House Move - Update on connection?

[#1]

Quote from: custos

So that's OK then - I look forward to getting connceted next Tuesday 🙂

While that might not be impossible, depending on what appointment options we're given from our suppliers, I do think it may be a little optimistic.

[#2]

In view of the fact that they have not been anywhere near the site since saying that they needed to 'build' a 'DP' I am not at all optimistic!

[#3]

Quote

I don't see anyone recommending people switch to Virgin Media or some other not Openreach dependant supplier whenever possible.

That's because the vast majority of internet users have NO other option than to gain access via copper wires!!!

[#4]

"Vast majority" being 56% according to the Ofcom 2014 infrastructure report. Hence why I said "whenever possible". And also not including mobile broadband in your "NO other option".

[#5]

I live in Weymouth, not exactly the back of beyond - we held the Olympic Sailing Events here in 2012! No Virgin here only BT. It is no good looking at statistics based on population, most parts of the country don't have any alternative to BT with large areas not even having 3G never mind 4G and some have no mobile coverage at all! I am trying to use Mobile Broadband and believe me it's very slow, unreliable and very expensive! We have many rural parts of Dorset where Broadband is either unavailable or very slow and there is no date for any improvements. Two villages just outside Weymouth have only just got mobile phone coverage (2G) and there are many others still waiting! I am 'lucky' to live close to the Weymouth exchange in an area where Superfast is enabled and I am in sight of a phone mast.

[#6]

Well, large parts of the country don't have many people living there. Perhaps we should build thousands of new houses in these places (we've got to put them somewhere), then it would be more commercially viable for some company to install the infrastructure for faster broadband. Or the people living in these places could just pay for the infrastructure themselves, apparently one village did.

[#7]

Quote from: custos

I live in Weymouth,...

Is www.dorsetforyou.com/superfast any use to you?

[#8]

It's 'Status Update' day today and over 40 days since the order was placed. I am not optimistic of receiving good news!

[#9]

No update from Plusnet but BTOR turned up on site today! They have succeeded in getting a live line to the other side of the road opposite the site and 'a very nice young man' did his best to connect that to the underground DP outside our homes. However he was unable to get the cable through the duct and was genuinely upset when he failed! Tomorrow another crew with different equipment will attempt to get the cable through again. It is nice at last to be in the loop and know what is actually being done. Perhaps better communication with the actual end user would go a long way to avoiding some of the customer dissatisfaction issues that so often plague this forum.

[#10]

Quote from: ejs

Or the people living in these places could just pay for the infrastructure themselves, apparently one village did.

Custos has already said he's connected (or not yet connected!) to an FTTC enabled exchange.  In any case that project you linked to doesn't take Openreach out of the equation (unlike some local community projects using wireless distribution).
Regarding Virgin, that's an interesting question.  Of course people who've chosen Virgin won't be on this forum.  Our experience with their business services has been good, but that's been generally dedicated connections rather than broadband.  Would be interesting if anyone could compare the residential service of Virgin vs Openreach.  However slightly beside the point in this case, if Virgin's not available in the area then that option doesn't exist, short of moving house.

[#11]

Thanks aesmith, I did not respond to that post myself as it seemed to me that we were in danger of drifting off topic. Others have suggested that it is time that phone/broadband was treated in the same way as water, electricity and gas. When we moved in to this new build all the other services were up and running. Although the basic infrastructure was in place for the phone (underground chambers and ducting etc.) the phone line was not. The BTOR engineers only managed to get a live connection yesterday having spent hours tracing and jointing cables and the final cables to the DP and drop wires to our homes are still not in place. Surely this work should have been done months ago, at the same time as the other services?

[#12]

Depends on when BT took over responsibility from the developer, whether it was on time or delayed and whether there were issues. Quite often BT will have a timescale for the site and if the developer does not complete their work on time or to a satisfactory standard, it can result it completion delays.

[#13]

Quote from: AndyH

Depends on when BT took over responsibility from the developer, whether it was on time or delayed and whether there were issues. Quite often BT will have a timescale for the site and if the developer does not complete their work on time or to a satisfactory standard, it can result it completion delays.

I don't see why it should be any different for BTOR than other utility companies. If water, gas and electricity can coordinate their activities with the builder/developer why not BTOR?
However, please don't think I am criticising the actual workers. Those engineers that I have come into contact with in the last few days are communicative, eager to please and clearly competent and working hard to complete the job as quickly as possible. However until they arrive on site they have no idea what they will find or how long the work will take and It can't be much fun when they encounter angry and frustrated customers who have been waiting for many weeks to get connected.

[#14]

Quote from: custos

I don't see why it should be any different for BTOR than other utility companies. If water, gas and electricity can coordinate their activities with the builder/developer why not BTOR?

The developer puts everything in, ready for Openreach to connect houses up. However before Openreach signs off the site and takes it over, they need to be happy with everything. It's not uncommon on large developments for there to be issues that need to be resolved before Openreach takes over.
If there are issues with the quality of work done by the developers or delays, then it will have a knock on effect on Openreach's planning. It's no different really to other utilities.
In your case, it's not exactly clear for the reason behind the delay. Only the developer and Openreach will be able to shed some light on things.

[#15]

Unusual for me to agree with AndyH, but yes the normal protocol is for the developer to build the ducting, man-holes, cable entries in the buildings/homes. BT have published standards for this type of work. It avoids roads/pavements being dug up by BT to provide services to the buildings. BT then run their cables through the new ducts up to and into the buildings.
Within new office blocks/apartments it is normal for the landlord to install a voice cabling structure to each home or office; BT then feeds a multi-pair cable/fibre into the base of the building to a distribution frame where the services are connected to the landlords wiring. If the developer gets it wrong it can take a while for BT to sort out the problem. They usually bill the developer/landlord for extra work caused.