@ chrisalys,
Just to add some more confusion you'll see at:-
http://www.idnet.net/support/fibreavailability.jsp
That Narborough only has about 10,500 premises but is due for FTTC by December 2010.
http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/EMNARBO
Perhaps it's that Virgin or somebody else are planning an upgrade there ?
In your case, the only obstacle I've noticed are exchanges with a lot of lines connected directly to the exchange rather than through a PCP.
Kind regards,
Walter
that could well be a reason, I dont know what % of lines are connected direct vs a cabinet, but it could be the reason.
I should note all the immediate properties close to the exchange are mostly commercial as its a city centre, I would be surprised if many residental properties do not go through a cabinet.
and yes narborough is one of the various surrounding exchanges that is FTTC enabled, its a largish village.
Patience is the key if your waiting for FTTC. OR is in the very early stages of what will be the future of broadband and how we use it at home and office. I am sure everyone remembers the early days of ADSL, i waited for 4 years for it to hit my exchange area when the exchange serving the other half of my town was one of the first for ADSL and is now FTTC ready. If you have a BT Wholesale competitor such as Virgin Media operating in your area you are more likely to be one of the first FTTC areas.
The speed of Metallic Path ADSL is dependant on Loss Insertion @300khz (measured in db's) For the vast majority, your metallic pair from exchange to pcp (e-side) is going to take the largest chunk of your db loss (pair material, conductor poundage and distance have the largest impact on loss) FTTC is going to take this loss away giving anyone an improvement in speed (including rural!) An example would be an end user with 78db loss over an 7.5km line (5km e-side and 2.5km d-side) take away the e-side using FTTC and they may have a 25db loss, 15meg would now be realistic (better than 1.2meg)
As far as OR replacing e side cables to improve ADSL speed, NO CHANCE! This would break every rule in the OFCOM book. I am also sure with the sky high price of copper, fibre is a far more economic option.
If OR upgraded every PCP to FTTC in a short time period they could never keep up with the demand placed on the engineering workforce. Remember ADSL wasnt always 'self-install' although this could happen for FTTC in the future along with VOIP as standard.
my exchange was within the first 20 outside of london to be adsl enabled back in 1999, the other city centre exchange next to it was the 3rd non london exchange enabled in nov 1999.
this area does also have VM.
whilst OR are in early stages of physical rollout work they have actually announced the majority of exchanges that will be upgraded, also I have had confirmation direct from the BT boardroom my exchange will not be enabled. I dont think replcing copper breaks ofcom rules, but its simply something that is a waste of time as its high cost and obselete technology, but BT are a company that make decisions that baffle various people.