When will Plusnet offer FTTP?

[#1]

Reading with interest as I'm a 15+ year customer paying over £10/m more than new customers getting much faster speeds.

Our FTTP cables have been available for quite some time and PN even thought I was on the trial (lol) but I wasn't even offered it. However, II'm now watching and waiting,

As you say, it does seem that BT and Zen are the main two offering faster speeds at the moment. Zen do now show as speeds up to 38mb etc for the FTTC. However, they now offer "full fibre" where you get the full speed as it's supplied via the FTTP cable.

From the speeds BT offer us, it seems they are doing the same.

In our case, we get 13-16mb (lowered last year to keep the line stable as it's getting old). With full fibre, we'd get the 38mb we pay for. Whilst this is great, it is annoying that others get this for £23/m. However, at least it offers us hope that we can get higher speeds (capped depending on what we pay), it's just abit expensive at the moment and only available from BT/Zen.

My view is that FTTP is not just about ultrafast, it's about offering people the full speed they pay for and grading cost to speed. At the moment the market is grossly unfair. An ISP can offer a new customer £23 for up to 38mb, he gets 36mb yet a 15yr loyal customer gets 13mb and pays £10 more just because they have a rubbishy line, ISP's don't care.

Hopefully in the next year that will change.

[#2]

Reading with interest as I'm a 15+ year customer paying over £10/m more than new customers getting much faster speeds.

Our FTTP cables have been available for quite some time and PN even thought I was on the trial (lol) but I wasn't even offered it. However, II'm now watching and waiting,

As you say, it does seem that BT and Zen are the main two offering faster speeds at the moment. Zen do now show as speeds up to 38mb etc for the FTTC. However, they now offer "full fibre" where you get the full speed as it's supplied via the FTTP cable.

From the speeds BT offer us, it seems they are doing the same.

In our case, we get 13-16mb (lowered last year to keep the line stable as it's getting old). With full fibre, we'd get the 38mb we pay for. Whilst this is great, it is annoying that others get this for £23/m. However, at least it offers us hope that we can get higher speeds (capped depending on what we pay), it's just abit expensive at the moment and only available from BT/Zen.

My view is that FTTP is not just about ultrafast, it's about offering people the full speed they pay for and grading cost to speed. At the moment the market is grossly unfair. An ISP can offer a new customer £23 for up to 38mb, he gets 36mb yet a 15yr loyal customer gets 13mb and pays £10 more just because they have a rubbishy line, ISP's don't care.

Hopefully in the next year that will change.

[#3]

so I post my view and it gets removed? I didn't say anything wrong. What are you covering up?

**Edit: seems to be when you mention prices - now edited**

[#4]

Reading with interest as I'm a 15+ year customer paying over £**/m more than new customers getting much faster speeds.

Our FTTP cables have been available for quite some time and PN even thought I was on the trial (lol) but I wasn't even offered it. However, II'm now watching and waiting,

As you say, it does seem that BT and Zen are the main two offering faster speeds at the moment. Zen do now show as speeds up to 38mb etc for the FTTC. However, they now offer "full fibre" where you get the full speed as it's supplied via the FTTP cable.

From the speeds BT offer us, it seems they are doing the same.

In our case, we get 13-16mb (lowered last year to keep the line stable as it's getting old). With full fibre, we'd get the 38mb we pay for. Whilst this is great, it is annoying that others get this for £**/m. However, at least it offers us hope that we can get higher speeds (capped depending on what we pay), it's just abit expensive at the moment and only available from BT/Zen.

My view is that FTTP is not just about ultrafast, it's about offering people the full speed they pay for and grading cost to speed. At the moment the market is grossly unfair. An ISP can offer a new customer £** for up to 38mb, he gets 36mb yet a 15yr loyal customer gets 13mb and pays £** more just because they have a rubbishy line, ISP's don't care.

Hopefully in the next year that will change.

[#5]

It’s more than a speed issue. The whole BR Wholesale business model is different to ADSL/FTTC which are very much predicated on a phone line / number ... which FTTP is not.

[#6]

@ukguy1 

OpenRreach have a list of providers one you run a check on https://www.openreach.com/

New providers are appearing slowly - one is https://www.aquiss.net/home-broadband-packages/ and Sky are rumoured to have an offering before the year end. No news what so ever with PlusNet.

If you take the phone line costs into consideration then FTTP isn't that much more expensive (especially if you don't use your phone line). Given you'll get close to the expected speed it may well be worth it.

From what I could figure on the OpenReach website looking at Wholesale prices a FTTP connection is more expensive to an ISP than a phone line is (it's not clear cut - there are so many options listed you have no idea which product any ISP is taking!!!).

Brian

[#7]

The whole BR Wholesale

Should read BT Wholesale.

[#8]

---

@ukguy1 wrote:

so I post my view and it gets removed? I didn't say anything wrong. What are you covering up?

**Edit: seems to be when you mention prices - now edited**

---

Rather than conspiracy, I'm more inclined to believe that the posts got caught by the spam filter.

ISP's don't care

ISPs can only supply what the physics of the line provided by BT Openreach will support.  The speeds on the different products are what they are - you cannot bend the speed of light or electrical signal transmission.  Length for length fibre is faster than copper.

[#9]

@atb48 @ukguy1 

Just an update on FTTP. ISP Review has a news article on FTTP Wholesale pricing (it's coming down!!!)

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2019/07/openreach-cuts-uk-isp-wholesale-prices-for-fttp-ultraf...

Brian

[#10]

@bmc brilliant! Thanks for passing this link on. That should give us more options!

[#11]

Not much I can say really:

• I wish I could get it. 
• PlusNet must have some of the infrastructure in place in order to offer the trial in the first place.
• As a developer myself, I appreciate that implementing a new product is not a 5 minute job.
• Yes, I know it will require staff training or possibly hiring new staff.
• It would be better if PlusNet said something like "We're working on it but can't give a date" rather than the generic "No Plans".
• I know Business Confidentiality comes into play here, so they're limited to what can be said publicly.
• It would be a shame as when it gets more popular PlusNet lose customers because they haven't launched a new product.

Okay maybe I did say a bit much in hindsight now 

[#12]

What the article shows (if I've read it correctly) is why a 40/10 (for example) connection will retail around £30 by the time a customer pays (an ISP needs to add VAT and a margin to cover costs / profit).

Brian

[#13]

@Alex 

A very accurate summary in all aspects.

The trial was manually hand-balled.

I am given to understand that BT Wholesale business systems for FTTP are somewhat different to the other technologies and not being predicated on a phone line / number need a different identification key.  Ofcom has yet to come up with a viable industry model for migrating FTTP users between suppliers - nothing similar to the ADSL/FTTC Gaining Supplier Led migration models exist.

Ultimately it will come, if for no other reason than BT Openreach is committed to replace much of the copper POTS network by 2025, which will drive voice onto VoIP, dispensing with the old world "phone" lines.

[#14]

BT may be actively migrating customers to VoIP from POTS by 2025, but they won't be getting rid of copper for a long time yet (decades) - I'd bet money I will still have ADSL2+ as the only OR/BT option in 2025, and most people will still have FTTC.

[#15]

I know that feeling. I enquired last month after Openreach finished installing FTTP in my area. I was told , unofficially, that Plusnet is now the budget option in BT's family and that I'd have to switch to BT or EE.
That's not acceptable to me as I've been with Plusnet/Force 9 for over twenty years, and I stay for the customer service.