Further Update on the Latest Delay by BT Openreach

The good news is that we have our very own cabinet and work has been done on it in preparation for us getting high speed internet.  There have been two teams of contractors working on it.  The first put conduits in to join the cabinet with the existing cable runs that serve the village.  The second brought our cables into the cabinet so they will be ready to be joined to the high speed connection that Call Flow will be installing.

In the meantime we continue to wait for BT to upgrade the aluminum cables that are, apparently, not up to their standards.   Here is the latest dialog on this situation:

From "Call Flow":

Openreach have identified an alternative solution that will enable them to comply with their planning rules.  This requires them to build a new footway box to be able to replace a section of cables (we believe aluminium) between their cabinet and this new footway box.  We are now waiting on Openreach to confirm when their contractors will both build the new footway box and replace the appropriate cables.

From Openreach to Call Flow in regards to the issue:

Following earlier correspondence our Survey Officer has been out and found that we are unable to renew the section of cable from the cabinet hole to the next manhole along which is situated on the roundabout. The roundabout has 3 manholes’s on it, two have been located by the survey officer, but our manhole is buried & unable to locate. As this then goes down the A404 & would require substantial traffic Management & Temporary lane closures with the further cost’s incurred, the survey officer has suggested putting in a new JMF106 40metres away from the cab in the grass verge & replacing the 3 D-side cables from the cabinet hole to this point.

What puzzles me about this required upgrade is that the cable being replaced is all the way up at the old cabinet that serves us (just off the Henley Roundabout).  I would have thought that aluminum cable capable of impacting our ability to get high speed internet would be at our new cabinet or between it and our homes.   Since the high speed connection will be coming into the new cabinet, two kilometers from where they are doing the upgrade, it is a bit confusing to me.  I have asked for clarification on the BT Support Forum but drawn a blank there (other than a suggestion that it would make sense if the upgrade was on the leg into our homes).

The illustration to the right is a summary.  #1 is our exchange, #2 is our current cabinet, #3 is where our new cabinet has been placed, and #4 is about where our high speed connection will feed from (assuming an RF antenna), and #5 is where the aluminum wiring is being replaced?

There are good reasons to be getting rid of old aluminum wiring but it just does not seem like it would be necessary as something that needs to be done prior to use getting high speed internet.  I have been contacting Superfast Berkshire on a monthly basis and will ask them if they can shed any light on this situation.  In the meantime, until Call Flow know when BT will have completed their upgrade, no progress will be made on our connectivity.

The good news is that we are getting closer.  The bad news is that we don't know how much closer!

Update of 18-October-2016:  Further responses on the BT Forum lend no credibility to this "required" upgrade having anything to do with getting superfast broadband to Temple.  The upgrade is clearly a good thing to do...if you are served DSL from Cabinet 9 or VDSL from the FTTC at Cabinet 9 but will have no impact to those of us waiting for VDSL from our new cabinet.