FTTH

[egerton]

BT good morning,

Typing from SY12 area that is still in the 1950's

Following review on MYBT I see a order that is in place for a Digital service Details below.

Order placed: Tue 14 Oct 2025

Order reference: VOL013-989636327732

This customer has been complaining about Broadband connectivity and slow service since 2014!! To be told you will be converted/upgraded to FTTH in 2021 been and gone, 2022 been and gone, in 2023 been and gone, in 2024 been and gone, in 2025 just about to go...  The last date being banded about is that BT/Openreach will have to give FTTH by 2027 to SY12 ONL!!!  On every date BT/Openreach offer, I request a month to which no-one can answer - the BT/Openreach can continues to be kicked down the SY12 Roads...

In that time numerous Engineers have entered the house conducted tests, found faults, repaired faults, advised the ADSL line is operating as originally designed in the 1950's or earlier for voice transmissions.

One common theme exists, all BT/Openreach engineers who have tested the system to death have confirmed the ADSL Copper line is over 3Km long, is old and performing as it should have done in the 1950's fine for voice, no good for data.

Whoever reads this can I ask them to call me and back it up in writing when FTTH is being installed.

I am not alone neighbours in the vicinity on BT/Plus Net are suffering the same issues and we have no dates to fix.

Graham

PS An Engineer turned up on the above order instructions to convert to Digital, he too confirmed that the Exchange is so far away and the infrastructure sold old (Circa 1950) it is not viable to go Digital, other open reach engineers have been consulted whilst on ladders up the poles scratching their heads for a signal in SY12 ONL Hanmer Exchange if your interested!!  How many Engineers do BT/Openreach need to go over the same issues for 11 years (2014 - 2025). Check out my account for more history, reads like a open ended story with no ending.....

PPS Two months ago EE part of BT gave me a trial on a 4G Hub - that was a disaster no signal indoors relating to poor mast provision to SY12 ONL.  

PPPS Maybe the 1950's is where SY12 area is destined to stay, as we watch the rest of the world accelerate passed in the digital era we currently live in...

PPPPS Now Digital is being promoted, I have seen more Openreach vans travel passed my home in a month scaling poles testing, coming back scaling more poles - unfortunately BT/Openreach continue to look and find the system is passed its sell by date. Accountants in BT/Openreach please take note if you wish to resolve then install FTTH.

[chrisjp]

"Whoever reads this can I ask them to call me and back it up in writing when FTTH is being installed."

This is a customer to customer help forum, so no-one on here can tell you when FTTH is being installed, nor "back it up in writing"

You also say that BT has told you that you have an order in place "for a Digital service".
This does not necessarily mean that you are due to get fibre to the premises (FTTP or FTTH as you call it). It could just mean that your telephone is going to be converted to DV. DV telephone can be carried perfectly well over an ADSL broadband service.

[egerton]

Recognised Expert,
Thanks for responding, welcome if you could advise if BT/Openreach have access to these comments? Based on its a MyBT service.
Also the limits on actual copper distance from the exchange for Digital to work?


g

[licquorice]

There is connection to Openreach from this forum. BT mods may or may not read your post but will have no contact with Openreach.

There are no limits on distance for Digital Voice to work. If you have broadband of any speed whatsoever, DV will work.

[egerton]

L,
Thanks, the engineers that visited commented that Digital conversion would work but has an affect on the speed/connectivity which he advised would be less than ADSL reliability. From other community messages it appears Engineers are being requested to carry out miracles to a voice system that was never going to be viable on data speeds on the rate of rise in transmissions. Appreciate your response
g

[licquorice]

Digital Voice requires very little bandwidth (about 100 Kb/s), it is just another data stream just like browsing a website or email. It will have absolutely zero impact on your connection. There is a lot of misinformation about DV.

[egerton]

L, thankyou for your time today. To give the Engineer his due from his test results he was concerned that connectivity speeds at that time were are so low that I took it that he envisaged further issues based on his knowledge and the age/condition of the infrastructure. At this location we are far away from fast BB which is the spirit of my Community comments, in the hope BT/Openreach will pay some attention to rural areas that are suffering daily on connectivity issues. g PS this may seem a bit far fetched but a private initiative installed O/H Fibre on BT Poles that goes past this property - my understanding is that this private scheme has been abandoned for some reason. g

[iniltous]

You have never been given a firm date , no one has , what’s more although you continually put BT and Openreach together suggesting they are one and the same , that just not true , Openreach decide the areas they deliver FTTP to , not BT , so your complaints on here are as pointless as complaining on a Vodafone or Sky customer forum .
The age  of the copper pair that serves you is somewhat irrelevant, short copper lines even 1950’s ones , for some , deliver in excess of 300 Mb on Gfast , and customers such as myself get a perfectly adequate 80Mb from copper pairs from VDSL  …presumably you are ADSL rather than VDSL , perhaps  you are either an EO line or so distant from your cabinet that the line length is limiting what type of technology is available and the speed  ,if that’s the case ,  that’s just physics.

No one owes you a written explanation of anything , again a somewhat pointless request.

As stated Digital Voice works on ADSL , VDSL or FTTP and the bandwidth it needs is so small it won’t impact any broadband service.

As far as  competitor to Openreach starting a rollout of FTTP but never completing it , again a somewhat irrelevant comment on here , but it does suggest that whatever commercial organisations started their rollout ultimately decided the ‘juice’ wasn’t worth the squeeze, in other words the financial return wasn’t worth it , Openreach are no less commercially mined .

[36ULW]

When I worked as a CST doing BB Boost and SFI the older E-Sides Lines, especially those pre 1965 were better for ADSL as they used a Larger Cable Gauge than newer ones, which is now 0.4mm Copper. Although I doubt many new E-Sides are being put in. 

Also 3km isn’t that long a line for ADSL. But then you said over 3km so I’m unsure what that means, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 or 12km?!?!

[egerton]

I,
Many thanks for the response, I can but dream of 300Mb I would be content with 50Mb instead the yearly average is 2.0, on a wet day lucky if you get 1.0. EO Line rings true I believe and 3Km from Hanmer Exchange rings truer as you rightly say the physics you cannot change but hey Elon has the answer and I do hope Openreach can strike a deal with good old Elon to make the rural community join the party. Thanks for advising its pointless that has filled me with encouragement that a BT or even an Openreach operator might stumble across our diagonally opposed veiwpoint's and put one of us out of our misery. This engagement has filled my heart and I feel a lot more cosy in the comfort that 95% of the UK are getting on nicely with Bill Gates invention of mass connectivity to the world. Thanks for your assist in all matters, I will now up sticks and move south, oh before I do that better just check the house prices.... HAGD g