Not much seems to have happened over the past few months with FTTC:

• BT Openreach continue to rollout of exchange/cabinet upgrades as per their schedule
• Plus.net are still in trail mode and you can not order a FTTC service straight from the customer support team (you can however still get on their trail once out are an account holder)
• Sky still don’t seem to have their trail up and running as yet; months behind their advised dates

BT Infinity did however create a site called Race to Infinity that allowed people to register their interest for their local exchange to be considered for an update to FTTC.  The first results of this having been announce just a week or so ago.  Whitchurch was one of 6 lucky places to be added to the release schedule.  The complete list of locations being:

• Whitchurch, Hampshire
• Baschurch, Shropshire
• Blewbury, Oxfordshire
• Caxton, Cambridgeshire
• Innerleithen, Scottish Borders
• Madingley, Cambridgeshire

Winning the race to infinity means that, subject to availability the winning exchanges will be enabled early in 2012.
 
Good news is that I can one add Whitchurch to my Rightmove search list for future house location.  Like so many advancements in Internet connection speed, I don’t think that I could face the a decrease in connection speed now that I am so used to 40Mb down and 10Mb up. 
 
I did try registering my Dad’s phone number as being interested in getting FTTC but being on a small exchange, it did not even meet the minimum number of connections requirement of 1000 residential subscribers.  Now chance of me getting them up and running on a HiDef videoconferencing solution yet then!

BT had previously committed to enabling 40% of the exchanges with fibre broadband by the end of 2012 and with the Conservative’s manifesto not looking like to directly use government funding to improve the UK’s broadband network it seemed that this is where the network would stop for a while.

However, BT have announced that they will be re-investing their recent profits to put an additional £1bn into their fibre network expansion.  This equates to an extra 20% coverage, totaling 60% by 2015.

Come the close of 2015, BT estimate that 66% of UK homes will have access to the fibre network; one quarter of those being directly connected via FTTH (Fibre-to-the-Home) with speeds of 100Mb/s, the remainder being on the 40Mb/s FTTC service.  Which is what I have.

The extra 20% coverage will be evenly distributed across England, Wales and Scotland but there was no news on whether areas like Basingstoke will be revisited to provide coverage to districts like Hatch Warren and Chineham that have been left in the dark right now.

A little later that I thought but here is my story of a successful installation of the fibre broadband service in Basingstoke…

The afternoon quickly came by and I was ready and waiting at home shortly after noon for the 1pm to 6pm appointment slot.

As I wanted to get the data extension cable fitted as part of the installation, I quickly emptied the space under the stairs so that it could easily be routed to the cupboard at the end of the hall; where the rest of my network kit lives.

My network kit, left to right… BT VDSL Modem, Plusnet Wireless Router (using PPPoE), Synology DS209,
5 port 1Gb Netgear switch, 8 port 100Mb Netgear switch.
Bang on 1pm, the phone rang (it was the BT Engineer) and I was informed that he was at the local cabinet (PCP125) about to disconnect the line and would be with me in about 10 minutes.

Ding, dong went the bell.  Mick was at the door with a VDSL Modem (a re-boxed Huawei EchoLife HG612), new SSFP, VDSL testing hand-unit and the obligatory tool-bag.

Within 15 minutes we had talk through the work he needed to do, fitted the SSFP, terminated the data extension cable and tested that my phone number was working again.  Mick then had to wait for a call from the back-office team to say that their actions had been completed so he went back to the van to complete some paperwork whilst he waited.

With regards to the data extension cable, it is, in effect, just Cat5e.  So if anyone wants to run their own extension cabling in at some point there is nothing ‘special’ about the stuff BT provide.  I already have one run of Cat5e down the cavity wall to the BT master socket from the ‘comms cupboard’ to extend the phone line out.   When I get round to decorating the hall, I will run in another length of Cat5e just for the FTTC connection, until then, BT’s stuff will have to do.

About 30 minutes later, Mick was back at the door and ready to test the data service. With a few minutes of reconnecting his tester, he confirmed that I had virtually no signal loss on my line and syncing at the full 40Mbps down and 10Mbps up. He also confirmed that my cable length was about 0.6 Km.

The interesting bit here about the sync rate on his tester the first time it was connected (before the back office team completed their work) reported a downstream sync rate if 100Mbps! Meaning there must be some truth in the claims that FTTC should be capable of delivering that level of service sometime in the future.

At this point Mick was a little unsure what happen next, as this was the first install he had been to that was not a BT Infinity account. Fortunately, Plusnet had already told me what actions I needed to perform. So out came the preconfigured Speedtouch router from them that had been delivered a few weeks back. I connected it up as advised in the documentation and went upstairs to test the service. It worked first time!

Talking to Mick, I found out that BT currently assign 2 FTTC installs to each engineer each day. He expects the to change over the coming months as they all get more familiar with the work. Expecting the whole thing to be a self install at some point.

As it turned out the delay was caused by the fact I was the first customer to be connected to my local DSLAM (so nobody else order the service in my area, I want it all to myself! Maybe I should go and wrap a big chain around the PCP!?).

If Mick was correct I am about FTTC customer number 50 for Basingstoke. Plusnet confirming as trial user number 36 for them.

All told, BT took about 1.5 hours to complete the install. It would have been much quicker if not for the back office work needed.

Performing a speed test now showed that my upload speed was about 5Mbps but my download speed was unchanged (about 3.5Mbps). Remembering my change from ADSL to ADSL2+, I put this down to my IP Profile and went back to the office.

After completing a few tasks I thought it was time to get in touch with Dave at Plusnet and inform them that I was up and running, enquiring at the same time how long it would take for my IP Profile to update. As if his ears were burning, the phone rang, it was Dave!

He had called to say that BT had updated them to say they had finished the install, to check if I was happy and answer any questions. Before I could ask about the download speed restriction, he told me that he had just reset the profile and I should be up to their max available speeds. I remotely connected back to the house PC and was getting a much better download speed.

One thing to note about the Plusnet trial is that until they complete some backbone upgrades, the max download / upload sync rates are 21Mbps / 5Mbps respectively. Plusnet have this upgrade on their roadmap but no dates as yet.

So how is FTTC in the real world?  Browsing webpages etc doesn’t really show much difference (just how fast do you want webpages to show up anyhow?!), but when it comes to downloading content… now we have something!  Rapidshare content seemed a good place to test the actual download throughput over the connection, and it didn’t disappoint; downloading at 2.4MBps (or 19.2Mbps).  The other real world test… how well it works with VPN access to the office, after all we all have to work don’t we.  The package I have with Plusnet has some rate limiting on VPN traffic I have seen a nice increase in throughput (the upload increase being the most notable).

Comparing FTTC with other service providers in the area using the Top 10 Broadband site gave the following results.
Download Speed Test (18.1Mbps)

Upload Speed Test (4.6Mbps)

… basically it is only really Virgin that can offer similar speeds this far out from the Basingstoke exchange.

Overall I am VERY pleased with the FTTC connection, made especially so by having it on trial with Plusnet at the same price as my old ADSL2+ service; £11.99 a month.  Now I am just waiting for Plusnet to upgrade their backbone to see what the full 40/10Mbps connection is like.

I found this list from Trefor Davies site on the locations that are pencilled in for both Phase 4b and 5 delivery of FTTC (and FTTP) to complete the current known plans to reach the service out to 40% of the UK telephone exchanges (covering about 10 Million premises) by June 2012.

As Trefor says, there is no indication yet which exchanges are in which phase and the list is very subject to change at this time but I hope if give you all a little more of an idea what to expect post Phase 4a.

• Abingdon
• Acton
• Addiscombe
• Aldershot
• Alsager
• Alton
• Amersham
• Ascot
• Ashford, Kent
• Ashford, Middlesex
• Ashton- On-Ribble
• Astley Bridge
• Aycliffe
• Bagshot
• Balham
• Banbury
• Bath Kingsmead
• Battersea
• Bayswater
• Beaconsfield
• Bearsted
• Beckenham
• Bedford Town
• Berkswell
• Beulah Hill
• Bexleyheath
• Birkdale
• Bishops Stortford
• Blackwater
• Blue Bell Hill
• Bordon
• Boreham
• Botley
• Bourne End
• Bowes Park
• Bracknell
• Bridgend
• Brighton Withdean
• Brixton
• Bromley
• Bromsgrove
• Brookwood
• Broomhill
• Burgess Hill
• Burnham, Buckinghamshire
• Burntwood
• Bury St. Edmonds
• Bushey Heath
• Camberley
• Canterbury
• Catford
• Chelsea
• Chepstow
• Chesham
• Cheslyn Hay
• Chessington
• Chester Central
• Chester North
• Chester South
• Chesterfield
• Chislehurst
• Chiswick
• Chorley
• Clapton
• Clerkenwell
• Colindale
• Connahs Quay
• Copthorne
• Cramlington
• Crawley
• Cricklewood
• Crouch End
• Crowborough
• Croydon
• Daventry
• Deptford
• Downhall
• Droitwich
• Dronfield
• Dulwich
• Ealing
• Earls Court
• East Grinstead
• Edgware
• Egham
• Evesham
• Exeter
• Farnborough, Hampshire
• Farnham
• Fazeley
• Feltham
• Fernhill Heath
• Finchley
• Fleet, Hampshire
• Forest Hill
• Formby
• Fulham
• Gants Hill
• Garforth
• Gerrards Cross
• Gipsy Hill
• Godalming
• Golders Green
• Goodmayes
• Gosforth, Tyne & Wear
• Gravesend
• Great Oakley
• Grove Park
• Guildford
• Hackney
• Hammersmith
• Hampstead
• Harlesden
• Harrogate
• Harrow
• Hartford
• Haslemere
• Haslington
• Hawarden
• Haworth
• Hayes
• Hayes Common
• Haywards Heath
• Headington
• Heath Hayes
• Hendon
• Hengoed
• Herne Bay
• Heswall
• High Wycombe
• Hitchin
• Holmer Green
• Horley
• Horsham
• Hounslow
• Hulme Hall
• Huntingdon
• Ilford Central
• Ilford North
• Ingleby Barwick
• Isleworth
• Kensal Green
• Kentish Town
• Kenton Road
• Kidbrooke
• Kingsbury
• Kingsland Green
• Kingston
• Kneller Hall
• Knowle
• Lancaster
• Leamington Spa
• Lee Green
• Leigh On Sea
• Leighton Buzzard
• Leytonstone
• Lichfield
• Littleborough
• Llantrisant
• Long Eaton
• Lords
• Loughborough
• Lower Holloway
• Lymm
• Macclesfield
• Maida Vale
• Malden
• Market Deeping
• Market Harborough
• Marlow
• Mickleover
• Middlewich
• Midsomer Norton
• Mill Hill
• Milton Keynes
• Molesey
• Morley
• Mortlake
• Mosborough
• Narborough, Leicestershire
• New Cross
• Newbury
• Newtown Llantwit
• Newtownards
• Nine Elms
• Norbury
• North Cheam
• North Edgware
• North Finchley
• North Wembley
• Northolt
• Northwich
• Northwood
• Oadby
• Oxford
• Palmers Green
• Penketh
• Penn, Buckinghamshire
• Penwortham
• Perivale
• Pimlico
• Pinner
• Polesworth
• Poplar
• Portsmouth North End
• Pound Hill
• Primrose Hill
• Purley
• Radstock
• Ramsbottom
• Reading Central
• Richmond Kew, Surrey
• Ringwood
• Rochdale
• Romford
• Rossendale
• Rothwell, West Yorkshire
• Rugby
• Ruislip
• Rushden
• Rushey Green
• Sale
• Sandbach
• Sanderstead
• Sevenoaks
• Shenley Church End
• Shepherds Bush
• Sherwood
• Slough
• South Benfleet
• South Clapham
• South Harrow
• South Kensington
• Southall
• Southend On Sea, Essex
• Southwark
• Southwater
• St.Ives, Cambridgeshire
• St.Neots
• Staines
• Stamford
• Stanmore
• Stepping Hill
• Stevenage
• Stockton Heath
• Stony Stratford
• Stratford
• Stratford-On-Avon
• Streatham
• Summertown
• Surbiton
• Sutton In The Elms
• Swadlincote
• Swindon
• Teddington
• Thatcham
• Thornton Heath
• Tilehurst
• Tonbridge
• Tottington
• Totton
• Trentside
• Trowbridge
• Tulse Hill
• Tunbridge Wells
• Twickenham
• Twyford, Berkshire
• Uckfield
• Upper Holloway
• Upton Park
• Uxbridge
• Vauxhall
• Wallington
• Walthamstow
• Walton-On- Thames
• Walworth
• Wandsworth
• Wantage
• Waterlooville
• Wembley
• West Drayton
• West Kensington
• West Malling
• West Wickham
• Weston Favel
• Whitefield
• Wickford
• Willesden
• Winchester
• Winchmore Hill
• Windsor
• Winkfield Row
• Winsford, Cheshire
• Woking
• Wolverton
• Woodley, Berkshire
• Worcester
• Worcester Park
• Worcester St.Johns
• Worcester St.Peters
• Yateley
• Yaxley
• York

You could be forgiven (if you have been following / reading my blog) that FTTC is the only news out there on how to access the Internet at high speeds.  However, the Virgin Media crew are doing their up-most to stay top of the pile when it comes to speed of access.

Virgin Media have already been offering limited pockets of 100Mb service for some time but the general populous that are already in reach of their network have only been offered the 50Mb (XXL) Broadband offering.  Come the close of this year, Virgin Media are looking to up the speed of their flagship service to 100Mbps.  They even expect that some areas will be able to get a 200Mb pipe straight to their door.

According to Virgin Media’s chief executive, Neil Berkett, said: “There is nothing we can’t do with our fibre-optic cable network, and the upcoming launch of our flagship 100Mbps service will give our customers the ultimate broadband experience.”

The problem for Virgin Media up to now has been the reach of their network.  Compared to BT, their customer base is current growing at around half the rate of BT and of course Virgin Media’s finite customer base is much smaller than BT.  To address this, Virgin Media have announced a new trial initiative to expand their network over telegraph poles that are already in place rather than the traditional sub-surface connections we already see.

I found an updated Openreach Superfast Broadband (FTTC) rollout programme update dated Jan 2010 the other evening that gave the locations that the fleet of Openreach vans will descend upon during phases 3 ans 4a.  While the presentation gives some indication of expected dates, it is believed that Phase 2 is currently a little behind schedule so thing may be a month or 2 out.

Phase 3 locations (Spring 2010):

Brief: 1m premises passed (spring 2010). The next 68 exchanges enabled for FTTC. Up to 40k premises passed in Bradwell Abbey, London, and Highams Park, Milton Keynes, for the FTTP brownfield customer trial
London

• Barking
• Barnet
• Eltham
• Greenwich
• Hornchurch
• Ingrebourne
• New Southgate
• Ponders End
• Sidcup
• Slade Green
• Stamford Hill

Home Counties

• Berkhamsted
• Billericay
• Brentwood
• Elstree
• Hainault
• Hoddesdon
• Lea Valley
• Loughton
• Stanford-Le-Hope
• St Albans
• Waltham Cross
• Woodford
• Dartford

West

• Bristol North
• Bristol West
• Downend

Midlands & Wales

• Glossop
• Hinckley
• Barry
• Penarth
• Birmingham, Northern
• Fallings Park
• Great Barr
• Leamore
• Nuneaton
• Tettenhall
• Wednesbury
• Walsall

Northern England

• Chester-Le-Street
• Durham
• East Herrington
• Hetton-Le-Hole
• Altrincham
• Aston-Under-Lyne
• Cheetham
• Chorlton
• Denton
• Hyde
• Manchester East
• Moss Side
• Prestwich
• Stalybridge
• Swinton, Gtr Manc
• Urmston
• Walkden
• Wilmslow
• Armley
• Castleford
• Headingley
• Low Moor
• Pontefract
• Shipley

Scotland

• Edinburgh Corstorphine
• Edinburgh Craiglockhart
• Glasgow Bridgeton
• Glasgow Giffnock

Northern Ireland

• Lisburn

Phase 4a locations (late summer 2010):

Brief: 2.5m premises passed (late summer 2010).  The next 63 exchanges enabled for FTTC
London

• Albert Dock
• Wanstead
• Mile End
• Parsons Green
• Skyport
• Greenford
• Merton Park
• Putney
• Wimbledon
• Sutton Cheam
• Mitcham

Home Counties

• Bicester
• Newport Pagnell
• Aylesbury
• Didcot
• Harpenden
• Maidenhead
• Crowthorne
• Wokingham
• Earley
• Langley
• Caversham
• Reading South
• Henley on Thames
• Braintree
• Brighton Hove
• Sittingbourne
• Portsmouth Central

West

• Toothill
• Blunsdon
• Chippenham
• Worle
• Portishead
• Locksheath
• Chandlers Ford
• Fair Oak
• Andover
• Eastleigh

Midlands & Wales

• Solihull
• Earlsdon
• Kenilworth
• Tamworth
• Warwick
• Ortons
• Stoneygate
• Coalville
• Willaston
• Llanishen
• Llanedeyrn
• Hednesford
• Beauchief
• Ranmoor

Northern England

• Bramhall
• Congleton
• Lofthouse Gate
• Guiseley

Scotland

• Penicuik
• Dalgety Bay
• Dunfermline
• Livingston Station
• Glasgow Newton Mearn
• Bothwell

In my ongoing pursuit to work out why Basingstoke has been pushed back to a phase 3 delivery of FTTC, I came across the below information on the Openreach website (with an issue date of 2nd March ’10) that I speculate could be a route cause of the delay; the interframe ties are exhausted.

I would hope not, as I would have thought that the only copper based interframe work in the connection to the home in the mystical FTTC world is between the new DSLAM and existing PCP cabinets.  All the rest on the network should be based on fibre.

The scary point that I noticed is that the initial notes state that, “it is however hoped that the new tie pairs will be provided within 5-6 weeks”.  The update from 19th Nov ’09 then takes about a recovery plan up to Nov ’10; that’s 1 year, or 52 weeks or 10 time longer than estimated !!!

I will be passing this comment onto a few people/groups that might be able to validate this or confirm the real cause, so stay tuned.

There have been a few comments on the Plusnet community forum from people in Basingstoke saying that the BT Wholesale Availability Checker no longer shows they line as being able to support FTTC; me being one of these people!

I have yet to see a response from my ISP about what is going on but the guys that run the Basingstoke Broadband Campaign website have put up this comment from a contact they they have:

As you can see from the comments, Openreach have not given any reason why Basingstoke has been pushed back to Phase 3 of the FTTC exchange enablement programme.  However, Basingstoke Broadband Campaign’s expectation is that it will not be until early summer that Basingstoke sees it’s first active fiber connect; so much for that Jan 25th date!

More news as I hear it…

I have a hunch that this is wishful on my part but I found the following comment on the comments section of the Google Map of where FTTC will be found in Basingstoke after the current works have been completed.  If the words of the said Openreach engineer are to be believed, the vans will disappear from out streets somewhere around the middle of February 2010.

The comment post also gave a little more information about what is in the DSLAM cabinet and how it is connected too/from.

I always expected to hear reports from ISPs that had not suitably provisioned their backbone Internet pipes to deal with the uptake of users on the new high-speed FTTC based broadband service (much like the moan they all had at the BBC for deploying iPlayer in 2008).

What I did not expect, was this news story:

Who would have thought that those poor people in the Chineham / Hatch Warren districts of Basingstoke would get a double whammy!  Not only are they being left in the cold (for the most part) for this stage of the Basingstoke deployment but now they have to suffer even more!  I only hope that FTTC comes to my PCP soon as I don’t want to be effected myself.