BT Engineer Laying Fibre in Uppermill

High(er) speed Broadband is coming to Saddleworth!

You may think you’ve already got high speed broadband with ADSL, but what we’re talking about here is something called “Fibre”, sometimes known as FTTC (Fibre To The Cabinet)

What’s the difference?
Well, there are currently two main Broadband Internet services found in here Saddleworth, either ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line) or LLU (Local Loop Unbundled)

Fibre is slightly different.
All of these services use your existing copper telephone wire that runs from your house to a telegraph pole and then to the nearest cabinet in the street.
FTTC then uses Fibre Optic cables to connect that that cabinet to the telephone exchange.
Generally speaking, ADSL use slower copper wire to connect the cabinet to the exchange.

The difference Fibre offers to your broadband speed is significant.
Of course, the actual speed you get will depend on a number of other factors such as the service you purchase and distance from the cabinet and number of other people using the service, but these are the generally quoted maximum speeds:

As the Internet grows and people use more things like video online, there are more and more requirements for higher speeds, both for download and for upload.
I have tried Fibre at other people’s premises already and found it to be noticeably faster than ADSL, ADSL Max, ADSL Plus or LLU.

In time, Fibre will be accepted as the standard “High Speed Internet” and compared to ADSL just as ADSL is compared to Dial up now.

Fibre is coming to Saddleworth on September 30th 2011

Recently I saw a BT engineer laying Fibre cable on High Street in Uppermill, he was a pleasant chap so we had a chat about what he was doing.
He mentioned there was a blockage further up the street by the Hardware shop, but once that was fixed, then that’d complete the job.
The next day, the poor chap was outside the Hardware shop in the rain, no doubt unblocking things and finishing the job!

The latest expected activation date for Saddleworth provided by BT is September 30th, although the date has been put back a couple of times already (which has kind of messed up some of the resellers’ marketing campaigns!)  Having said that, now that the cable has been laid, and is only about a month away, I think it’s we can reasonably expect them to keep to this schedule now.
Note – BT call their Fibre package “BT Infinity” and tend not to mention the word “Fibre” for some reason.

You can check if you can get Fibre, and if/when it’s expected by using this online Infinity check with BT

Things to know about Fibre in Saddleworth:

You may have seen some companies advertising the service of Fibre coming to Saddleworth.
But you should be aware that it’s actually BT who provide the exchange, cabinet and cable to your house.
Other companies then resell this service and in some cases are able to offer better deals than BT themselves can.  They may also provide their own engineer to do the setup at your premises.

But do take care when comparing Fibre Broadband Service Providers – cost is not the only consideration.  You may also want to think about things like:

• Your Existing Setup
• Installation Service
• Included Router or Modem
• Maximum Allowed Download Speed
• Maximum Allowed Upload Speed
• Inclusion of other services (such as Telephone Calls, WiFi, Static IP Address, Webspace)
• Contract Length
• Monthly Usage Limit (offpeak and on-peak)
• Any Traffic Shaping or Port Blocking
• Tech Support Availability
• Call Centre location

It’s worth noting that this is only how I’ve interpreted each supplier’s offers from reading them on their web sites.
You should check each provider’s details for yourself, and note that this table is subject to errors and omissions, and also that “Unlimited” usually does mean subject to some kind of limit such as a fair usage policy 

Please also keep in mind that all of these services require you to have a BT phone line at your premises, so you will need to consider that as part of your budget as well.

At the moment it seems like BT is offering the best deal for me personally, as they’re the only provider to offer unlimited usage (subject to a fair usage policy)
- only because I live on the Internet day and night!
On the downside, I don’t like the fact they’re asking for an 18 month contract, and it also does seem like existing BT customers like me don’t get such a good deal as new customers – so I think it’d be worth a call to BT to clarify that, as I’d quite like Free Anytime Calls and cheaper pricing for the first 3 months!!

I’d also be interested to know if BT can offer a static IP as their competitors do, and if they do any kind of port blocking or traffic shaping – probably these geeky technical considerations will not affect the average user, but I like to know the whole story!

At this time, from just browsing their web sites, it’s not so clear what Zen or ADSL 24 are offering in addition to what BT are offering to justify their higher prices or restrictions on usage, but again, it might be worth a phone call to see what they say about that.

Like anything else, the early adopters of a service or product usually pay more than those that patiently hang around, so do keep in mind that over time it’s likely that these and other service providers will offer even better deals than these.  Having said that, these prices are not unique to Saddleworth and Fibre has been provided to other areas for some time now, so pricing and competition has already had some time to settle down.

I’ve also found this rather good explanation of Fibre and comparison of prices from Think Broadband, although their prices don’t seem to always match those of the suppliers, so again, it’s worth just using this information as a guide and doing your own research to confirm the details and get the best deal to suit you.

As soon as Fibre becomes available in Saddleworth, I’ll be calling BT, Zen, ADSL24 and perhaps some other service providers to find out more about their services and will write about them here.

If anyone has had any experiences of Fibre already, or can offer any advice about these or any other service providers, please do comment below and share your experiences.