Ofcom sets out plans for UK's full-fibre future

[Ttaskmaster]

So when will he get pleasant countryside and fresh air in the immediate vicinity of his residence. OH RIGHT.... never.

He's 2 miles away. He breathes the same air I do.

You choose where you live based on a number of variables. One should be "is the internet as fast as I want it?".

Well I'm glad the majority of folk like you can afford to decide on a property based on internet speeds... We, however, had to go where the rent was within our budget.

It's rather unreasonable to expect everyone (either via taxes or higher bills) to pick up the tab for supply of faster internet to more remote and much less profitable areas of the UK.

I'm less than three miles from the not-quite-a-city centre of Reading. Hardly remote.
The A33 and M4 are both within bow range of my house, Junction 11 is just about one mile away, A.W.E. is within air rifle range and the houses 650 yards both up and down the road all have superfast broadband, and we're all served by the same exchange about 2 miles away. A.W.E. and 'up the road' are all reached by going past my house.

I think it's pretty darn reasonable to expect BT to branch off their main line to serve us, since they're already going right past our doors. No other utilities company would have a problem with this...

I'm sure if you offered to put your hand in pocket for the £xxxxx it would cost to get faster internet laid, BT would be happy to hear from you. Otherwise, I don't believe there's much of a leg to stand on.

I'm sure if we actually were offered the superfast broadband BT said we would have by.... oh, 3 years ago, I'd be more motivated to put my hand in my pocket... As is, I'm already paying £48 for this, though. Mate in town pays less than half that, for superfast unlimited.

Internet supply isn't socialist, it's a business. Certain user groups on certain products are already subsidised by others, even gas supply isn't "expected" in some areas and other solutions are instead in place.

I know. We don't have gas or sewerage, either.
But if that's the case, where's my 'other solution' for 0.7Mbps? No other supplier covers us and we don't get mobile signal here, so 3G/4G/5G is out...

Why should high speed internet be a god-given right for every citizen, regardless of the cost to others?

Water is a business, too. The one I'm in, actually. Why should running water be a god-given right for everyone, when they can just get a water butt rather than costing our other customers' bill money?

My challenge is why can BT not get the same speed for everyone, especially when the average in countries like South Africa, Vietnam, Uruguay and even Mongolia get 4-5 times what I get as their basic speed?
Why is their service so disparate between such close customers and why can they not deliver what they promise?

[peterb]

I think it's pretty darn reasonable to expect BT to branch off their main line to serve us, since they're already going right past our doors. No other utilities company would have a problem with this...

That is true and I'd be interested to know why the can't supply under those circumstances.

But if that's the case, where's my 'other solution' for 0.7Mbps? No other supplier covers us and we don't get mobile signal here, so 3G/4G/5G is out...

http://avonlinebroadband.com/choose-...e-tooway-home/

Other satellite suppliers are available as well.

[Gerrard]

I don't see how this will improve the minimum speed for people in remote locations as if it isn't economical for Openreach, why would any other company bother going to the trouble of installing thier own system, no doubt at a much higher cost than if Openreach did it? However, you do hear stories about villiages raising their own funds to get basically their own service installed by Openreach, and if this policy enables that process to become easier/cheaper, than it might work as I guess it would allow anyone other than Openreach to do it.

[Ttaskmaster]

Why, when the network was paid for, first by public taxes, pre-privatization, then by private finance, should news international (aka Sky) be able to demand access to it, effectively for free, for Murdoch to use to make private profit?

Same reason they all get to use our water infrastructure to run their cables for free, I imagine... They pay all the NRSWA costs and things, but that's about it. We even rehab the assets if they require it, which our customers pay for with their bill money.

Short version: what gives a private company an automatic right to another (even ex-public) companies infrastructure when their own goal as a result is motivated by their own profit?

The right to conduct legitimate business, for which there is no other, more reasonable and less costly solution, usually.
We have access and grandfather rights on certain railway assets, for example, despite both being ex-public assets owned by private companies.

That is true and I'd be interested to know why the can't supply under those circumstances.

They can't even get their databases sorted - BT and Openreach each have two databases, apparently. Each has one that says I can have it and it's available in my area now (like it's said for the past 3 years), while each of the other databases say it's not yet ready. The exchange has been enabled for super/mega/hyper/whatever-fast broadband ever since we moved in about 5 years ago... They typically go away and do some checks, but they always come back and have to say No, on the basis of not being able to resolve the discrepancies...
I check with them roughly every three months.

Other satellite suppliers are available as well.

Are they all that expensive?

[peterb]

Which database says it's not available? If it's BTs, the other suppliers should be able to supply. If it's Openreach, then that might be problematic.

If writing/emailing customer services doesn't help, a letter to your MP might be helpful.

This ite might be useful, although I don't know how current it is

http://www.exbtengineers.com/complaints-bt/

As for satellite services, they all tend to be about that price, but I haven't researched them all.

[Ttaskmaster]

Which database says it's not available?

BT have two databases, one of which says it's available, one of which says it's not.
OpenReach also have two databases, one of which says it's available, one of which says it's not.

In other words, 2 out of 4 say no, so to be safe BT and OR have said no...

If it's BTs, the other suppliers should be able to supply.

No other supplier will supply us.
Vodafone keep trying to sell me theirs and I leap at them with feigned enthusiasm, going through all the processes until they "just do a quick check....." and find they can't supply me, either. If I'm in a good mood, I'll first bet them they can't supply me their sooper-dooper VodaBand and then have at it...!!
Thinking about it, perhaps I should bet them a year's worth of mobile data, next time?

If writing/emailing customer services doesn't help, a letter to your MP might be helpful.

It's a bit of an odd one - We're only a village, but no more or less than the surrounding ones that do have their super-fast connections...

[Gerrard]

I had a similar problem with my place. It was a new build and despite all properties physically having FTTP fitted, it wouldn't show up on thier database despite next door having it! Took months of back-and-forth until I got pointed to a thread on a BT forum (not an official I think) about my estate that said to email our MP, Ed Vaizey; who just happens to be the MP in charge of this stuff! Anyway, he replied very quickly (was either the same day or the next) who put me in touch with someone from BT who sorted it out. Although a mess-up on my appointment date delayed it by about a month, again due to a discrepancy between Openreach and BT!

[Top_gun]

@macman, MercutioUK

Sorry guys, it seems you've misunderstood my question towards PeterB over his questionable view as BT as being a success story due to privatisation. The reality is their services remains pretty poor even after privatisation.

BT holding the government to ransom is akin to benefit scrounging not sound business practices as you like to think. Perhaps I would think like you if I was lacking in moral fibre. Do the SMEs go cap in hand to the government asking for benefits? No they don't, they get on with it. Yet we allow these big companies to skew the level playing field in their favour.