusually expensive to site the new cabinet and run fibre to it.
Could be any combination of the above as far as BT is concerned. If your area is getting help through BDUK a variation on the first reason above is:
* There are cabinets elsewhere in that region that have a more desperate need for uplifting.
Ultimately though whether BT is working on its own or through BDUK it all comes down to money. For whatever reason accountants and engineers seem to have decided that upgrading your cabinet cannot generate enough revenue to justify the cost. I don't think there's any advantage to you in knowing the exact reasons because there's nothing much you can do to affect the calculations.
Diggory
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎26-02-2010

Re: How can I find the reason that my cabinet is not FTTC enabled?

Thanks HughA - very useful link.
Andrue:
* Not enough lines:  - possibly, although I doubt it.
* Good speed already - not likely, I get 7mb and I'm 200M from the cabinet.
* Long lines: - unlikley. This is residential West London - there are cabinets everywhere.  I can see 4 or 5 FTTC within a couple of streets of me.
* Bad Survey:  Most likely, I would have thought.
AndyH
Grafter
Posts: 6,824
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎27-10-2012

Re: How can I find the reason that my cabinet is not FTTC enabled?

Those on that cabinet are designated to get FTTP - the problem is that the rollout is not covered under BT's commercial programme. This is what Openreach will tell you.
Edit: It looks like you're in a Virgin Media area, which means it's less likely for BT to intervene there.
Andrue
Pro
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Re: How can I find the reason that my cabinet is not FTTC enabled?

Quote from: Diggory
* Good speed already - not likely, I get 7mb and I'm 200M from the cabinet.
7Mb/s is a 'pretty good' speed. It's way above the USO of 2Mb/s. It's enough for one or even two users to simultaneously access pretty much any service currently available today. It's only really deficient if you have a family with a couple of teenage kids and everyone tries to watch TV over the internet at the same time. Even then it would support that scenario just not all at the highest bit rates.
There are a still quite a lot of people who struggle to meet that USO of 2Mb/s. People who can only dream of your kind of speeds and who would be very annoyed to hear of BDUK money being spent on you  Wink
Anyway AndyH has given two even more likely explanations. I wonder why your cabinet is slated to be FTTP?
Diggory
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎26-02-2010

Re: How can I find the reason that my cabinet is not FTTC enabled?

I'm not complaining about the current speed that I get from my DSL.  I was just wondering if there was a way that I could find out why almost all of my exchange cabinets were upgraded, yet mine wasn't (General curiosity)  Smiley
I could be mistaken, but I don't think that *any* BDUK money goes towards upgrading infrastructure in areas already well served by OpenReach (e.g. London).
Diggory
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎26-02-2010

Re: How can I find the reason that my cabinet is not FTTC enabled?

Quote from: AndyH
Those on that cabinet are designated to get FTTP

Is that an educated guess - or do you have hard data on that?

AndyH
Grafter
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Registered: ‎27-10-2012

Re: How can I find the reason that my cabinet is not FTTC enabled?

I have the hard data (from Openreach) on that.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: How can I find the reason that my cabinet is not FTTC enabled?

Quote from: Diggory
I could be mistaken, but I don't think that *any* BDUK money goes towards upgrading infrastructure in areas already well served by OpenReach (e.g. London).

BDUK funding will not go to any area where a faster than 24 Mbps service is already available - in this case it appears that Virgin Media cable is available.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
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Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
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Diggory
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎26-02-2010

Re: How can I find the reason that my cabinet is not FTTC enabled?

They replied very quickly: (credit to them for that.)
Quote
I am sorry but this cabinet is not due to be upgraded to fibre as part of the Openreach commercial rollout.

This is because it serves too few premises. So after we had surveyed, we decided it was not possible for Openreach to upgrade this cabinet.

Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
Thanks: 600
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Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: How can I find the reason that my cabinet is not FTTC enabled?

@Diggory,
I got pretty much the same response from the request I sent in.
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
mspritch
Newbie
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎07-11-2009

Re: How can I find the reason that my cabinet is not FTTC enabled?

A friend of mine told me she'd heard the same thing about my cab recently, from a friend who works for BT. Her cab at the other end of town's been upgraded, but mine (Llandrindod Wells Cab 3) is apparently going to be an FTTP job.