Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[waltergmw]

Gentlefolk,

Here's the latest in the unhappy saga:-

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/02/muswell_hill/

Apart from the waste of money and delays it is sad that BT, as Virgin did and were then stopped, are describing their partial NGA solution as
"Super fast fibre broadband services" when in reality they rely on the old creaking aluminium and copper twisted pairs to each house.
At least Virgin are using a newer ducted co-ax cable.

Kind regards,
Walter

[UncleUB]

Its a pity residents have nothing better to moan about,there are people who get slow or no broadband at all who would kill to have fttc no matter what the roadside box looks like.

[camallison]

If I could be guaranteed speeds like that, they can put the ruddy box in my front garden if they like!  ..... and paint it pink too!

 

[roseway]

>>> they rely on the old creaking aluminium and copper twisted pairs

New cables cost money, which BT haven't got in abundance. Even with the present cables, the affected users will be getting a much faster service. And is it true that some of the cables in Muswell Hill are aluminium?

[UncleUB]

Are these the so called unsightly cabinets in question.?

[waltergmw]

There is one of them shown here:-

http://www.currybet.net/cbet_blog/2009/09/muswell_hill_fibre_trial.php

There could be a problem at this site if BT required access to the joint pits as well as having the cabinet doors open.
You can see the associated PCP in the background.
I also believe a resident can only reverse his car out in one direction at present due to the cabinet blocking the other way at another FTTC site.

The suggestion that any other CP would contemplate installing a competing FTTC would seem highly improbable. I.e who gets there first is almost certain to have a monopoly at that location (apart from Virgin's solution).

Re Roseway's comments it's not just new cables but the associated ducting to every house that would have to be installed and paid for.
If that is ever to be done the long term solution should presumably be to engineer proper fibre in ducts to the home instead of upgrading the copper.
If only someone could find a way of getting wholesale access to Virgin's network where it exists, then the size of the national problem would be reduced significantly.
Although Virgin's network is not available everywhere, nor is it universally available for FTTC (e.g. there being some older analogue TV cable in parts of Leicester), but where it is available it must surely be significantly better that BT's twisted pairs?

Unsurprisingly I've found BT to be rather shy of saying how much aluminium is still in use in an area, whereas BT's field engineers so hate working with it, that it soon becomes obvious at a local level.
I'm reasonably sure we have aluminium in Ewhurst as does the General in Winterbourne Stoke. Other places where I've heard of aluminium are Exeter, Belfast and Milton Keynes so its probably not unreasonable to say there are still quite large quantities of aluminium cable in service.
BT also have to contend with some copper wires that are smaller than 0.5 mm.

Kind regards,
Walter

[sevenlayermuddle]

At risk of going out on a limb  here, I do actually have some sympathy for the council.

People who live in a conservation area have to abide by the much stricter planning laws.  Youy may need planning permission for a shed or summerhouse that you could build without PP elsewhere  You may have to restrict the height of boundary fences to lower levels, or you may not even be allowed to have a fence at all.  ISTR you can't even have a dead tree removed with out approval from the council forestry service.

If it were me, I probably would be a smidgen annoyed to see a big utility company get away with ignoring the same rules that I have to abide by, no matter what justification or 'greater good' it conferred.

I hope BT do eventually get permission to install, but not without going through the correct process and demonstrating  to the council's satisfaction that there is no viable alternative.