Thursday 1 December 2011

Latest News from BT

Representatives of the campaign team met with BT Group's Regional Director for the South East, the BT Openreach Project Manager for the Capel exchange upgrade and a representative from BT Retail on 30th November. BT updated us about plans for the Capel exchange - fantastic news for almost everybody. In summary:

  • 93.2% will get between 15 and (up to) 100Mbps - BT Infinity
  • 4.6% will get between 2 and 15Mbps
  • 2.2% will get between "no change" and 2Mbps

Most of the properties getting BT Infinity will get fibre all the way to the property - i.e. (up to) 100Mbps. The Capel exchange will then be one of the best enabled in the country - BT is delivering way beyond its Race to Infinity promise.

This will be delivered by upgrading three existing cabinets (one in Anstie Lane and two in Horsham Road) to FTTC (fibre to the cabinet then existing copper to the property) and five other existing cabinets to FTTP (fibre all the way to the property).

Work is underway at the moment building the "spine" of the network. The three FTTC cabinets should be enabled before the end of February 2012. Work on the FTTP cabinets is running in parallel but will not be completed until the end of July 2012. This is later than orginally estimated but nobody should complain. BT will install 133km of fibre during the exchange upgrade (much more than the campaign team ever expected) and this will obviously therefore take more time. Delivery dates are - as always - subject to the usual proviso that everything is subject to what BT discovers when carrying out the work (e.g. collapsed ducts etc).

In a nutshell if your property is currently connected to a cabinet slated for an upgrade to FTTP you will get (up to) 100Mbps but BT (quite reasonably) adds the proviso "there might be a few isolated exceptions depending on plan & build issues". If your property is connected to a cabinet slated for an upgrade to FTTC the theoretical maximum you might get is 40Mbps (but BT is installing equipment in FTTC cabinets that is capable of providing 80Mbps - as and when BT upgrades its FTTC Infinity headline speed). In practice actual performance degrades in line with the length of the copper run between an FTTC cabinet and a property.

6.8% of exchange properties will get something between "No uplift and 14.99 Mbps" depending on how close they are to their (FTTC) cabinet - note that most will get a decent "uplift". It's a matter of fact that the copper network that BT inherited from the GPO (if you don't know what that stands for ask your dad) was installed pre-war. The copper network grew "phone line by phone line" so the actual route from property to cabinet (and then exchange) could be quite convoluted. You may be able to throw a stone at your nearest cabinet but the actual copper run may be much longer. Hypothetically your copper run may not actually come from the cabinet that is closest to your property "as the crow flies". BT cannot be blamed for this - it's just the way it is.

Everybody will want to know "what about me". BT tells us that as cabinets are enabled (or perhaps shortly beforehand) it will update the database that drives the "broadband speed checker" tool at its public website. You will then be able to enter your phone number and be told what speed you might expect. We will let you know when that's available.

Based on the information that BT has disclosed to us so far, it appears that most properties in Capel, Beare Green and Ockley (North) are likely to get BT Infinity (with a very high proportion getting up to 100Mbps). Some properties in Coldharbour / Leith Hill (and some between Coldharbour and Beare Green) will not get BT Infinity.

The cabinet in Anstie Lane (Coldharbour) serves the most remote properties in the exchange area and consequently it was not viable for BT to run fibre to every property - note this was never part of the "Race to Infinity" promise anyway. About 40 properties won't get 2Mbps (but may possibly get a very basic or perhaps more reliable service for the first time - the Anstie Lane cabinet effectively becomes the exchange and that's a lot closer than Capel). I know quite a few of these properties have a broadband service from Kijoma already - so probably best to stick with that. Of the remaining 110 "Coldharbour" properties about half should get Infinity and half will see an increase from existing speeds (probably around 0.5Mbps) to something between 2Mbps and 14.99Mbps.

If you have any comments or general questions (please - no enquiries about specific properties) feel free to post using the form below - if you post as "Anonymous" please include your name in the post or it may be deleted.

71 comments:

  1. It isn't BT's 'fault' - they inherited the cable from the GPO!!! I worked - in my youth- for both organisations and they were one and the same. BT has historically liked to distance itself from it's 'humble' beginnings especially when trying to fob off the general public. I do understand that there are challenges to the way a system is operated to give everyone good service but BT has had many decades to upgrade the infrastructure. Generally any shortcomings in the current system are down to them. Incidentally, the nationalisation of Cable & Wireless is really the root cause of the current difficulties because, by the time BT were privatised, the system had been saturated by the huge increase in volume of users without any truly effective modernisation.

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  2. Brilliant news. Thank you to everyone involved! Happy Christmas!!

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  3. @Richard Lock... thanks for the comment. For the avoidance of any doubt I am not a BT employee and my comments about copper cable runs were only intended to let people know that it's the "cable run" distance that matters - not the "as the crow flies" distance! I don't have any information about the copper runs in the exchange area so I don't know for sure whether they are "tidy" or not. The headline stats (coverage percentages and 133km of fibre) lead me to believe that BT has done its level best for us.

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  4. I agree with many of Richard Lock's observations about the totally random and adhoc nature of the exchange development program by the GPO (which then became BT solely by virtue of the 1980s privatisation and is not some completely different outfit as BT would now try to have us believe) in this area.

    For instance logically it appears to make no sense whatsoever that there is a Forest Green exchange with only 200 phone lines since surely Dorking, Oakwoodhill, Abinger and Capel exchanges were all near enough to it to cover all of its small number of premises or do I need to be thinking about the 1920s and cranking handles with candlestick telephones in order to understand why Forest Green exchange is there at all? And if it did make sense to create a Forest Green exchange at all then Coldharbour in particular sould surely logically have been served by Forest Green and not by the more remote Capel exchange?

    Also with regard to the unlucky 10% or so who will hardly get any speed uplift at all and who may only have 256k to 512k or no ADSL broadband at all at present isn't it they who above all are really screaming out for the benefit of a direct fibre connection to their nearest cabinet and shouldn't they therefore be allowed to have it if they are collectively willing to pay for it or alternatively isn't there a cost effective means of providing a wireless connection between the Anstie Street cabinet and the properties that cannot supposedly be affordably fibre cable connected to it? Surely if it was cost effective for the GPO to lay a copper wire to all of these premises originally it ought to be cost effective to lay a meagre strip of fibre that will last the next 50 or 60 years now?

    BT line rental at a roughly historic equivalent of the current £144 per annum in today's terms should have generated about £7,000 per line in today's terms to allow BT to update their ancient copper wires to these premises or at least the lines will surely generate this amount of income going forwards in the next 50 or so years. Surely if the point of the Race To Infinity was to show that even rural yokels could get the fastest speeds from a fibre connection with BT then the whole point of the exercise is substantially defeated when second class rural yokels only a mile or so further away from the Capel exchange than their neighbours are now made the broadband equivalent of India's Untouchables.

    I'm not wishing to sound negative but since we can anticipate BT Infinity speeds for those with an FTTP connection increasing to say 500Mbps within 10 years then inevitably the screaming from the internet Untouchables living on the rural slopes of Leith Hill is going to become all the louder as time goes by.

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  5. Good news, progress is being made. Thanks to all involved for their persistent lobbying to try and bring those of us living "out in the sticks" into the 21st century. I think it's fair to say the current system "evolved" rather than being planned, and of course most of the installations were pre-internet, but we have all been paying every month for all these years and deserve some improvement in return for the steadily increasing prices.

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  6. @Julian Shersby... I think BT's plans for the exchange need to be viewed in the context that Race to Infinity was a COMPETITION (funded by BT Retail and delivered by BT Openreach). The (competition) expectation that BT set was "mostly FTTC". Capel was not in the "Top 5" and the campaign team lobbied hard and persuaded BT to enable "Top 10" - and the outcome is that the exchange will get a "mostly FTTP" solution - and because the Capel exchange was a "winner" it will get this sooner rather than later.

    "FTTP for all" was NOT a competition prize we were campaigning for! I'm personally pleased that the "logical exchange" for my village (Coldharbour) is now in Anstie Lane rather than Capel. Maybe during the next 10 years I will become involved in a campaign to extend fibre all the way to properties?

    Perhaps too detailed for a general update, but Iain Murdoch (with his MVDC Councillor hat on) is arranging to introduce representatives from BT to representatives from MVDC - to discuss "neighbouring exchanges". I have no idea where this may lead but I'm pleased that our exchange has this level of engagement with BT.

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  7. Catherine Collard6 December 2011 at 04:06

    Thank you so much for the update, this is great news! Thank you so much to the campaign team for all your efforts on our behalf! Merry Christmas!

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  8. Well done, a brilliant result for many of you. But you seem to be forgetting the SCC target of 100% superfast broadband coverage by 2015. You can encourage this by completing their survey. See http://www.ewhurst-broadband.org.uk/?p=1431

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  9. Really admirable post. I appreciate with that info.

    Point to point wifi

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  10. If we're stuck with Kijoma then so be it. This probably is the best of a bad lot of 1 but a very expensive option if you want sufficient bandwidth to drive iplayer etc.
    Great for those that get it but do remember we all contributed effort of varying degrees towards the achievement with some receiving little or no reward except to be at the mercy of a private, expensive, and sometimes (allegedly) inconsistent service.

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  11. @ Victoria

    I do my level best to only publish what I believe to be FACTS and I always ask BT to "approve" before I post anything really significant. I really appreciate that you appreciate.

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  12. @ Simon - 5th December

    You are very generous to BT.

    An alternative interpretation is that they are putting FTTH in because the copper is of such poor quality that FTTC would not have delivered a adequate solution and been a PR disaster.

    On a positive note...

    Coldharbour residents are free to run their own fibre cable down the hill towards Capel and pick up a connection there i.e. a diy "extension" of BT Infinity. Any residents feel free to contact me if you want to do this.

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  13. Any more news on the work being carried out by BT ?

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  14. I'm getting feedback that BT Openreach has "feet on the ground" in the exchange area and as far as I am concerned everything is happening within the scope of BT's commitments to the Capel exchange (see above). BT is not keen to share "engineering details" with us and I (for one) can understand why! The work is happening and (IMO) we should just let BT get on with it. If anybody wants to post about "trench dug here" or "new cabinet installed there" please feel free!

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  15. Just been advised by my ISP that my line is being upgraded to ADSL2+ on the 2nd March so things are definitely happening!

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  16. BT seem to suggest that 2% will see no change when they have finished this project, stating that those subscribers will be left with under 2 mbps.

    There are some properties from Cockshot Farm and Leith Hill House going down Abinger Road that still have NO broadband at all.

    Is there any way that we can establish if there can be any supply to these properties that are only a few hundred metres from the nearest house on the Forest Green exchange that has a full broadband service?

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  17. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  18. Several people have contacted me to ask for clarification about the information they get from BT's "speed checker" at http://www.bt.com.

    BT tells me that not all data has been uploaded and also (more significantly) that BT will be re-arranging some copper runs in the exchange (of great significance to anybody who connects to an FTTC cabinet) and that if you are on an FTTC cabinet (e.g. you are in Coldharbour) the data you see may not accurately reflect the actual performance you might expect. Watch this space!

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  19. Just spoken to BT (unhappy with my broadband increased speed to .555mbs!) The village will be Infinity ready 30th June, where we can expect 10-15-20mbs! Just 3 more months to go!

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  20. I have previously been on the MaxDSL up to 8Mb service with Plusnet. I noticed that during my BT Check (from the link in the June blog) that my line should support up to 20Mb (not sure if this is as a result of recent works but I did notice via www.samknows.co.uk that 21CN CBS has recently been enabled). Long and short of it is, since I contacted Plusnet my line speed has been raised from around 6Mb up to 19Mb in just over two days and at no extra cost :-D

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  21. Pleased to see the improved level of debate on this blog! I think that the recent ADSL2+ upgrade was a bit of a "red herring" (nothing to do with BT Infinity?) and I have invited BT to participate in the debate here. I also note that BT has installed several new cabinets - and that the one in Beare Green (opposite Jill's house) was destroyed in a vehicle collision. BT was kind enough to let me know - but this is surely not something we can blame BT for.

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    1. Do you know if the part of Beare Green on the Holmwood station side of the A24 is to have any fibre connection at all? There are no new cabinets and there has been no BT activity for a long time. ADSL2+ is of no use to us as the speed still depends on the copper run from the Capel exchange which is too far away to make any difference. In other words are we the ones to whom the upgrade will make absolutely no difference (which is what I thought when I voted for it).

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  22. Hi Simon

    There isn't a contact method on the blog (the contact link is broken) is there an email address - or number - I could reach you on for a quick couple of questions ?

    Hope you don't mind - my addy is dom at uk film net dot org (just remove the spaces and replace the "dot" of course with the real thing

    I won't be checking back here regularly so a contact email would be much appreciated if you could send me a blank email

    Kind Regards

    Dom

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    1. The BT delivery date appears to recede into the future each time I check....

      The current latest new 'old' date is now June 30th

      Will post again if this slips again a few days before 30th June

      BTW All good work but let's not get too cosy with BT - as someone else already posted here they are barely fulfilling both UK Gov guidelines for 2015 and Surrey CC comittments for even earlier

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  23. our current internet broadband provider gives us about 6Mb but BT line checker says we should be getting 17Mb on average... should we contact them?

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  24. That's the situation I was in. Contacted my provider and a few days later managed to go from 6Mb to 19Mb. I guess it depends on the package you are on - mine was 'up to 20Mb' but was being limited by being on the maxdsl line I think...

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  25. I live in the part of Beare Green that is on the Holmwood station side of the A24. I have seen a litle bit of Openreach activity but nothing much. Does anyone know if this part of BG will have a fast broadband connection? No cabinets have been installed as far as I am aware and laying fibre optic back to BG from Capel would I think not be cost effective.

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  26. Any more news on when fibre will be available?

    BT's website says that it is available for Capel when you follow the "See when BT Infinity is available in your area" link but when I check my landline it says I'm not able to to get BT Infinity...

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  27. @Mike - I expect that BT will be making a "you can order it now" announcement sometime in June - for more or less immediate delivery. I have also been visiting the BT "speed checker" and have seen a similar message to the one that you report. I have raised this with the BT Openreach Operations Director, the BT Programme Manager for the "Race to Infinity" roll out and the BT South East Regional Director. My gut feeling is that their databases do not (yet) reflect what they are planning to (and have committed to) deliver.

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  28. COLDHARBOUR - Further to many enquiries about progress, the "new cabinet" has been installed in Anstie Lane for some while but it has not yet been switched on (no cabinets have been in the exchange area). As you may know this cabinet is "FTTC" meaning that the cabling from the exchange in Capel to the new cabinet is fibre and the cabling from the new cabinet to each property is "copper". Recent detailed surveys have shown that some of the "copper" is actually aluminium (not quite so good - used to be used in "GPO days" because it was cheaper). BT is looking at various engineering options to resolve this issue for affected properties and I should be in a position to give you a much more detailed "heads up" in July. In the mean time, please sit tight - and don't ask me about specific phone numbers! BT is keeping me well informed about "issues and options" as they crop up and I remain impressed by the very positive attitude BT is taking to this whole project.

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  29. http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/where-and-when/ is showing the Capel exchange as "Accepting Orders"

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  30. I spoke to a couple of the BT Openreach engineers the other day. They stated that they were installing Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) in our road but that they were only just starting and didn't want to comment even loosely on a potential finish date - don't blame them.

    Very happy to hear that we are getting FTTP though :-)

    Maybe there is a map or suchlike to show what is being installed where..?

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  31. As we don't use broadband here, (we use tmobile as quicker), the only way I have to check progress is to use the bt broadband speed checker. Up until June 30, it stated we would get high speed broadband from that date. Since June 30 they have changed the date to September 30th. Is this true for everyone in Coldharbour, and something to do with aluminium wires? We live in Broome Hall Road. It would be wonderful to have a map as previous person stated

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  32. @Mike Murphy: That's very interesting feedback. Would you mind posting your "road" just so we know where you are? Alternatively feel free to e-mail me using:

    MyFirstNameDOTMyLastNameATthevirtualvillage.com

    @Mike & Various "Anonymous" I had not seen the Openreach "where and when" page before - thanks. It's not quite as simple as publishing a "map". By way of analogy, think about the London Underground! This is a very complex engineering project and nothing is over until the fat lady sings!

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  33. Well, we're into August now. Any update on a likely completion date?

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  34. @All

    You may know that the cabinet in Anstie Lane has not yet been enabled because BT is still awaiting a landowner signature on a "wayleave" (permission to run a cable across land) - before you ask, I don't know! This is expected in the next few weeks then the actual engineering work can start. I have of course offered parish council assistance but BT prefers to resolve itself.

    Earlier engineering tests showed that the existing "copper" (actually partially aluminium) to central Coldharbour was in poor condition. The implication of this was that actual broadband speeds for some properties in central Coldharbour would have been disappointing. BT has therefore decided to make a further investment in the exchange infrastructure and extend the fibre run all the way to central Coldharbour. This would terminate in what's known as a "mini DSLAM" - leaving a much shorter copper run to each property served from it. I can't give you timescales yet (because BT can't give me timescales) but suffice to say this project is in BT's planning system. Sorry, but I can't give you information about specific properties either - so please don't ask!

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  35. I recently heard from BT that it has enabled two of the three FTTC cabinets in the exchange area (Horsham Road & Rickwood Park). Enablement of the third FTTC (Anstie Lane) is on hold pending a "wayleave" with a local landowner (coming soon we hope). The (new) FTTC (central Coldharbour) will be subject to a statutory consultation period (because Coldharbour is in an AONB). Enabling the rest of the exchange (mostly FTTP) has been delayed by the unseasonable wet weather.

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  36. BT has confirmed that the "BT Bus" will attend the Capel Show on Saturday 18th August - and that the team on the bus has been fully briefed by the SFFB Programme Office.

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  37. Any news from the BT bus?

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  38. I went to the Capel Show on Saturday (about 3.00pm) and saw no bus! Maybe it had been and gone or maybe it turned up on Sunday - anyway, no news from me!

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    1. The bus was there for most of the day. Perhaps you need Specsavers as well as BT!

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  39. I'm slightly confused at this point. I've been to the Openreach website (Where & When) - http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/where-and-when/ - which suggests, as mentioned above, that Capel is enabled and is taking orders. You're directed to contact your Broadband supplier's website in order to check the availability at your property - however, clicking through to BT's own checker tells me I'm not able to get Infinity. No anticipated date - only the option to register interest. I'm in Oak Corner, Beare Green, (pretty close to the station, on that side of the A24) - and as such, was anticipating some more apparent progress by now...any way to getting more information on this area of Beare Green (it probably has the largest single concentration of properties/residents in the whole exchange area, but there's been no apparent Openreach activity at all, AFAIK)...Cheers, Neil

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    1. Hi Neil I have seen no new BT cabinets in the Holmwood station side of BG.Without cabinets there can be no fttc. However I did speak to a BT engineer a few weeks ago and he told me that our fibre was coming from Dorking and not Capel. This makes sense - why lay fibre back from Capel to BG when you can splice off the main fibre connection that runs up the A24. He seemed to suggest that the cable stops at the BT manhole on the corner of Moorhouse Lane and the Old Horsham Road. I do not know if just the plastic tubing has been put in place or whether the fibre has been blown into it yet. It took a lot longer than thought to connect my offices to fibre so it can take quite a time to connect it all up. I don't think we have been forgotten on this side of the A24-the company that organised the connections to my office have looked fibre to BG and tell me it is just a matter of time. So patience has to be a virtue in this case. Tim Wombwell

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    2. There doesn't seem to be a choice other than patience, Tim! Like many others on the station side of BG, I added my vote to the 'Race to Infinity' petition to get Capel upgraded, since we're all on that exchange. To my knowledge, there's never been any clarification that we'd be upgrade separately (and at this point, who knows when?). It would be churlish of me to suggest that without the votes from this section of the exchange's users, Capel may not have made the Top 10 in the first place. Of course, I'm pleased for anyone who does get an upgrade, and just having BT run a main F/O down the A24 (if that's what they've done) will surely mean that the main part of BG will eventually get it...would just be nice to know where & when, especially as Race to Infinity has given us some (seemingly false) hope...if anyone has an official line on this, please shout! Neil Ruff

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  40. @BDF - I did look for the BT Bus - and yes I wear specs!

    @Neil & Tim - I share your frustration about the lack of "hard" information and I will ask BT for an "official" statement.

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    1. Thanks Simon. If you are going to talk to them can you ask why it is that since they started messing about with cable routes and upgrading the exchange to adsl2+ my broadband has got worse. Although the line speed reported by my adsl router has gone up to 5.2Mbps the SNR has dropped to 1 which causes all sorts of problems. I have to reboot the adsl modem which synchronises at a lower speed of 4.6Mbps and SNR of 3 and all is well again; after a few days the speed creeps up again and I lose connectivity. I have not switched to adsl2+ as it gives me no advantage because of the long copper run from Capel. I know that this is something to take up via my service provider but I have a gut feeling that BT are going to say that it is uneconomic for them to supply fibre to the Holmwood station side and that the adsl2+ speed of 5.2Mbps is adequate even though we can't utilise that speed leaving us high and dry and without something we, with our votes, helped those in Capel to achieve! I have the feeling that from the point of view of those in Capel it is a case of we're all right Jack as per normal. Tim

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  41. Any new news (especially about the 'Holmwood Station' area of Beare Green??

    ~ Neil

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    1. Neil. I haven't heard any more. Although I did speak to BT Business the other day about the adsl2+ upgrade that means I now have to reboot my router at least twice a day and they said that fibre is coming - they just don't know when; I am however not optimistic. I may have to change to BT Business to take advantage of their lower contention ratio and ability to reduce the adsl2+ sync speed on my line to something more manageable!Hey ho! Tim

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  42. Dear Anoynmi,

    It's a wayleave issue - nothing more and nothing less.

    Simon

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  43. Hi Simon,

    Could you clarify - is the wayleave issue affecting the Anstie Lane FTTC cabinet causing the delay for the bulk of Beare Green? I can see that it would be an issue for Coldharbour, but not the Holmwood station portion of the village, which itself must have 20-25% of the properties on the Capel exchange? It's not like Beare Green is geographically in line with the exchange and Coldharbour, so can only guess we'd be supplied by a much closer cabinet?

    Any ray of sunshine you can shed?

    Thanks,
    Neil

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  44. Hi Neil

    It is possible that the wayleave problem is at the junction between the Old Horsham Road and Moorhouse Lane. This would fit if the fibre was coming from Dorking and another cabinet was being installed to take the place of the three that are in the field almost opposite Moorhouse Lane. It would have to be assumed that the Coldharbour connections to the Capel exchange actually go along Moorhouse Lane and into Anstie Lane.

    This is all pure conjecture of course, but it would be satisfying to have more detail.

    Tim

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  45. Tim,

    I guess that would make sense - although I'd pity BT if they are having to link up Anstie Lane via Moorhurst Lane - you'd think that running from Capel to Ockley, then up Henhurst Cross Lane would make more sense (especially as they must already be running a line out to Ockley?).

    Conjecture, as you say - let's hope Simon can get some more clarity via BT?

    Neil

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  46. Neil

    If the engineer I spoke to was correct and that our part of BG is getting fibre from Dorking then it may make more sense to take it up Moorhouse Lane.

    However we may both be thinking that when BT say it is a wayleave problem that they are talking about Anstie Lane when of course there could be another wayleave problem with the cabinets in the field opposite the Old Horsham Rd end of Moorhouse Lane.

    I cannot think that BT are going to use fttp for every house in this part of BG which would mean another fttc cabinet which would need to be next to the existing ones in the field - a prime place for a wayleave problem.

    If all of BG were to be fibred up they wouldn't need a cabinet, the fibres are spliced off underground in the BT pits.

    Its nice to theorise isn't it but we are no nearer!

    Tim

    The original

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  47. Simon,

    I too would like it if you could clarify the question regarding the main bulk of Beare Green as per Neil's post a month ago.

    The wayleave you mention, does this affect Coldharbour only? At the moment, we just have conjecture as to how this section of Beare Green is provided. Beare Green is right next to Horsham Road and as someone else mentioned, this is possibly the most populated area for the whole of the exchange.

    A week ago, I received a mail from BT, congratulating us for winning the race competition and informing us that we can now have super fast broadband. However, the website still says there are no plans for our area and speaking to BT (their representative didn't know anything about the competition) said that we can't have it and they have no information as all work is carried out by Openreach. She told me to check the Openreach website.

    Openreach website only seems to provide exchange information and not a checker for individual properties. Capel exchange is accepting orders, so I guess that means Capel then.

    Since they are actively sending out letters in the post to Beard Green, surely they must have some information now to the likely completion of the work. Disappointingly, the letter even has a link to a supposedly dedicated page to the race winners, bt.com/speedrace, but this just appears to be a redirect to the generic main site.

    In fact, overall, the letter is pretty disappointing. It makes you think you can have it, but you can't. It provides a special link, which isn't a special link at all and it doesn't provide any information suggesting that you might not be able to have it or any information about delays.

    People hate being kept in the dark, but we have no way to get real information apart from through you. I'm sure I speak for many when I say that we'd be grateful if you could get a decent update from BT, including answers like which areas are actually affected by the wayleave issue and when can other areas that aren't affected by this wayleave expect to be connected that can't yet (if there are any).

    It may be preferable to create a new forum post of updated information, who can, who can't and when can they for example, rather than keep replying to this thread.

    Thanks for listening and I look forward to more info.

    Sean

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  48. Good post Sean! I will start a new thread as you suggest and I will certainly let the BT SFBB team know that BT Retail has been sending out announcement letters to properties that are not yet "shown as available" in the speed checker at bt.com. I think that BT has some problems with the databases that feed the speed checker by the way!

    You are quite right that BT Openreach (and "Sam Knows" - http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search) only provide information at the exchange level and what really matters to individual residents and businesses is THEIR SPECIFIC LINE. Note that performance and availability will depend on the cabinet that line is connected to - in some cases it is obvious but this is not always the case; generalities like "North Capel" are helpful but they are just generalities.

    I'm attaching a (BT approved) e-mail that was sent to Coldharbour residents last week. Of course this focuses on Coldharbour issues but it is applicable to any property connected to the cabinets in question.

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  49. E-mail to Coldharbour Part 1

    I know there is some frustration about the delay in getting super-fast broadband to Coldharbour so I thought a quick summary would help.

    1) BT's Race to Infinity Promise

    To recap, BT's original promise was to install three new "green cabinets" in the Capel exchange area to deliver "fibre to the cabinet" (FTTC), alongside a deployment of "fibre to the property" (FTTP) to the most densely populated parts of Capel and Beare Green which will receive 160Mbps. The three FTTC cabinets will be fed from the exchange by fibre and will then use existing copper cabling on the "property" side of the cabinet. Unlike fibre, performance over copper degrades over distance (i.e. copper run from cabinet to property). The three FTTC cabinets serve:

    · North Capel
    · North Ockley
    · Leith Hill (Anstie Lane)

    BT's exchange design was based on both engineering and economic issues. BT would have had to run fibre to every property on Leith Hill for the Anstie Lane cabinet to be replaced by FTTP - and that just ain't going to happen as part of this project! It was never part of BT's Race to Infinity promise to install anything other than FTTC so the exchange has done pretty well to get so much FTTP.

    2) Additional Cabinet in Central Coldharbour

    The original plan was amended in July after BT had done some testing and found that the "quality" of the copper run from Anstie Lane to central Coldharbour was "poor" - some it was GPO aluminium! BT's project team made a business case to extend the fibre run from Anstie Lane to a fourth new green cabinet in central Coldharbour (FTTC) - opposite the pub. Given that we are in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty there are some statutory processes that BT has to go through but BT does not anticipate problems. BT is making this additional investment with the objective of at least meeting its stated goals for the exchange (97.8% of premises to receive an increase in speed, with 93.2% of premises to receive Infinity speeds of > 15Mbs).

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  50. E-mail to Coldharbour - Part 2

    3) Progress to Date

    The Capel exchange itself was upgraded earlier this year. Two of the FTTC cabinets went live in April and June, and people connected to those cabinets have been able to place orders. BT hopes that the FTTP deployment will be commissioned during November. This is later than the initial (November 2011) forecast of February (for FTTC) and July (for FTTP) - but note that these dates were "estimates" and "subject to survey" etc.

    4) Why the Delay in Coldharbour?

    BT's engineering plan is to run fibre from Beare Green to the Anstie Lane cabinet. This requires wayleaves (permissions to site equipment and / or run telecomms or power cables). One landowner has not yet returned essential signed wayleaves (but these have been promised) so BT is unable to build the Anstie Lane cabinet. I can assure you that BT is "on the case" and that there is absolutely nothing we can do locally to move things along. Some preparatory work has been done to ensure that the work can be completed as quickly as possible once BT has the signed wayleaves.

    5) So when do we get Super-fast Broadband in Coldharbour?

    At the risk of stating the obvious this depends on BT receiving the required wayleaves. BT tells me that even if the wayleaves were received "today" it would be unlikely that the Anstie Lane cabinet would be commissioned this side of Christmas (major civil engineering works have to be planned and scheduled of course). As and when the Anstie Lane cabinet is commissioned almost every property served by it will see an immediate uplift. The additional cabinet in Coldharbour (item 2 above) does not depend on the Anstie Lane cabinet being commissioned - it may even be that the Anstie Lane cabinet is commissioned after we see the central Coldharbour cabinet commissioned.

    6) Conclusion

    Of course, there have been delays to the overall project (c.f. BT's original "estimate subject to survey"). The "wayleave" delay which affects us is not of BT's making so we can't hold them responsible. The additional cabinet in central Coldharbour will benefit almost everybody on Leith Hill (and central Coldharbour performance should be excellent when it is commissioned).

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  51. Sean, please send your landline number and post code to (work it out for yourself please):

    S*monDOTLe*ATtheVirtualVillage&C*M

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    Replies
    1. Simon

      Sean's question related to Beare Green and although your above posts are interesting they addresses the issue of Coldharbour.

      I want to know if we in Beare Green on the Holmwood station side of the A24 are going to get any form of fibre be it fttc or fttp.

      It seems to me that this question is being avoided. BT must know whether they are going to install it here or not. All I want to know is whether the service will be provided.

      If BT have miscalculated on the cost of the upgrade to fibre and no longer wish to provide this service then perhaps they should have the decency to tell us. If this is not the case then perhaps they should tell us what the hold up is. I would be quite happy if I knew what the problems were.

      At the moment we are all in the dark.

      Tim Wombwell

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  52. Hi Simon,

    I'm in the same place as Tim. It would appear that if we (in the Holmwood Stn area of Beare Green) were connected to either of the two FTTC cabinets that are already live (North Capel & North Ockley), then we'd know about it?

    I'm pretty certain that we aren't connected to the Anstie Lane/Leith Hill cabinet - which will be serving Coldharbour & Leith Hill - although I have no means of checking that.

    So that only leaves the FTTP cabinets that, according to the BT email above, are to be commissioned this month?

    If so, then that is good news.

    However, Sean's enquiry to BT would indicate a right hand/left hand issue between Sales & Engineering divisions, supported by the vagaries of the Openreach website (Capel enabled, but properties on the Capel exchange getting a 'no' result on the availability checker').

    Is there any way to get more clarity than this? It would seem there's sufficient info now on what will be happening with Coldharbour & Leith Hill, since their going to be dealt with by the resolution of the wayleave issue in Anstie Lane, and the new central Coldharbour cabinet.

    Surely getting confirmation on the larger portion of Beare Green can't be impossible?

    Perhaps BT thinks that Beare Green is simply the few houses to the east of the A24 roundabout & down Newdigate Road - those which practically back on to Capel?

    Happy to provide a postcode & number if it helps reach some clarity?

    Cheers,
    Neil

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    Replies
    1. Hi Neil

      If you would like to make direct contact with me the email address is to use is fcb@wombwell.info

      I will provision my Exchange server to accept this address. Obviously if it is harvested and spammed I will pull the plug.

      It may be useful to have a face to face chat.

      Tim

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  53. Hi Sean, Neil & Tim,

    I have made BT aware of the "concerns" in Beare Green and they are "fact checking" a post for me at the moment. I have e-mail, phone number, address and postcode from Sean (just forwarded to BT) and would appreciate same from Neil and Tim to S*monDOTLe*ATtheVirtualVillage&C*M. My understanding is that Beare Green is partially FTTC (already enabled) and mostly FTTP (about to happen). Fully appreciate your frustration with "speedchecker" but I may be able to get your line status checked by the organ grinder rather than his monkey!

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  54. Simon,

    Thanks for the swift update - most promising thing I've heard so far.

    Will send you my details this evening - fingers crossed!

    Many thanks,
    Neil

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  55. This thread is now closed. A new thread has been started here

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  56. In BT's self initiated standard build FTTC only exchange areas like Farnham Common (where one of my relatives lives) they have been perfectly happy to set rather wildly ambitious live dates for Infinity service that the BT Speedchecker could then give a future fibre speed forecast for that they then slipped on delivery of every single quarter for four quarters so that the final live date for much of Stoke Poges was 11 months after their forecast date.

    I don't see why they can't do the same thing in Capel and make the expected live date for all homes to be connected by FTTP and FTTC say 1st July 2013 in their speed checker database. If they did that then everyone would immediately be able to get a speed forecast for when fibre goes live. If BT actually out perform 1st July 2013 for any individual premises then the owners of those properties will simply be left happy that its earlier than the forecast date. If it actually takes them until Spring 2014 to finally provide service to all planned FTTP areas (which seems more than likely to me given the current very slow rate of progress) then they can just roll the planned live dates back at the end of each quarter by another quarter as they have been perfectly happy to do on all their FTTC only enabled exchange builds.

    I think the problem is Capel is non standard and nobody has thought about the practical consequences of that for things like the BT Speedchecker. This seems to be a typical right hand not talking to the left issue, which unfortunately tends to go on all the time where BT are concerned.

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  57. Simon,

    Thanks for the swift update - most promising thing I've heard so far.

    Will send you my details this evening - fingers crossed!

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  58. I find it completely amazing that Capel WON the Race to Infinity competition in 2011 and 2 years later are still waiting!!! A-MAZ-ING!

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  59. Owen,

    I agree with you completely. Capel was one of just 10 rural exchanges in the country that BT promised to deliver fibre connections on within 12 months with a large part meant to be FTTP and not FTTC (the latter being BT'S standard build). This was all meant to be a great coup at the time as supposedly we might have otherwise had to wait another 10 years for even FTTC.

    Now two and a half years later BT has not delivered on any of its promises and is 18 months later in terms of delivery date and could well be 2.5 years late at its current snail paced speed of progress. BT Openreach's attention also seems to have been diverted by the prospect of connecting up another 14 exchanges in rural Surrey, mainly at the Council taxpayer's expense. This appears to make completion of the work in Capel, being funded by BT Retail itself, a very low priority for it. Undoubtedly Capel would have been part of the current Surrey County Council funded rollout had it not won the Race To Infinity as it is one of Surrey's largest rural telephone exchanges.

    The main advantage we potentially have from the Race To Infinity (if we ever get it) is FTTP connections rather than FTTC but if BT is serious about this why is it taking so long to deliver. I have not seen any recent signs of work on the ground in the Capel exchange area by BT. The continued failure to provide any promised delivery date on the BT Speedchecher by phone number in Capel is completely unacceptable and merely helps foster BT's current "this year, next year, some time never" approach (sometimes referred to as the Manana approach in another EU member state)

    Regards,

    Julian

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  60. As we head on in to the second half of 2013 it looks increasingly less likely that anyone in the projected FTTP service area of Capel will be connected to the service this year. When BT told us it was a "Race To Infinity" it now seems clear that they were apparently referring to their projected delivery time scales!!

    Regards,

    Julian

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  61. I was told by a BT engineer that only The Street in Capel will be getting fibre in the foreseeable future, and we as customers will be looking at sometime in 2014/15 for fibre in other areas

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  62. FFS....
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2356679/The-great-broadband-lottery-Study-finds-families-paying-TWICE-neighbours-internet.html

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23173157

    Owen - Beare Green

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