My questions are: 1) is it possible for BT (the only provider here) to connect a group of customers who live more than 1 mile from the cabinet to that cabinet? 2) Will they do it? 3) What will the customers need to do (eg., I assume we need updated Home Hubs)? 4) Are there any technical issues we should know about? 5) If it's possible, how can we convince them to do it?
1) This would be a copper rearrangement, and such things have been known to happen. They're rare even with subsidies available.
2) However, BT would only be able to claim subsidy for the work if you ended up above the superfast threshold. Without that subsidy, there's no chance of it happening.
More likely, BT would consider adding a whole new cabinet - an all-in-one that acts as both PCP wiring cabinet, and the FTTC DSLAM, or a smaller FTTRN device. It would need enough customers, though.
For some examples of a place where this has been happening, take a look at that Codelook website (linked in post #2), and search for location "Leyburn", then exchange "Leyburn, North Yorkshire", then click on "all NN cabinets".
That exchange started out with 9 cabinets, and all of them have been converted to FTTC via the BDUK project. The other 8 cabinets (10-20, missing some numbers) have been added as "infill" to cope with the EO lines in different locations, or the long lines off other cabs. Cab 10 was one of the pilot FTTRN nodes (supports 16 lines), so is perhaps a little special.
It should give an idea of the kind of changes that BT can end up doing as they get ever harder-pressed to cover premises.
3) Whatever gain comes from FTTC only comes via VDSL2, which requires a different router/modem.
4) Whatever happens, it is most likely through co-operation with the HIE Broadband project. They may react better to a community coordinator.
As someone else said, there is the possibility to go via BT's community fibre partnership, but you'd need to provide some of the funding yourselves. I don't know if HIE has a part of their project that works with communities in this way, and partly funds the venture - some local authorities have started this up, but it is a a relatively new idea.
5) Money. If HIE won't fund you, it is because they can use the same money to reach more people in another location.
and, strangely enough, it makes it worse to know that you near neighbours have speed in excess of 80x of yours and they are just watching movies.
Do you have line of sight to any of them? Looking on streetview, I suspect not, but if you did, then you could have a go at a point-to-point wireless link