Kitz Forum
Broadband Related => ISPs => Topic started by: Weaver on July 12, 2022, 01:48:14 AM
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Questions about SoGEA, which I don’t fully understand:
- Should I be able to benefit from this new[?] service and stop paying line rental (times 3 lines - yikes) to AA.net.uk?
- Surely this is what AA and I have been gasping for for 12 years? Is AA using/offering it now?
- Can I then cut a big chunk off my monthly AA bill by exploiting SoGEA?
- When did it become available ?
- Which other ISPs sell it? From adslmax’s recent thread we see an ISP offering the service to EUs.
- Someone such as BTW, Openreach, or both sells this to ISPs? Who? (A second sense of the term: B2B, not sales to EUs.)
- Is it available only to FTTx users, or old fashioned ADSL users too? Very worried suddenly about a catch
- Why is it so called?
As you may know, AA doesn’t do PSTN/POTS telephony. AA has always offered VoIP, which I use and I have no PSTN/POTS at all, not through anyone else. So although old fashioned telephony is something that I don’t want or need, I’m currently being charged for it, and have been for 12 years. Incoming calls + SMS on the VoIP phone number are redirected by AA to Janet’s mobile phone. I hope the phone does EE "WiFi calling", so it should work even in the bad bad spots in the house where there’s no mobile network reception because of the thick stone walls, but I’m not sure and am not sure how to test it properly. Elsewhere, EE and Three signal is excellent.
Anyway, I do resent having to pay a "line rental" tax, and want to get out of it.
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I wouldn't get too excited, the monthly charge for a SOGEA line is not much different to a normal phone line, maybe slightly less. It's still a phone line so still needs to be maintained so no big chunk off your bill. :no:
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Single Order Transitional Access Product (SOTAP) ETA September 2021
SOTAP, also known as SOADSL, will be used where Openreach fibre is unavailable. It will deliver a copper path between end customer’s premises and the exchange, providing ADSL broadband for over the top business application like IP Voice.
Single Order Generic Ethernet Access (SOGEA) ETA January 2020
SOGEA offers similar connectivity to GEA-FTTC and uses the same technology, VDSL. It will be available in the same geographic areas as FTTC and provides broadband without the need for an underlying voice access product, offering speeds up to 80Mb.
I think you are after SOTAP/SOADSL
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Ah, thanks, I wondered about a restriction to VDSL. And maxadsl could order SOGEA because he was indeed an FTTC / VDSL2 user.
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Let us know if A&A offer SOTAP/SOADSL as of yet, you can find it on the BT Wholesale Checker:
https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL
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ADSL Products Downstream Line Rate (Mbps) Upstream Line Rate (Mbps) Downstream Range(Mbps) ADSL Availability Date Left in Jumper
WBC ADSL 2+ Up to 1 -- 1 to 3.5 Available --
ADSL Max Up to 1 -- 0.75 to 2.5 Available --
Fixed Rate 0.5 -- -- Available --
SOADSL Products Downstream Line Rate (Mbps) Upstream Line Rate (Mbps) Downstream Range(Mbps) WBC SOADSL Availability Date Left in Jumper
WBC SOADSL 2+ Up to 1 -- 1 to 3.5 -- --
SOADSL Max Up to 1 -- -- --
Observed Speeds ADSL
Max Observed Downstream Speed 2.9
Max Observed Upstream Speed 0.67
Observed Date 2021-11-28
Other Offerings Availability Date
ADSL Multicast Available
Premise Environment Status
Bridge Tap U
VRI N
NTE FacePlate N
Last Test Date 01-07-2022
Exchange Product Restrictions Status
FTTP Priority Exchange N
WLR Withdrawal N
SOADSL Restriction Y
The exchange is not in a current fibre priority programme
WLR is currently available at the exchange
SOADSL is restricted at the exchange
FTTP is not available.
I don’t know what it means by "restricted at the exchange".
Now thanks to you I know about the existence of SOTAP, something I had never even heard of, I managed to search AA’s website aa.net.uk and found this page https://www.aa.net.uk/etc/news/sogea-migrations-at-aa/ - However many questions remain and I’ll need to put them to AA. I assumed that this would be something that I would need to ask AA for, but it seems from that page as if AA is automatically migrating everyone which is great. I assume that’s as true for SOTAP and ADSL as it is for SOGEA and VDSL2/FTTC, but I’m not completely sure as the webpage doesn’t give much detail about SOTAP.
I also still don’t know what happens about line rental payments.
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https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2020/09/bt-wholesale-uk-broadband-checker-adds-a-few-new-details.html
SOADSL (Single Order ADSL) is the broadband-only version of copper ADSL lines (no phone service) that isn’t expected to go live until September 2022
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AA currently don't offer SOGEA but will soon.
Andrewhearn posted about this last week on Thinkbroadband. linky (https://forums.thinkbroadband.com/aaisp/t/4715198-is-aaisp-a-sogea-service.html)
Openreach are still finalizing the details of SOTAP/SOADSL. I don't know if it's available yet or if it's being trialled.
I also still don’t know what happens about line rental payments.
There's no line rental with SOGEA/SOADSL.
It's almost identical in price to WLR line rental + broadband anyway. Don't expect much in the way of savings.
There's still a line there to be maintained at the end of the day.
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It's almost identical in price to WLR line rental + broadband anyway. Don't expect much in the way of savings.
There's still a line there to be maintained at the end of the day.
That's what really bothered me about it, seems almost pointless.
I mean it makes sense for ADSL to remain as expensive, as the entire line to the exchange still is used so the cost to maintain will be pretty much the same. But for VDSL it should have been cheaper, as potentially you're maintaining a much shorter line and it would encourage migrations away from ADSL (possibly why its not cheaper, OFCOM wouldn't like that).
I totally get the restrictions to not allow BT/OR to unfairly undercut competition, but I feel there comes a point where this is detrimental to progress, in moving away from copper. There needs to be encouragement to move away from ADSL entirely, forcing better solutions, especially for long rural lines.