Watten BT Exchange - Superfast Broadband Question

[richardj]

I have been checking Openreach's website www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/where-and-when/ (http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/where-and-when/) for a while now checking to see the progress of "Superfast" broadband on the Watten exchange and was pleased to see yesterday that it now has gone from "coming soon" to Accepting Orders.

http://www.croft.website/broadband.jpg

Can anyone explain to me how it then says to me that they are still not accepting orders for this when I do an order check with BT (and other providers). We are still going along with 2.2-2.8 MB connection and I would be delighted to get something around 10MB, I would be willing to pay the extra £5 a month to get an even faster connection.

So do I now have to wait another 6 months to get a faster connection being around 3 miles from the exchange? or are BT Openreach trying to get more money out of the Local Council to pay for individual connections? The cable is there as it was laid around 3 months ago.

Anyone with the answer? thanks in advance!

[gillsbay]

Sadly for you being 3 miles from the exchange means that you are likely to be 3 miles from the new fibre cabinet, at that distance FTTC will not give you any improvement in speed (could well be slower than what you have!).
Not BT trying anything, just physics and cost limiting what can be achieved.

[richardj]

Hi gillsbay, thanks for the reply. The fibre cable has been laid along the road from Watten towards Thurso, so basically the fibre cable is approx. 60 metres from the house! The cabinet is at Watten certainly but the fibre has been laid everywhere, otherwise Openreach has been laying a lot of redundant cable!

[gillsbay]

Yes the fibre has to go from the various distribution points in the network to the cabinet, from there the signal is sent to you along the normal wires to your house, they don't just connect you to the fibre (unless you are getting FTTH/P (home or premises)) which is a much more expensive option to provide.

[richardj]

gillsbay, thanks again. I did find this video which explains it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X6VDxEcSuM

With more details on http://www.hie.co.uk/regional-information/digital-highlands-and-islands/how-do-i-get-it.html