Saturday 26 November 2016

Superfast broadband - imminent, but not yet

OnLincolnshire

Project Update - Week ending 25th November 2016

'Metheringham 3/2 (Nocton) - Migration of lines from cabinet 3 to cabinet 17 scheduled is complete; services should be available imminently'

British Telecom

I refer to my previous blog about the latest engineering work.

I decided to call BT yesterday afternoon to see if the Cabinet 17 fibre service had finally been released to our ISP's - no surprise really to find it hasn't. Fortunately, I have an ongoing query with the BT Openreach Fibre Team to try and get them to commit to an actual release date.

BT Openreach

From: BT Openreach
Sent: 17 November 2016 14:22
To: Geoff Hall
Subject: RE: Fibre Broadband Availability - Customer

If your query is about an existing broadband service please contact your Communications Provider.

Query submitted 10th November 2016 (14:51)

"Why is there a delay in providing my fibre broadband?"

Details of your enquiry:

"Morning.

Your 'When can I get fibre' webpage shows that Metheringham Cab 17 is accepting orders, but when I try to order the fibre upgrade from my ISP (BT), it is not yet available.

The map display during the search does have a triangle 'Beta Testing', but no further explanation.

Will you please give a finite date when I can make an order to my ISP to upgrade my broadband to fibre please?

Many thanks."

Response received 17th November 2016 (14:22)

Dear Geoff,

Thank you for your email. We have investigated and would like to inform you that you are connected to METHERINGHAM and Cabinet 17. However, the distance of your home and the cabinet doesn’t lie within the limit which is 1.8 km. Also, the speed is slow due to distance.

Unfortunately the distance between your home and the cabinet is too far (2.006 km) to get Superfast speeds. One of the reasons, amongst other factors, is that the superfast signal weakens over distance.

(Note: distances are measured by the route our network takes to reach you which could be longer than the actual distance between the cabinet and your home or business).

We agree this makes you unhappy but we are doing our best to let you know the real picture as we don’t want to make any false commitment.

Thanks & Regards,
Fibre Enquiries Team


From: Geoff Hall
Sent: 17 November 2016 14:59
To: BT Openreach
Subject: RE: Fibre Broadband Availability - Customer

I'm very sorry but you are incorrect.  Cab 17 is less than 50 metres from our cottage! The cabinet you refer to is Cab 3. Please check your information and respond again.

Thank-you


From: BT Openreach
Sent: 24 November 2016 17:19
To: Geoff Hall
Subject: RE: Fibre Broadband Availability - Customer

Dear Geoff,

Thank you for contacting us again. Please accept our apologies for the incorrect information provided in the previous email.

To check distance from Cabinet 17, we have forwarded this case to our second level support team.
The usual turnaround time for them is 25 working days, however, due to high demand of fibre, the work volume is very high.

Our team is working hard to response our customers within time frame. We will get back to you once we receive any update from them.

We appreciate your time and patience during this period.

Kind regards,
Fibre Enquiries Team

26 comments:

  1. Cheers Steve - appalling isn't it. No wonder HMG are questioning the relationship of BT and Openreach. Hopefully we will finally get a satisfactory resolution to this debacle.

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  2. Hi Geoff
    Just been on the BT site and low and behold - FIBRE IS AVAILABLE

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  3. The BT site shows it as available, but when you ring them to place an order to upgrade, it isn't showing on the system. Please let us know if you're successful with your actual order. Cheers.

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  4. Geoff
    I spoke to them and they gave me prices to upgrade and activation fee. I said I'd think about it but I assumed since they were giving me price details it must be available.
    Brian

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  5. Thanks for the clarification Brian. Much appreciated. I only telephoned yesterday, however I might try again later to see if they offer fibre availability for my line too. I will report back if successful.

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  6. Yep its on. Nearly 50 years using BT and I have now cancelled my contract and joined Plusnet at a far better price. Strange really as Plusnet come under the BT umbrella.

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  7. Hi Mick. Good news, but not so for me I'm afraid. Still showing as unavailable on our line. Requested engineer visit but was advised it would cost £130, as there is no fault displayed. I have been advised to wait a few weeks to see if their records are updated. Any suggestions?

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  8. According to Talk talk and Sky , i can order superfast broadband but not according to BT .I am puzzled

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  9. Hi Manu. It is most odd. I have written to Steve Brookes at OnLincolnshire to see what he has to say on the matter. Regards.

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  10. Manu - try again on BT. I reloaded a couple of times and then it was available to me and I managed to place my order. Apparently between 55 and 70 Mbps - a brave new world awaits

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    Replies
    1. Still the same with BtTso went current isp (talktalk) who has given a start date 14th Dec.I guess it is an issue of BTnot updating all records.

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    2. Thanks for letting me know Manu. BT are going to lose quite a bit of business if they do not get this delay with the records sorted soon. Regards, Geoff

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  11. Thanks Andy - this information is most helpful. Regards.

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  12. Hi Geoff,
    I'm with Plus.net and I have just upgrade to fibre my switch over date is the 2nd Dec. I checked the BT site and it would also take my order for fibre but as I need a static IP I've stayed with Plus.net

    Regards
    Jon

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  13. Brilliant Steve. Hoping to join you on the fibre journey soon. Kind regards.

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  14. Hi Geoff,
    Have you heard from Steve Brookes regarding when the properties which were fed from the pole on main street will be able to order fibre ?
    Will we have similar speeds to what the above contributers are being quoted ?
    Kind Regards, Jim Mellor

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  15. Hi Jim,
    There are now reports from people connected to Cabinet 17 being successful with fibre upgrade orders. Not so for myself currently though (I keep trying every day and BT is still indicating no fibre available for my line!). I suspect this is a records issue, rather than a main infrastructure problem (as the BT Openreach fibre check facility clearly shows my line as connected via Cab 17). I have received a response from Steve Brookes today which seems to confirm this:

    Hi Geoff,
    Please see response from Openreach below. L2L refers to a 'Live to Live' cabinet which is always an issue with the time taken to arrange down time etc. Anyway, it looks as though the changeover is complete and we just need the ISPs to amend records.

    Steve

    Response from BT Openreach
    "As I thought, this has been a L2L cab which is now I’m pleased to say, has been completed; however, it now needs for all the relevant systems, both OR & ISP’s, to catch up with the new records, which can take up to 2 weeks. I’m also getting one of my guys to double check Mr. Halls line."

    Hope this helps Jim - incidentally, have you tried to upgrade your line to fibre broadband via the BT website, and if so what was the outcome?

    Regards,

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  16. Hi Geoff, I do not get offered Fibre, only basic broadband 2-4 Mb/sec.
    I suppose for the properties which were fed from the pole on main street, these are yet to be updated in the system for the isp's.
    Kind Regards,
    Jim

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  17. Thanks Jim - I think you're right. There must be a delay in the records update for those lines attached to pole DP108 on Main Street. Be assured I will keep on the case until one of us has a successful upgrade confirmation, so we are certain the hard wiring is sound. Early indications are that other lines on Cab 17 are now eligible for fibre upgrades - so hopefully we won't be too far behind! Best regards, Geoff

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  18. Hi Geoff, Our phone number is still showing as being connected to cabinet 3 rather than the new fibre cabinet 17. We were strongly hoping that we would be included in the 'legacy lines' that would be moved over to cabinet 17 as it's so close to our property. Have all the other legacy customers' phone numbers changed to show cabinet 17 on the DSL checker website or are some still showing as 3? We're concerned that we might be one of the only Nocton properties to be left connected to cabinet 3, which would be extremely frustrating if true. We're hoping it's just a delay in updating the DSL checker records, but the longer it goes on the more doubts we have. If we are thought to be left on cabinet 3, is there one person in particular that we could email to find out for sure and ask why our line wasn't transferred? Thanks for all your efforts. Kind regards, Paul

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  19. Hi Paul. That sounds quite ominous. I've never been able to ascertain all the telephone lines which were routed to Cab 3. BT keep all this information confidential. I do know that all the lines attached to the telegraph pole DP108 (next to the bus stop) were re-routed to Cab 17, so it depends on how your telephone line is connected to your property. The person to contact initially is Steve Brookes at OnLincolnshire, Lincolnshire County Council. His email and phone no is shown on some of my previous broadband updates. Good luck with your enquiries. Regards, Geoff

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  20. dsl website says that we are indeed connected to cabinet 17, and that WBC FTTC is available. i'm not up with the jargon but presumably that means that we can in theory get a superfast service. I haven't had the opportunity to discuss with Sky yet though. Jason@Embsay Holt

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  21. Hi Jason and thanks for the update. WBC is 'Wholesale Broadband Connect' and FTTC 'Fibre to the Cabinet'. It certainly appears your records have been updated and you will be able to place an order. Let me know how you get on. Regards, Geoff

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  22. Dear Geoff,
    Did you manage to get a super fast upgrade for your line ? Our line has been updated by BT as available for upgrade.Thank You for all the effort you put in to make the service available to our village.
    Regards
    Manu

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  23. Hi Manu. Thanks for letting me know. Unfortunately I am still not being offered fibre due to what seems to be a records problem. It is under enquiry with BT currently. I have prepared a blog update for publication tomorrow. Glad to hear other residents are now being offered the upgrades. Regards.

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