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[ktz392837]

Does a flurry of Gfast pods being installed on PCPs mean anything?  I thought the rollout of Gfast was ceased?

I have noticed another PCP had a pod installed in the last few weeks and before full lock down several other PCPs gradually had a pod attached.

Is this signs of FTTP possibly being rolled out or the ECI cabinets being replaced?

TIA

[burakkucat]

Are you sure that they are G.Fast pods? They could just be VDSL2 expansion pods . . .

[j0hn]

The same vented pods that are used for G.Fast are now deployed as VDSL Sidepods.
It's a new deployment method that can save them having to build a 2nd (or 3rd) FTTC cabinet and plinth.
They put a Huawei MA5818 in the pods capable of 256 VDSL2 lines.

These show up on codelook as "VDSL Sidepod".

In rarer, likely rural areas you might also find a Subtended Head-End or "mini-OLT" in the same pods as part of a rural FTTP deployment.
Though this is much much rarer.

No ECI replacement going on.
If there are a few being deployed in close proximity they will be VDSL Sidepods. Codelook might confirm the situation.

There are zero G.Fast pods being deployed.

[ktz392837]

Thanks for the information. 

If they do eventually end up with Huawei kit in the pods it is a pity there is no easy way to switch from the ECI to the Huawei. 

The pod is a good 30m or so closer with it being connected to the PCP and I would be able to take advantage of Ginp and 3db.  With the impact of cross talk that I have suffered over the years it would add up to a not so insignificant speed bump and be more resilient against errors. 

I guess I can keep wishing for ECI to get Ginp/3db but that now seems increasing doubtful or at least no other news has been announced.  I should have tried to get on the trial with the other users on the forum but I didn't want to risk ending up with a non-working connection.  I wonder if they still have Ginp or have had it removed now?  The fact they say there are problems with it but people are still using (and it works) makes it even more infuriating - just like the last time they tried many years back.

[Robbie]

I was probably close to the last gasp of g.fast and the local OR guys said they were only doing pockets not covered by the local FTTP or VM dig, not on a fibre priority area, not on the OR FTTP 2-year plan and only when an ECI cabinet was installed.  Yep, the absolute runt.

So very much a fringe activity; so much so that OR only had a single local guy qualified for G.fast installations.  Even then the take-up in my new side-pod has been very low.  From J0hn's comments it sounds like even the runt deployments are now at an end.

[j0hn]

the local OR guys said they were only doing pockets not covered by the local FTTP or VM dig, not on a fibre priority area, not on the OR FTTP 2-year plan and only when an ECI cabinet was installed.

No idea why they make up such nonsense. Almost none of what that guy told you was accurate.

I haven't seen a single area where they have deployed G.Fast to ECI cabinets only, or shown even the slightest bit of preference to ECI's.
The rollout treated both the same.
There's considerably more G.Fast pods connected to Huawei cabinets then there is ECI, and that's simply because there are considerably more Huawei cabinets.

Plenty G.Fast where VM are present or where they were expanding also.
Almost the entire Edinburgh G.Fast rollout was areas with VM already or where project lightning was expanding their coverage.

The part about only deploying G.Fast where FTTP isn't on a 2 year plan is also nonsense.
They rolled out G.Fast to a number of Fibre First cities.
Within a couple months of many of the Edinburgh G.Fast pods going live they were overbuilt with FTTP.
Some of the FTTP actually went live before the G.Fast making it obsolete before it was even activated.

The only bit of that that's semi accurate is not deploying G.Fast where FTTP is already, but even that isn't always the case as G.Fast is done by cabinet and FTTP can be much more random, so there was lots of G.Fast overlapping FTTP areas.

From J0hn's comments it sounds like even the runt deployments are now at an end.

There isn't even "runt" deployments.

No new areas announced since 2018.
Announced in September 2019 that the rollout will be paused and only areas with existing plans scheduled before March 2020 will have pods installed.
Confirmed in June 2020 the rollout is officially "paused" (dead) with no more pods to be installed before a review in April 2021.

I've not seen or read of any pods being installed at all in 2020.

[Robbie]

No idea why they make up such nonsense. Almost none of what that guy told you was accurate.

I've not seen or read of any pods being installed at all in 2020.

Hi J0hn,

Doesn't surprise me, the process is wonderfully opaque so plenty opportunity for made-up stuff to pass to customers.

Allegedly my cabinet went G.fast 'live' on 7 Nov 19 and when I checked the BT Wholesale site on that date the G.fast availability appeared, albeit flagged as 'Amber'.  I was only able to actually place an order for it with an ISP this year though.

When the guy mentioned the existence of a 2-year FTTP plan I went hunting for it.  It was a pleasant surprise to find my area on the Openreach plan - the first contradiction to what he told me.  I can only hope that turns into an actual deployment but as an end user I suspect I will be in the dark until it happens.

[j0hn]

Almost all G.Fast showed as Amber until fairly recently.
It simply meant it needed a "managed install" with an engineer visiting the property and fitting a G.Fast faceplate.
Any (very few) properties that showed "Available" were part of the self install trial where no engineer visit was required.

I'm not sure on what the current state of play is on that to be honest.