The problem is a lot of the DSLAMs for FTTC are manufactured by ECI. My understanding is that they require an actual hardware upgrade to enable vectoring. The Huawei cabinets only require a firmware patch. I've noticed they are now pretty much only installing Huawei cabinets now, even where the headend equipment is manufactured by ECI. In the past the cabinet manufacturer had to match the headend equipment manufacturer.
I think the reason they are doing this is so that vectoring will be easier to roll out later this year. Some of the Huawei cabinets also seem to have already had the firmware update for vectoring though it is turned off at present.
Ireland I think used all Huawei for their roll-out so it was easier for Eircom to enable.
I have also read that the ECI stuff is not so clear cut, but also (from a BT employee) that they have actually bought vectoring-capable kit. Maybe it's both? (older ECI is not capable, newer ECI is?).
It'd be nice if BT could turn it on already in areas that can support it. I live in an area that is all Huawei as far as I know and I'd say I could at least get the full 80Mbit sync rather than the approx 72Mbit I get at the moment (when I was the second customer on the cabinet the modem and engineer's JDSU was reporting a theoretical max of about 132/40 which would be great if BT ever rolls out that as a service).
I have spoken to my ISP (Plusnet) about this on ore than one occasion. They are not aware of any plans for upgrades to lines in my postal code area (my street).
Are you in a rural area? It may be worth contacting either Openreach directly or the local superfast broadband project, they are more well informed than any ISP tends to be.
The openreach checker at http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/ now claims to tell you availability on an individual level now (rather than entire exchanges), does it say anything?
Plusnet likely doesn't know any more than the availability checker tells them.
BT can choose to install a copper cabinet on "exchange only" lines, making FTTC viable
Yeah but there are loads of tiny exchanges here in South Devon (scheduled to be FTTC by BDUK) where that wouldn't work at all since I have many customers on really long EO lines getting 1meg ADSL. So a cab outside the exchange would be pointless for them.
Gara Bridge is a good case in point. https://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/WWGARA
Just over 500 connections and I think only one cab serving less than half of those customers. The rest are EO and too far away.
They may be thinking FTTdp or rn perhaps for these kind of exchanges?
I have also read that the ECI stuff is not so clear cut, but also (from a BT employee) that they have actually bought vectoring-capable kit. Maybe it's both? (older ECI is not capable, newer ECI is?).
It'd be nice if BT could turn it on already in areas that can support it. I live in an area that is all Huawei as far as I know and I'd say I could at least get the full 80Mbit sync rather than the approx 72Mbit I get at the moment (when I was the second customer on the cabinet the modem and engineer's JDSU was reporting a theoretical max of about 132/40 which would be great if BT ever rolls out that as a service).
Are you in a rural area? It may be worth contacting either Openreach directly or the local superfast broadband project, they are more well informed than any ISP tends to be.
The openreach checker at http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/ now claims to tell you availability on an individual level now (rather than entire exchanges), does it say anything?
Plusnet likely doesn't know any more than the availability checker tells them.
I actually live in a built up area very close to the exchange.
The checker you referred to returned this. It can't be right as there is NO cabinet between my house and the exchange. This was confirmed by a BT Openreach engineer who installed a new master socket early last year.
"Exchange name: Marton
Status: Accepting orders
Great news. Superfast Fibre is in your area and your cabinet is enabled and accepting orders. Contact your preferred communications provider for your home or business to order".
I actually live in a built up area very close to the exchange.
The checker you referred to returned this. It can't be right as there is NO cabinet between my house and the exchange. This was confirmed by a BT Openreach engineer who installed a new master socket early last year.
"Exchange name: Marton
Status: Accepting orders
Great news. Superfast Fibre is in your area and your cabinet is enabled and accepting orders. Contact your preferred communications provider for your home or business to order".
BT BROADBAND AVAILABILITY CHECKER
Telephone Number 01253-nnnnnn on Exchange MARTON
Featured Products * Downstream Line Rate(Mbps) * Upstream Line Rate(Mbps) * Downstream Range(Mbps) *Availability Date
WBC ADSL 2+ Up to 21 -- 19.5 to 23 Available
WBC ADSL 2+ Annex M Up to 21 Up to 1.5 19.5 to 23 Available
ADSL Max Up to 7.5 -- 6.5 to 8 Available
WBC Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available
Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available
Other Offerings
Copper Multicast -- -- -- Available
For all ADSL and WBC Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) services, the stable line rate will be determined during the first 10 days of service usage.
Throughput/download speeds will be less than line rates and can be affected by a number of factors within and external to BT's network, Communication Providers' networks and within customer premises.
The Stop Sale date for Datastream is from 20-Nov-2014; the Formal Retirement date for Datastream is from 27-Nov-2014. The Stop Sale date for IPstream is from 31-Dec-2012; the Formal Retirement date for IPstream is from 30-Jun-2014.
If the End User wishes to migrate from their current Broadband supplier they will need to contact them in the first instance to obtain a MAC (Migrations Authorisation) Code, and then contact their new Broadband supplier to arrange for the service to be migrated.
Note: Please note that postcode and address check results are indicative only. Most accurate results can be obtained from a telephone number check.
Thank you for your interest.
Just checked it now, not looking good but I usually get 20Mbit download and 1Mbit upload, yes I know many people would be very pleased to get that.
Yep that's an Exchange only line otherwise it would say "On Exchange Marton Cabinet x"
However if you are getting 20 meg then you are indeed very close.
So if they ever stick a cab outside the exchange you are in line for 4 times that.
Yep that's an Exchange only line otherwise it would say "On Exchange Marton Cabinet x"
However if you are getting 20 meg then you are indeed very close.
So if they ever stick a cab outside the exchange you are in line for 4 times that.
Well maybe one day.....:(
Until then what I have is enough for most of my needs. downloading HD video to the Sky box is a bit annoying though,
Until then what I have is enough for most of my needs. downloading HD video to the Sky box is a bit annoying though,
You won't get much more on FTTC as they seem to limit download speeds to around 22Mbps IIRC, from when I checked it a few months ago (70Mbps FTTC here). But as the start of everything's viewable within a minute or so of starting the download, it isn't an issue for me, and my Sky box is so clunky that it can take me that long to navigate to where I want to be!
We're keen to bring Superfast Fibre to your area and are exploring how best to achieve that. We may deliver it as part of our commercial programme, or by working in partnership with your local authority. At the moment you can't order Superfast Fibre. For more information visit the FAQ section >"
The FAQ tells me
"I’ve been told I have an Exchange Only (EO) line what does that mean?
The vast majority of UK premises are connected to a green roadside cabinet which then connects to the local exchange. However, a small proportion of business and consumer properties are served directly by the local exchange rather than by a green cabinet – so called “exchange only” lines. It can prove more challenging to bring fibre broadband to properties served by exchange only lines, but Openreach is busy working on solutions to achieve this.
Can I change my exchange only (EO) line connection so that it goes via a cabinet?
We are busy looking at solutions to provide Fibre service to EO lines via existing cabinets as well as creating new cabinets for EO lines. The network over which fibre broadband is provided is bespoke, and all premises are served from dedicated fixed distribution points. Many lines are connected via their own overhead or underground link to a nearby green telephony cabinet. Exchange Only lines, by their very nature, are not connected to green telephony cabinets, instead being connected via their own bespoke fixed link directly to the local exchange".
A small proportion is probably right, but the distances of the people on those lines can be interesting.
My grandparents are at the end of a couple of miles of an EO line, for example (and this is on one of the exchanges where BT's "innovative" technology of adding a PCP onto those lines was trialled). As of yet they're still only able to get ADSL, but that may only be partly because they are EO and mostly because they're very very rural. One of the smallest FTTC cabinets might be viable (it's an isolated road of about 20 houses).
They can't even recommend mobile broadband since all of the networks are unavailable there apart from a whiff of an O2 signal (clay pit blocks the signals from the other networks, once you drive down the road past the pit you get excellent 3G reception on most networks).
At least they can get 5 or 6Mbit ADSL so they're not in the same boat as some people.
Yeah, as I said in a previous post somewhere, I have quite a few of customers on 8Mb (ADSL1) exchanges, on long EO lines, sometimes 5Km or so, only getting 1 - 2 meg.
Most are isolated houses so no hope for fibre anytime soon.
It's Satellite or 4G for most of them. EE 4G nearly here and a lot of them have an accessible EE 2G or 3G signal.
Some are going to need Huawei b593s and external panel antennas but nothing I can't sort for them! : )
Yeah, as I said in a previous post somewhere, I have quite a few of customers on 8Mb (ADSL1) exchanges, on long EO lines, sometimes 5Km or so, only getting 1 - 2 meg.
Most are isolated houses so no hope for fibre anytime soon.
It's Satellite or 4G for most of them. EE 4G nearly here and a lot of them have an accessible EE 2G or 3G signal.
Some are going to need Huawei b593s and external panel antennas but nothing I can't sort for them! : )
Just to go off topic briefly, in a recent job the network used a device called a "bonding router", basically the ADSL parts replaced with 2 mobile 4G SIM cards (from 3 although we tried EE). The performance frankly was disppointing, most of the time the speed was less than 5Mbit, on very few occasions did it manage more than 8Mbit, and this with 2 4G channels. This is my only experience with 4G data over mobile and may not be typical, if it is a lot of people will be disappointed.
The supplier of the equipment told me that the 3 SIM cards had a much more generous data allowance than EE. Once the monthly data allowance was used up, the SIM card stops working until the monthly roll over date.
I ran the speed test when nobody else was using the network to get clean results.
I am bringing this thread back to life because FTTP became live in our village this week. Woohoo! There are problems however placing an order for a service.
First of all the only choice appears to be the five BT Infinity packages. None of the other suppliers do FTTP yet.
Of the five BT Infinity packages - Infinity Extra, Infinity 1, Infinity 2, Infinity 3, and Infinity 4; only Infinity 3 and Infinity 4 can be ordered on the BT website even though all five are offered initially. One has to phone to order the three slower speeds which means that the £100+ cashback offered by Topcashback is not available.
Can anyone confirm that all five Infinity packages in this FTTP only situation are fibre all the way into the house/premises with no copper involved? There is no FTTC in this village.
And when FTTP fibre is blown into a premises, does it have the capacity to supply several separate Infinity customers? Do BT/Openreach blow a single strand of fibre or multiple strands or a bundle as standard?
Screenshot for more information. What is Fibre Multicast?
I am bringing this thread back to life because FTTP became live in our village this week. Woohoo! There are problems however placing an order for a service.
First of all the only choice appears to be the five BT Infinity packages. None of the other suppliers do FTTP yet.
Of the five BT Infinity packages - Infinity Extra, Infinity 1, Infinity 2, Infinity 3, and Infinity 4; only Infinity 3 and Infinity 4 can be ordered on the BT website even though all five are offered initially. One has to phone to order the three slower speeds which means that the £100+ cashback offered by Topcashback is not available.
Can anyone confirm that all five Infinity packages in this FTTP only situation are fibre all the way into the house/premises with no copper involved? There is no FTTC in this village.
And when FTTP fibre is blown into a premises, does it have the capacity to supply several separate Infinity customers? Do BT/Openreach blow a single strand of fibre or multiple strands or a bundle as standard?
Screenshot for more information. What is Fibre Multicast?
When a big event is being "streamed" live there is high demand on the system. Fibre Multicast (along with Copper Multicast) is used to stream the event to the local exchange which then broadcasts to all users on that exchange who want to view the event. It reduces capacity demand.
If you have a look through the following videos I'm sure you'll find one or more showing a fibre connection being made to an individual premise. http://b4rn.org.uk/about-b4rn/jfdi
First of all the only choice appears to be the five BT Infinity packages. None of the other suppliers do FTTP yet.
I seem to recall PlusNet were trialling a FTTP package - you could give them a call to see if it's still available.
I also seem to recall one or two other providers did FTTP but can't find any info to confirm this - it was on the web page of one of the "fast broadband" areas which listed various suppliers for FTTC and FTTP.
Brian
Edit : Grey matter came to life - ThinkBroadband have a "Providers" list. Most of those listed under "Faster" I believe are localised but the one that sticks out is Zen http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isps.html
Most ISPs don't for some reason. I'm not sure why, my understanding is that the process for them is the same for FTTP and FTTC and the rental costs from Openreach are the same for 40/80Mbit so it shouldn't require much work to accept FTTP users.
Maybe there's a problem with not having enough capacity to offer the higher speeds, but the ISPs could easily provide 40 or 80Mbit to FTTP customers as it's an equivalent service to those on FTTC.
I wonder if this is why no one actually seems to be on FTTP around here (despite what the resident BT shareholders may say, BT does a lot of rural FTTP when they want to)
I guess while FTTP remains an extremely niche service the ISPs can't be bothered with it
Fibre multicast is a method of getting live TV channels or one-off broadcasts to households over the Internet without buffering delays, and at a consistently high quality (like broadcast TV).
You need the bandwidth to start with, of course, but it generally avoids the kind of issues of contention further down the line that often happens with traditional "Unicast" Internet streaming, which is why buffering is needed for Unicast streams.
Multicast TV is used by BT TV for their "Extra Channels", the channels that aren't available on Freeview, so BT don't need to use satellites for them. It is far more efficient than Unicast and the way BT operate it, the TV channel being watched or recorded can be "locked off" from the rest of the Internet bandwidth, for greater resilience. The bandwidth is freed up again as soon as the recording is finished or the (BT Youview) box is turned off or goes into auto-standby.
Plusnet offer FTTP. It's for existing ADSL customers, though, and is on 'trial'. Once you have their ADSL head across to (should be a direct link) ... https://portal.plus.net/wizard/?wizard_id=20 (or just type trials.plus.net in your browser).
Can anyone confirm that all five Infinity packages in this FTTP only situation are fibre all the way into the house/premises with no copper involved? There is no FTTC in this village.
After spending hours talking to BT trying to get a definitive answer to this question, I was initially advised that only Infinity 3 (200Mb) and Infinity 4 (300Mb) are true FTTP fibre blown all the way to the premises. This person was adamant that the slower Infinity packages in this village are fibre from the exchange to the cabinet then copper from the cabinet to the premises. I questioned her advice several times emphasising that there is only FTTP in this village - no FTTC because there is no fibre cabinet. Fibre is already blown from the exchange to the new green boxes on DP poles in several locations in the village. This advisor refused to back down.
So, I ended the call and started again, this time asking to speak with a technical person instead of a sales person. This new advisor 100% contradicted the first advisor, and put a note on my account to the effect that all Infinity packages available in this village are true FTTP including fibre installed all the way to the premises. Armed with this information I went ahead and ordered an Infinity package.
And when FTTP fibre is blown into a premises, does it have the capacity to supply several separate Infinity customers? Do BT/Openreach blow a single strand of fibre or multiple strands or a bundle as standard?
I need to know the answer to this question because my location is rural. I want to be assured that when my fibre is installed this month that it will be future proof in that it will have the capacity to supply multiple Infinity customers at this address in the future. The laying of the fibre to these premises can only be physically undertaken by digging a new trench at least 650 metres in length. As this will be a one time operation I want to be sure that the fibre that is laid will be future proof in capacity. Who would be able to answer this question?
Following on, each Infinity customer is required to have a copper BT landline even if that line is not used for anything. At present there is only one copper cable to these premises that works. Does each Infinity customer have to have a physical copper cable or would paying a line rental charge with no physical copper be allowed or suffice? When the new trench for fibre is opened do BT/Openreach need to install more copper cables to satisfy their own rules in this scenario?
I need to know the answer to this question because my location is rural. I want to be assured that when my fibre is installed this month that it will be future proof in that it will have the capacity to supply multiple Infinity customers at this address in the future. The laying of the fibre to these premises can only be physically undertaken by digging a new trench at least 650 metres in length. As this will be a one time operation I want to be sure that the fibre that is laid will be future proof in capacity. Who would be able to answer this question?
Are you sure they can't do overhead lines from the pole that has the DP to your house ?
I can only comment further from what I've seen looking at BARN videos. If it's a trench they'll lay multi core "pipes" (not sure of the technical term !!!) in it. These can vary in size - 8 core, 16 core etc. Each individual install has a fibre run down it's own "pipe". A junction is created at the point nearest your house to "split" your pipe from the main core - this is done before the fibre is "blown" through the pipe.
If you look through the BARN videos you'll see examples of them laying the core "pipe" and at least one of them splitting off an individual core
Comments
I have also read that the ECI stuff is not so clear cut, but also (from a BT employee) that they have actually bought vectoring-capable kit. Maybe it's both? (older ECI is not capable, newer ECI is?).
It'd be nice if BT could turn it on already in areas that can support it. I live in an area that is all Huawei as far as I know and I'd say I could at least get the full 80Mbit sync rather than the approx 72Mbit I get at the moment (when I was the second customer on the cabinet the modem and engineer's JDSU was reporting a theoretical max of about 132/40 which would be great if BT ever rolls out that as a service).
Are you in a rural area? It may be worth contacting either Openreach directly or the local superfast broadband project, they are more well informed than any ISP tends to be.
The openreach checker at http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/ now claims to tell you availability on an individual level now (rather than entire exchanges), does it say anything?
Plusnet likely doesn't know any more than the availability checker tells them.
Yeah but there are loads of tiny exchanges here in South Devon (scheduled to be FTTC by BDUK) where that wouldn't work at all since I have many customers on really long EO lines getting 1meg ADSL. So a cab outside the exchange would be pointless for them.
Gara Bridge is a good case in point. https://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/WWGARA
Just over 500 connections and I think only one cab serving less than half of those customers. The rest are EO and too far away.
They may be thinking FTTdp or rn perhaps for these kind of exchanges?
I actually live in a built up area very close to the exchange.
The checker you referred to returned this. It can't be right as there is NO cabinet between my house and the exchange. This was confirmed by a BT Openreach engineer who installed a new master socket early last year.
"Exchange name: Marton
Status: Accepting orders
Great news. Superfast Fibre is in your area and your cabinet is enabled and accepting orders. Contact your preferred communications provider for your home or business to order".
This is the exchange, just over 5 minutes walk from my house https://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/LCMAT
As you suggest I will contact these people and see if they know any more
https://www.superfastlancashire.com/home
What does the BT Wholesale checker say for your line.
https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/main.html
Brian
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/6773-fibre-to-the-remote-node-spotted-in-north-yorkshire.html
Yes - I was debating whether or not to post the link.
The "User Forms" link has more information and pictures.
It appears to serve 19 premises - one of which is still too far from the cabinet !!!
Brian
BT BROADBAND AVAILABILITY CHECKER
Telephone Number 01253-nnnnnn on Exchange MARTON
Featured Products * Downstream Line Rate(Mbps) * Upstream Line Rate(Mbps) * Downstream Range(Mbps) *Availability Date
WBC ADSL 2+ Up to 21 -- 19.5 to 23 Available
WBC ADSL 2+ Annex M Up to 21 Up to 1.5 19.5 to 23 Available
ADSL Max Up to 7.5 -- 6.5 to 8 Available
WBC Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available
Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available
Other Offerings
Copper Multicast -- -- -- Available
For all ADSL and WBC Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) services, the stable line rate will be determined during the first 10 days of service usage.
Throughput/download speeds will be less than line rates and can be affected by a number of factors within and external to BT's network, Communication Providers' networks and within customer premises.
The Stop Sale date for Datastream is from 20-Nov-2014; the Formal Retirement date for Datastream is from 27-Nov-2014. The Stop Sale date for IPstream is from 31-Dec-2012; the Formal Retirement date for IPstream is from 30-Jun-2014.
If the End User wishes to migrate from their current Broadband supplier they will need to contact them in the first instance to obtain a MAC (Migrations Authorisation) Code, and then contact their new Broadband supplier to arrange for the service to be migrated.
Note: Please note that postcode and address check results are indicative only. Most accurate results can be obtained from a telephone number check.
Thank you for your interest.
Just checked it now, not looking good but I usually get 20Mbit download and 1Mbit upload, yes I know many people would be very pleased to get that.
However if you are getting 20 meg then you are indeed very close.
So if they ever stick a cab outside the exchange you are in line for 4 times that.
Well maybe one day.....:(
Until then what I have is enough for most of my needs. downloading HD video to the Sky box is a bit annoying though,
You won't get much more on FTTC as they seem to limit download speeds to around 22Mbps IIRC, from when I checked it a few months ago (70Mbps FTTC here). But as the start of everything's viewable within a minute or so of starting the download, it isn't an issue for me, and my Sky box is so clunky that it can take me that long to navigate to where I want to be!
http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/where-and-when/
No luck.
"Exchange name: Marton
We're keen to bring Superfast Fibre to your area and are exploring how best to achieve that. We may deliver it as part of our commercial programme, or by working in partnership with your local authority. At the moment you can't order Superfast Fibre. For more information visit the FAQ section >"
The FAQ tells me
"I’ve been told I have an Exchange Only (EO) line what does that mean?
The vast majority of UK premises are connected to a green roadside cabinet which then connects to the local exchange. However, a small proportion of business and consumer properties are served directly by the local exchange rather than by a green cabinet – so called “exchange only” lines. It can prove more challenging to bring fibre broadband to properties served by exchange only lines, but Openreach is busy working on solutions to achieve this.
Can I change my exchange only (EO) line connection so that it goes via a cabinet?
We are busy looking at solutions to provide Fibre service to EO lines via existing cabinets as well as creating new cabinets for EO lines. The network over which fibre broadband is provided is bespoke, and all premises are served from dedicated fixed distribution points. Many lines are connected via their own overhead or underground link to a nearby green telephony cabinet. Exchange Only lines, by their very nature, are not connected to green telephony cabinets, instead being connected via their own bespoke fixed link directly to the local exchange".
I suspect it's more than a "small proportion".
My grandparents are at the end of a couple of miles of an EO line, for example (and this is on one of the exchanges where BT's "innovative" technology of adding a PCP onto those lines was trialled). As of yet they're still only able to get ADSL, but that may only be partly because they are EO and mostly because they're very very rural. One of the smallest FTTC cabinets might be viable (it's an isolated road of about 20 houses).
They can't even recommend mobile broadband since all of the networks are unavailable there apart from a whiff of an O2 signal (clay pit blocks the signals from the other networks, once you drive down the road past the pit you get excellent 3G reception on most networks).
At least they can get 5 or 6Mbit ADSL so they're not in the same boat as some people.
Most are isolated houses so no hope for fibre anytime soon.
It's Satellite or 4G for most of them. EE 4G nearly here and a lot of them have an accessible EE 2G or 3G signal.
Some are going to need Huawei b593s and external panel antennas but nothing I can't sort for them! : )
Just to go off topic briefly, in a recent job the network used a device called a "bonding router", basically the ADSL parts replaced with 2 mobile 4G SIM cards (from 3 although we tried EE). The performance frankly was disppointing, most of the time the speed was less than 5Mbit, on very few occasions did it manage more than 8Mbit, and this with 2 4G channels. This is my only experience with 4G data over mobile and may not be typical, if it is a lot of people will be disappointed.
The supplier of the equipment told me that the 3 SIM cards had a much more generous data allowance than EE. Once the monthly data allowance was used up, the SIM card stops working until the monthly roll over date.
I ran the speed test when nobody else was using the network to get clean results.
First of all the only choice appears to be the five BT Infinity packages. None of the other suppliers do FTTP yet.
Of the five BT Infinity packages - Infinity Extra, Infinity 1, Infinity 2, Infinity 3, and Infinity 4; only Infinity 3 and Infinity 4 can be ordered on the BT website even though all five are offered initially. One has to phone to order the three slower speeds which means that the £100+ cashback offered by Topcashback is not available.
Can anyone confirm that all five Infinity packages in this FTTP only situation are fibre all the way into the house/premises with no copper involved? There is no FTTC in this village.
And when FTTP fibre is blown into a premises, does it have the capacity to supply several separate Infinity customers? Do BT/Openreach blow a single strand of fibre or multiple strands or a bundle as standard?
Screenshot for more information. What is Fibre Multicast?
http://goo.gl/8zhuxg
When a big event is being "streamed" live there is high demand on the system. Fibre Multicast (along with Copper Multicast) is used to stream the event to the local exchange which then broadcasts to all users on that exchange who want to view the event. It reduces capacity demand.
If you have a look through the following videos I'm sure you'll find one or more showing a fibre connection being made to an individual premise.
http://b4rn.org.uk/about-b4rn/jfdi
Brian
I seem to recall PlusNet were trialling a FTTP package - you could give them a call to see if it's still available.
I also seem to recall one or two other providers did FTTP but can't find any info to confirm this - it was on the web page of one of the "fast broadband" areas which listed various suppliers for FTTC and FTTP.
Brian
Edit : Grey matter came to life - ThinkBroadband have a "Providers" list. Most of those listed under "Faster" I believe are localised but the one that sticks out is Zen
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isps.html
Maybe there's a problem with not having enough capacity to offer the higher speeds, but the ISPs could easily provide 40 or 80Mbit to FTTP customers as it's an equivalent service to those on FTTC.
I wonder if this is why no one actually seems to be on FTTP around here (despite what the resident BT shareholders may say, BT does a lot of rural FTTP when they want to)
I guess while FTTP remains an extremely niche service the ISPs can't be bothered with it
Looks like a choice between BT and Zen
Brian
Fibre multicast is a method of getting live TV channels or one-off broadcasts to households over the Internet without buffering delays, and at a consistently high quality (like broadcast TV).
You need the bandwidth to start with, of course, but it generally avoids the kind of issues of contention further down the line that often happens with traditional "Unicast" Internet streaming, which is why buffering is needed for Unicast streams.
Multicast TV is used by BT TV for their "Extra Channels", the channels that aren't available on Freeview, so BT don't need to use satellites for them. It is far more efficient than Unicast and the way BT operate it, the TV channel being watched or recorded can be "locked off" from the rest of the Internet bandwidth, for greater resilience. The bandwidth is freed up again as soon as the recording is finished or the (BT Youview) box is turned off or goes into auto-standby.
Unicast is one streaming "transmission" for every one user, all the way to each end user. http://cdn.slidesharecdn.com/ss_thumbnails/multicast-vs-unicast-diagrams-1218880662573083-9-thumbnail-4.jpg?cb=1218872876
Multicast is one streaming "transmission" for every one channel, divided and redivided as it progresses through the network, and is much more bandwidth-efficient, especially at the broadcaster's end. http://image.slidesharecdn.com/multicast-vs-unicast-diagrams-1218880662573083-9/95/multicast-vs-unicast-diagram-2-728.jpg?cb=1218872876
After spending hours talking to BT trying to get a definitive answer to this question, I was initially advised that only Infinity 3 (200Mb) and Infinity 4 (300Mb) are true FTTP fibre blown all the way to the premises. This person was adamant that the slower Infinity packages in this village are fibre from the exchange to the cabinet then copper from the cabinet to the premises. I questioned her advice several times emphasising that there is only FTTP in this village - no FTTC because there is no fibre cabinet. Fibre is already blown from the exchange to the new green boxes on DP poles in several locations in the village. This advisor refused to back down.
So, I ended the call and started again, this time asking to speak with a technical person instead of a sales person. This new advisor 100% contradicted the first advisor, and put a note on my account to the effect that all Infinity packages available in this village are true FTTP including fibre installed all the way to the premises. Armed with this information I went ahead and ordered an Infinity package.
I need to know the answer to this question because my location is rural. I want to be assured that when my fibre is installed this month that it will be future proof in that it will have the capacity to supply multiple Infinity customers at this address in the future. The laying of the fibre to these premises can only be physically undertaken by digging a new trench at least 650 metres in length. As this will be a one time operation I want to be sure that the fibre that is laid will be future proof in capacity. Who would be able to answer this question?
Following on, each Infinity customer is required to have a copper BT landline even if that line is not used for anything. At present there is only one copper cable to these premises that works. Does each Infinity customer have to have a physical copper cable or would paying a line rental charge with no physical copper be allowed or suffice? When the new trench for fibre is opened do BT/Openreach need to install more copper cables to satisfy their own rules in this scenario?
Are you sure they can't do overhead lines from the pole that has the DP to your house ?
I can only comment further from what I've seen looking at BARN videos. If it's a trench they'll lay multi core "pipes" (not sure of the technical term !!!) in it. These can vary in size - 8 core, 16 core etc. Each individual install has a fibre run down it's own "pipe". A junction is created at the point nearest your house to "split" your pipe from the main core - this is done before the fibre is "blown" through the pipe.
If you look through the BARN videos you'll see examples of them laying the core "pipe" and at least one of them splitting off an individual core
Brian