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[Bowdon]

SOGEA Standalone “Fibre Broadband” Showing on BT Wholesale Checker

The official BT Wholesale Checker has quietly added a new column to show the availability of their future Single Order Generic Ethernet Access (SOGEA) product, which will eventually allow you to order a standalone superfast “fibre broadband” (FTTC / VDSL) line without needing a phone (voice) service.

At present anybody who buys a VDSL based ‘up to’ 40-80Mbps Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) service must also pay a separate line rental fee to cover the cost of providing and maintaining the physical copper line that enters your property (this usually includes a basic phone / voice service that most providers offer by default).

[Black Sheep]

Hmmm, interesting find, Bowdon. Lets see if anyone tries this and is successful ??

[kitz]

Was showing for me yesterday, but no date yet

I don't have a G.Fast Column although I do have a column for SOGEA (Single Order Generic Ethernet Access) [Broadband, no voice service].

[Bowdon]

It will be interesting where this step takes us to. I have the same new column.

If I was to order that product, as well as my current fibre line, does that mean a new line would have to be installed to my house?

It kinda of reminds me of the old data only lines that I heard about years ago. I don't know if it was a reality as I never looked in to it myself. But people used to say we could buy a line that had no voice functionality to it?

[kitz]

The main SPs are yet offering it as a product. Last I heard it was still in trials.
No you wont need a new line, basically the existing line would be broadband only.

ETA
Just read the full article.

the first “alpha” ISP trial is now set to begin in October 2016 and a second “beta” trial will then follow in April 2017, with the final consumer pilot expected to go live during August 2017. The result is likely to be that a full commercial launch won’t now happen until around early 2018.

So looks like its a while away yet. :/

[WWWombat]

As aging customers, we've long been accustomed to thinking of these things as phone lines first, with an optional broadband connection second.

That thinking pervades BT's thinking, especially their IT ordering and maintenance systems.

I think the important thing about SOGEA is that it reverses this thinking: a primary data connection orderable alone, with an optional voice service. Where the voice service can be an OTT IP service.

The reason it takes a long time to achieve is because it rewrites one of the underlying assumptions of how broadband can be ordered. Or tested. Or fixed. I don't think  we'll see those trials progress very fast...

[niemand]

Takes you exactly nowhere for the foreseeable. Just a change in the checker to reflect a change in the Openreach API, one of many I imagine to accommodate the product.