BT accepting orders for 0117 superfast broadband in Bradley Stoke

Broadband - photo by charmcitygavin (licence: cc-attr)

BT Openreach has announced that subscribers served by the Filton telephone exchange are now able to place orders for superfast fibre broaband but there remains doubt as to how many homes in Bradley Stoke on 0117 lines will be able to benefit from the new technology.

The company announced in April last year that Filton would be upgraded in 2012 and the Openereach website had been showing “March 2012” as the date from which orders would be accepted. The green light for ordering was finally given last weekend.

Residents wishing to take advantage of the service must order it through a communications provider, such as BT, PlusNet or TalkTalk.

Rumours have been circulating that only a fraction of the 0117 subscribers in Bradley Stoke will be able to take advantage of the new service, possibly because BT is only going to install a limited number of new street cabinets or because properties are too far from existing cabinet sites.

A “Check if you can get BT Infinity” tool on the Infinity page of BT’s website can be used to see if you are one of the lucky ones able to benefit.

When The Journal ran the check for a number of 0117 lines in roads in a known broadband ‘slow spot’ in the south of Bradley Stoke, the tool told us that Infinity would be available from June 2012 in Rosemary Close but the service was not offered for lines in Coriander Drive or Tarragon Place.

We’d be interested to hear what BT is saying for lines in your street – please share what you find out by adding a comment to this story.

Subscribers on 01454 numbers, who are served from the Almondsbury telephone exchange, are still waiting to hear if BT will provide superfast broadband through the company’s commercial roll-out that is due to be completed by the end of 2014. If not, they will be dependent on South Gloucestershire Council’s (SGC’s) broadband project that aims to bring superfast broadband to 90% of the district by April 2015, with the assistance of a Government subsidy allocated by Broadband Delivery UK.

In a consultation that ran from 1st February to 16th March, SGC asked commercial telecommunications companies to tell it which areas they are planning to provide with superfast broadband over the next three years. The Council says it will publish the results of the consultation by 1st May. The Journal recently asked BT what it has told SGC about its plans for the Almondsbury exchange but a spokesperson declined to comment.

In another development over the weekend, SGC updated its website to indicate that the results of two other public consultations – intended to gauge the levels of demand for improved broadband across the district – have “now been published”.  However, the pages for the residents’ and businesses’ surveys do not presently include a link to the actual results.

The Council had previously stated:

“The information gathered [through the two consultations] will be used as evidence to encourage commercial operators to invest in the local broadband infrastructure as part of a scheme being prepared by the council.”

UPDATE at 11:30am by Editor: After I contacted SGC to question the lack of a link to the consultation results, an officer replied: “I’m afraid the survey results report has not yet been completed by our Research Team. I have therefore changed the date on the website to mid-April [20th].”

Related link: Campaign for Better Broadband (The Journal)

Liberal Democrats broadband meeting in Bradley Stoke

Photo: Liberal Democrat MPs and Councillors met representatives of BT and Virgin Media in March 2010 to discuss Bradley Stoke’s broadband problems. Read more …

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42 comments

  1. Just called BT and currently Juniper Way not able to have an order placed. BT say that it maybe that not all cabinets have been connected yet, so keep checking over the next couple of weeks.
    I asked about a minimum speed on Fibre and was told that most links are getting approx 20Mb+.

  2. I’m in Coriander Drive and unsurprisingly the infinity checker comes up with the standard;

    “Sorry, you’re not currently able to get BT Infinity. This may be because your area has not been enabled yet, or your individual line does not support super-fast broadband. Register your interest and we’ll let you know if this changes. ”

    I believe 4% of the road are considered the “Lucky Few” but that’s because they are somehow, for reasons only known to BT, connected to Winterbourne via a cabinet and not an exchange only line to Filton.

    Of note the Inifinity checker did offer me the normal broadband package at a possible speed of 1Mbps; a slight improvement over my normal 800Kbps!!

  3. Just tried the infinity checker from Juniper Way.

    I’m on a 01454 number from Almondsbury, so wasn’t expecting anything. And I’m right. Nothing. 🙂

    It did say I could get normal ADSL from between 1.0 and 3.5mbps.

    Which is about right. I manage around 2.8-3.1mbps on a good day, and 2mbps on a bad one.

    — gyre —

  4. I’m in Bakers Ground, Stoke Gifford on an 0117 number from the newly-upgraded Filton exchange, but got the same message as everyone else. Taking walk around the neighbourhood I couldn’t see any of the shiny new green ‘Infinity’ cabinets so am not holding my breath…

  5. Hello Philip.
    Just to check you are on the Filton exchange?
    We might be getting close then!
    I think BT are going to continue the rollout over the next few months adding more exchanges along the way.

  6. Does anybody live in the south of Bradley Stoke excluding Juniper Way and Palmers Leaze who are on an 01454 number? Chances are you will be able to order fibre or maybe not?

    New fibre boxes are being installed in Stoke Gifford and by the old Gloucester Road, Winterbourne Road Junction. If you come off of these you should be in luck.

    Unfortunately the core of the South are pulled direct from the exchange, and currently there is no solution.

    Meanwhile, I have got Virgin Media coming to see me after I contacted the cable my street team, fingers crossed I can convince them to lay a very long green snake!

  7. I have contacted Virgin Media several times, but they are not interested in Cornfield Close, despite CATV manholes at the top of the street, and on Brook Way near by.

    I am beginning to the think the only that will persuade Virgin is when BT install FTTC in the Almondsbury exchange area, but that is looking very unlikely.

  8. We live in bakers ground on an 0117 number, like Peter and the checker says no infinity is available. Very disappointing given that a BT engineer suggested we would some months ago. A sub 1mbps connection is just not suitable for business.

  9. @Matt K – I’ve tried and failed with Virgins cable my street team, they’ve never seem to have been interested. When they come and see you do your best to tell them of the large opportunity for providing faster broadband for all of us that BT aren’t covering.

  10. I live in Juniper Way on a 0117 number (Filton exchange) and like most others no infinity is available. At present on a sub 1mb connection which has dropped over the last 3 months from 1.8mb. Come on BT, sort yourselves out.

  11. I fail to understand why Virgin Media do not extend its operation to the rest of Bradley Stoke – I have not seen the Bradley Stoke Town Council push VM on this.

    As for BT I doubt that at the moment they have the backbone infrastructure which connects their exchanges and other ISPs equipment to be able to roll out infinity on mass.

    Don’t forget that in the UK having a fast broadband connection does not mean that the speed will be maintained at infinite after a few quick downloads most ISPs will throttle the speed right back – (this is disguised as fair share rules apply) actually what this means is that the infrastructure is woefully inadequate to support continuous fast broadband connections for all connections.

    This maybe why they are dragging their heals on upgrading the 01454 exchange.

    40mbits communication is still very slow considering that over 10 years ago computers in data centres were communicating at 100mbits and now 1000mbits is the standard with 10000mbits being rolled out – makes 1 – 2mbit ADSL look more than slow – and that’s all that I get from Plusnet in Juniper Way

    Other countries are leaving us behind because their governments have realised the commercial sense to have fast and cheap broadband connections as this opens up whole use businesses.

  12. It is really annoying that Virgins trunk network already connects all parts of Bradley Stoke, see the CATV manhole covers, but Virgin are unable or willing to connect this to peoples homes. The speed with which homes where connected by UA twenty years ago suggests this could be done very cheaply.

    For BT, the omission of Almondsbury is annoying and a major mystery. The exchange serves many more people and businesses than many enabled exchanges. If the exchange is unsuitable, then BT should own up and do what they do elsewhere, provide telephone from existing exchange and provide internet from a remote exchange that can support the equipment. With Winterbourne already fibre enabled, this should be a straightforward and simple process.

  13. according to an engineer I asked this morning, there is more chance of getting a cabinet quicker the more interest is shown by residents in the street by filling out the page on the BT website

    interestingly for Bakers Ground, he said the business premises already have fibre.

  14. As I said for BT their infrastructure is not there
    But this is because of a historical/political issue and not BT.
    When BT was formed out of the GPO the management at the time wanted to fibre up just about anything in the UK as they saw many advantages of doing so.
    One of these was a condition to provide video on demand which would have been fantastic commercial opportunity.
    But the government of the 1980s was with the cable providers and did not allow BT the rights to compete with video on demand so here we are today.

    UA covered the whole of Bradley stoke as it was in the early 1990s but I believe due to political/council reasons they were unable to expand.

    Certainly it would appear that there is a political motive as when my new house was built I asked if Telewest could move my existing connection from Bradley Stoke North to Juniper way I was informed that the current council would not allow the required conduit to be installed.

    The builders at the time confirmed that they were unable to allow or lay any additional conduit because the road/pavements would then not be adopted by the then current council

  15. I’m Juniper Way on a 0117 number and still nothing.. will have to wait and see. Even if the speeds are improved, Juniper Way is a fair distance away from the Green distribution boxes so I’m not expecting anything special.

  16. I am in Oaktree Crescent (01454) and my theoretical speed is between 6.5Mb and 8.5Mb (Estimated speed: 7.5Mb).

    Sorry, you’re not currently able to get BT Infinity. This may be because your area has not been enabled yet, or your individual line does not support super-fast broadband. Register your interest and we’ll let you know if this changes.

    I have just now registered my interest.

    Cheers!

  17. I live in Juniper Way. I am on an 0117 number served by Filton Exchange. My download speed is around 1.6 Mbps. When it slips towards 1 Mbps I restart my router for a speed boost. Fortunately I am not on a direct fed line. I am fed from street cabinet 44, located on Baileys Court Road near the Evangelical church. Unfortunately this cabinet has not been scheduled for FTTC. This is not unusual as typically BT have only enabled around 50% of cabinets when they declare an exchange as live for FTTC. I hope that street cabinet 44 will be enabled for FTTC soon. In the meantime I suggest registering your interest with your ISP. The more potential customers for FTTC on a cabinet the more likely BT will be to upgrade it.

  18. In Coriander Drive on a 0117 number, and pretty gutted I still can’t get any decent speeds. I currently get less than 1mb speeds, dropping to around 1/4 of this at peak times.
    What exactly can I do, or who do I need to contact to get a straight answer on when higher speeds will be available? Are BSJ in contact with BT?

    I just feel that if such a large proportion of the area are on such slow internet connections, then we should at least be given a better explanation as to why.

    Rant over for now!

  19. @Dave S What is your postcode? if your line is connected to a cab there may still be a chance that FTTC will be available to you in the future.

    Happy to check this out for you.

    Cheers,

    Matt

  20. @Dave 100% of your postcode comes off cabinet 44 which i believe is just outside the church. No plans for this cab yet, but at least you are connected to a filton cab which just needs an NGA cab from a fibre feed from FILTON or WINTERBOUNE we should have a better idea of the next cabinet roll outs in May when the new PCP documents are leaked, ahem.. I mean released!!

  21. @Matt K & Dave S

    I’m Coriander Drive but BS32 0DJ, are you able to tell if that postcode is connected to a cabinet or if it is more likely an EOLine? I had been using https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?snapid=S351604JNil as one source of data and that had indicated that only 4% of BS32 0DJ would be served via a cabinet connected to Winterbourne but it’s not clear on specific numbers of cabinets etc. I must admit I’d always assumed I was connected to Cabinet 44 as it is the one just up the road from the entrance to Coriander Drive and it always seemed logical however following previous comments (and that spreadsheet) I’ve been expecting the worst and my line being an EOLine.

  22. @Dave W 95% of the addresses in that postcode are on cabinet 44 so your not on on an E/O line so a fibre upgrade could be on the cards when BT get around to doing the next stage of Filton Cabs.

  23. Thanks Matt. It’ll be interesting to see the next PCP docs in May. I wouldn’t put it past BT to only be upgrading cabinets that will enable them to attempt to take Virgin customers and for those not served by Virgin or on a poor BT connection leave them to hope for a slice of the BDUK pie.

    I’ll wait and see.

  24. There seems to be a few people in the know here, So I was just wondering if anyone has any information regarding New Road (0117) in Stoke Gifford ? – on the Filton exchange, BS34 8TF

    As a heavy gamer I’ve been suffering with poor speeds & reliability for awhile now, and in recent weeks/months the connection has degraded substantially (720p youtube videos are no longer an option as of 2 weeks ago) I’m sure there’s a fair few in the same boat, it’s very disheartening when all my BT Infinity searches show zero results for my street.

  25. Press release from BT today:

    SUPER-FAST BROADBAND GOES LIVE IN BITTON, BRISTOL SOUTH, FILTON AND WINTERBOURNE

    “Super-fast broadband is now available to the first homes and businesses in Bitton, Bristol South, Winterbourne and Filton, BT announced today.

    More than 42,000 local householders and firms in the communities, including the Knowle, Totterdown and Brislington areas of Bristol, are poised to join Downend, Bristol North and Bristol West, in the high-speed revolution as engineers complete the local upgrades in the coming weeks.

    This latest development will take the number of premises in Bristol and South Gloucestershire with access to the high-speed technology by the end of the year to more than 180,000.”

  26. Did my eyes deceive me? Openreach fibre trailers at leisure centre/Tesco roundabout on Bradley Stoke Way today?

  27. Could be the initial pull of fibre from the Winterbourne exchange? Then again could be just fixing Tesco’s Leased line!

  28. Some background to the work that BT is doing to bring fibre optic broadband (FTTH) to a single BT customer in Crystal Way (first mentioned here).

    Fibre is being “blown” from a cabinet near the Tesco Garage.

    Direct route would be 300m but existing cable ducts take a round-about route via Hawkins Crescent and Snowberry Close, amounting to nearer 800m.

    Cost is rumoured to be around £10,000.

    Work has being going on for more than two weeks.

  29. Please note this is not FTTP. This is a leased line – and the technology is very different. FTTP relies on special equipment at the Exchange, has splitters in the street, and also doesn’t have a huge ugly box on the end 🙂

    Unfortunately since it’s not FTTP, pretty much any similar installation has the same cost. That cost isn’t £10k, but it certainly isn’t the £200 rumoured to be paid for a normal FTTP install elsewhere in the country.

    I’d still like to find a way to cable up Crystal Way (or at least offer a better wifi service than the poor 3G) – if only we could run ethernet into everyone’s homes on some sort of not-for-profit service…

  30. Oh, and one more thing – the work has actually taken 3 months – 2 weeks would have been a dream!

  31. I live in Lavender Way and get less than 1mb as well, its rubbish cant get any info from the BT Website, should we not be petitioning for Bradley stoke to have its own exchange rather than getting BT Infinity? Being connected to Filton exchange over 6 miles away wont be that much of an increase on the 1mb I currently get, surely?

  32. For what it’s worth – we missed out once again today in the latest BT round of exchange upgrades. Berkeley and Blakeney in Glos, Lulsgate, Tetbury, Tisbury, Castle Cary are deemed more important …

  33. I thought the next release of sites was at the end of June. Where was it announced?

    When are we supposed to hear from SGC about BDUK funding?

  34. Westbury-On-Trym is also on today’s list. I’m sure the 41 people there who bothered to vote in BT’s 2010 Race to Infinity competition will be thrilled with the news (that’s from a subscriber base of 5,785).

    Results here.

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