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Future of the Trial?

livinginhope
Grafter
Posts: 46
Registered: ‎24-11-2010

Future of the Trial?

Hello, this is probably the wrong medium to do this but I have a question about the Trial - I've been on it for two years and its been great. In a perfect world I would be happy to go one paying the relatively small monthly fee, have my 60GB limit and be the envy of my adsl friends.
I got a call yesterday from BT - just a sales call for Infinity but when I said I was on the PN fibre trial he said (I am paraphrasing here) "well thats only 100mb, and on a trial/test circuit, there is now 150mb and 300mb available so sooner or later you will get upgraded"
My question is: whats the real position from the Fibre Trial team? Is the future mapped out yet and if it is, what is it?
Thanks, Ian
6 REPLIES 6
AndyH
Grafter
Posts: 6,824
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎27-10-2012

Re: Future of the Trial?

I would be interested to know this too.
But I am also interested in what happens with capacity at Bradwell Abbey with these speed increases. Recently we've seen a deterioration of service for all ISPs on the exchange, coinciding with the bad weather and more people working from/being at home. Surely there will have to be limits on the number of people on higher speed connections, unless capacity is increased? I would imagine only a handful of people fully using a 330/30 service could impact other users.
@ livinginhope - There isn't actually a 150Mbit service sold by Openreach, it's a capped 330/20Mbit service (http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/home/products/pricing/loadProductPriceDetails.do?data=M80QNeH46o4g6JKGD604vTypQOKfNn%2Beo6vmoVhAOBZZ6rNZujnCs99NbIKJZPD9hXYmiijxH6wr%0ACQm97GZMyQ%3D%3D). I am interested in the 220/20 trial if PN get involved in that (http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/home/updates/briefings/super-fastfibreaccessbriefings/super-fastfibreaccessbriefingsarticles/nga03212.do)
beeceegee
Pro
Posts: 611
Thanks: 75
Fixes: 4
Registered: ‎27-11-2012

Re: Future of the Trial?

Similar question I guess. I signed up to PN ADSL back in November, on a monthly contract, as we were fully expecting (and were led to believe by BT) that our FTTP infrastructure was in place and would be released for orders by the end of the year). It hasn't happened, BT don't have the engineers to do the installs (!) apparently, so are not releasing the final PONs.
Now that my 3 months 1/2 price is coming to an end, and with the introduction of the new "Unlimited" products I have to decide whether to stay on monthly, or sign up for 12 months. If the latter I need to be sure that there will be an FTTP product to switch to (eventually) - whether that is the trial or a commercial product I don't care; what I don't want is to sign up for 12 months then find that the trial closes without a commercial release, leaving me with an expensive move. Maybe safer to stick to monthly... Undecided
Chris1
Grafter
Posts: 27
Registered: ‎25-07-2007

Re: Future of the Trial?

I am in Ashford Middlesex (LWASH exchange) and Openreach pulled the fibre through to the premises, (actually just to the telegraph pole 4 metres from our premises) back in September 2011. Despite asking to be advised when BT Infinity Fibre would be available I have not been contacted by BT, however I periodically check and have just found out it is now available. I immediately contacted PlusNet and am just waiting for the fibre installation to be completed on March 7th.
Openreach have just run the fibre from the telegraph pole to my house and speaking to the engineer, he said that they only have a team of 6 and it can take up to 6 hours to complete the installation which I guess is the reason for all he delay.
I am going on the FTTP Trial and am not sure whether my connection will be the standard 76Mb/20Mb or receive the full capability of the line which would presumably be 330Mb/20Mb?( not sure what the max upload is)
I am also on the Ofcom testing panel run by Sam Knows. They record the speeds and provide Ofcom (and me) a monthly report of the speeds obtained so I will see exactly how stable the line is. At least for me the great wait is nearly over.
AndyH
Grafter
Posts: 6,824
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎27-10-2012

Re: Future of the Trial?

The line is capable of a lot more than 330/30. I would expect a trial of a 500/1000Mb service over the next 12 months - whether these speeds will actually be commercially available and their cost remains to be seen. When they blow the fibre cable, it has 4 strands. They only use one of the four strands for your fibre connection. This shows you how ridiculous the speed potential can be for fibre connections.
The latest available speeds are on here for FTTP: http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/home/products/pricing/loadProductPriceDetails.do?data=M80QNeH46o4g6J... BT are also trialling a 220/20 service at the moment too.
The final installation shouldn't take more than a couple of hours (hopefully). It's only when the splicing tool doesn't work that it can take longer. They are a bit intermittent at times and affected by the cold weather.
Chris1
Grafter
Posts: 27
Registered: ‎25-07-2007

Re: Future of the Trial?

My understanding is that I will pay the Broadband Unlimited monthly fee of £19.90 which it shows as a 76Mb package, so will I be capped at that or receive whatever the line can provide.
As I said I provide Ofcom with stats of the speed of my connection and the equipment will need updating if the speed is over 100Mb. They have asked me to advise them so they can send it out to me, hence my interest in what speed will be available.
Strat
Community Veteran
Posts: 31,320
Thanks: 1,609
Fixes: 565
Registered: ‎14-04-2007

Re: Future of the Trial?

Duplicate post removed.
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