Does fibre mean fibre?

Hi Tom – I’m glad you explained that FTTP and FTTH are the same thing. It would be good if the industry had standardised on one or the other. I don’t know why I am lucky and have FTTP broadband, because I’m not exactly in a built-up area. It’s the reliability of the service rather than the speed that appeals most to me.

I shall respond to the current consultation and push for service providers to be banned from using ‘up to’ in their marketing.

Hi, I would hope, being told I could receive up to ‘N’ of something, that this would be pretty close.. I find that more insulting. I understand that advertisers expect us to be stupid and believe everything that they tell us..

This is my frustration.. we’re ‘supposed’ to receive ‘up to’ 17Mbps the standard… and I understand that if I was one of those lucky people that live in the correct areas with the most up to date exchanges, cabinets etc I’d probably get around 10Mbps…

I’ve just done one of your speed tests.. (done a few in fact..) the most recent was this:-

Response: 1260ms
Download Speed: 0.9Mbps
Upload Speed: 1Mbps

What upsets me most is, that I pay the same price as those customers in the ‘right area with the right technology’… and they get super speed and I go to my friends house if I want to upload or download anything….

0.9Mbps is not close to 17Mbps, but technically, it is ‘up to’….. Stinks! I want decent internet please!!!
(Thanks!)

I am now confused, Tom. I thought the USO was to provide 95% of the connexions to the network with 10 Mbps broadband or higher speed where possible. The remaining 5% would either not get broadband or something less than 10 Mbps. It really would help if Ofcom could be persuaded to come back to us and clarify all this. A different Conversation revealed that a substantial number of people were still getting minimal broadband speeds and frequent drop outs. It also showed that there were inconsistencies between what Openreach said was available and what people could actually get. It would be really useful to have official confirmation of where the unserved 5% will be, how the coverage will be determined, when the fast broadband roll-out will be completed [scheduled for end of 2017], and whether anything will be done later for those who are outside the 95%.

I also think we need some answers from Ofcom on how they are approaching the problem of local capacity being consumed to the detriment of other subscribers by content that requires high speed and high capacity and therefore aggravates the contention ratio; it is suggested, and with some credibility, that the companies generating this traffic are not making a proper contribution to the costs of the national fast broadband project although the telecom service providers supplying these services are charging their customers a high price for them.

I am not entirely sure that the providers do give correct advice to customers as to their broadband speed requirements; they have a strong financial interest in getting people to pay for higher speeds than they will actually use. Since in many cases it seems they cannot reliably deliver the speeds they charge for there is, therefore, a double whammy. Many consumer services are now sold in packages and bundles so there are plenty of opportunities for the companies to bamboozle people and take advantage of them.

Last 5 % to get 10Mbps -COMPULSORY !!! instead of ignoring all my posts that I have posted on Which for a very long time saying -HOW ???? do you provide 10 Mbps for the last 5 % ???? please elucidate for me with practical-down to earth answers- no “fast talk ” no – advertising “word bites ” as is common now just the truth . FTTP/H will cost a fortune for them as I have said countless times , please read all my previous posts on the subject who is going to pay up to £10,000 /line NOT the con advertising speech of “£500 ” . It is total insanity to suggest that is the cost of customers with 10 span of overhead COPPER wire , long underground COPPER cable 2 MILES + through valley,s, over rivers , through forests . The ONLY (except for satellite ) practical answer is microwave which Norway and many other countries have . Please don’t ignore me answer me or I will think Which has now gone into the realms of full blown advertising to the government+big businesses political+ monetary advantage .

@tcorcoran, if I may say so it is good to see a Convo author not only reading comments but, where appropriate, responding to them, and fairly quickly. It makes Convos so much more useful! 🙂

Thank you very much for your responses, Tom, but no wonder we’re confused. Ofcom’s CEO said in her Which? Conversation piece on 12 April 2017 that “around 5% of homes and offices can’t get decent broadband of 10Mbps”. Some of the unserved 5% presumably cannot get broadband at all. We have had many comments in various Conversations since then that give extremely low speeds in numerous different parts of the country. Personally, I find it hard to believe that 10 Mbps+ [which Ofcom calls “decent broadband”] is actually available to much more than 80% of UK premises. With six months to go before the 95% target is supposed to be fully achieved it would be useful to have an update. I should also be interested to know what is Ofcom’s definition of ‘superfast’ which is what the 95% are expecting – this has never been explained.

Looking back to the Ofcom Conversation many pertinent questions have been raised by various contributors but there have been no answers. Duncan’s point about reaching the final five percent has been expressed in different ways by different contributors but has always been ignored. Mixing this issue up with the 4G mobile signal roll-out did nothing for comprehension of the various statistics and timescales. I think it’s time that the people who will be left out of the superfast broadband programme are informed so they can consider their plans.

In your last two sentences you express my fears that some type of agenda is being pursued John , I dont mind if its admitted but I dont accept it being intentionally obtuse so as to confuse as we then get into the “PsyOps ” of advertising to a “higher authority ” . Other countries are honest , even the USA, “sorry folks ” we cant supply you with FTTP/H- period but we can and will supply Microwave radio and in NORWAY – we will pay for the installation of satellite also , as I have posted recently in reply to a poster , the EU is NOW subsidizing top of the range satellite broadband reception equipment FREE . This went down like a “wet balloon ” on Which – it all went quiet ! I even provided the EU directive link -why?-Brexit , like the cut price roaming calls it wont apply here –in the future.

I am not sure there is a specific or sinister agenda, Duncan, just the usual British muddle-headed Civil Service way of going on and keeping the population in the dark under the guise of transparency. Sharon White’s [Ofcom’s CEO] Conversation was launched on 12 April. The general election was announced on 18 April at which point all government offices went into ‘purdah’ on policy matters, so that is why it has all gone quiet. But if you take another look at that Conversation [“Ofcom: calling for a cultural change in the telecoms industry”] all the relevant questions have been posed in the comments from contributors and answers have been called for. It is high time to end the confusion and be open and honest with people throughout the UK.

See: https://conversation.which.co.uk/technology/ofcom-sharon-white-broadband-mobile-services/

A lot depends on what you mean by ‘need’. My wife and I could probably manage most of the time with 10Mbs but add a daughter visiting with family and an extra three or even four devices are likely to be at work, one of them researching homework, others on social media as they chat. What is ‘needed’ then? I do have friends not so far away who struggle to get 2Mbs but in fact I usually get 30Mbs or so.

What is needed, Gray, is the return of the art of conversation instead of digital telegrams.

That is the whole problem. Outside the city centres the fibre infrastructure is like a country lane that people now want to drive large goods vehicles along, in both directions, all day every day and at increasing speed. Ofcom can specify minimum speeds to be provided under the Universal Service Obligation but they don’t seem to have an answer to the eating-up of that capacity [and thus worsening the internet experience for other users] by the providers of high-speed and large-capacity content.

By the way, now that the General Election is out of the way [for now, at least] is it not time we had a response from Ofcom to all the questions and points raised about the fast broadband roll-out in their CEO’s Conversation and other Conversations along the same lines? It’s been many weeks now and we are still waiting . . . .

Probably Digga because they are providing a service that has to be maintained (and paid for ) in bad weather , due to council roadworks digging up cables , due to crooks cutting cables , repairing exchange equipment , etc .Even if that service only supplies 0.5Mbps and they are usually the dearest to maintain as they are long runs of underground cable or overhead wiring whereas city dwellers with underground feeds straight into their homes are easier to maintain . Add to that the government has a policy of a “light -hand” on business removing many regulations that were in the public interest so that businesses had freedom to “flourish ” but this “flourish” turns out to be British money flying off to all parts of the world ( if you know what I mean ) instead of being invested in Britain . As pointed out it is not in the interest of major global businesses to restrict internet speed only to encourage it more and more so that they can make more money from selling . This means capping on high speed lines isn’t going to happen as it directly goes against capitalist philosophy and this world runs on capitalism , even Russia is a capitalist country . They would need to deny themselves for you to achieve what you would like. Or the country to become Marxist ( which will never happen ) .

Mr.S.Catalani you arent legally stuck with this new contract if nothing has changed,as you imply . I presume as they mean “fibre ” they say they have provided -FTTC ? because that is the normal advertising JINGO that implies that network condition. Fibre-to-the-Cabinet . This must come with an increase of speed, even if its small , depending on your distance from the cabinet , if your CONSTANT speed has not changed you have the legal right to be returned to the cheaper bundle you had previously without loss .

Schnauzer , of course there is FTTK and I have mentioned it on Which not long ago –BUT it applies really to- Broadband for the Rural North- B4RN- DIY . As I said to the poster I cant praise this small company enough and you know ? , who have I praised in the telecom business apart from BT . This small company is NOT competition to BT as it applies to ALL those business people who complain loudly– I work/live miles from a cabinet on a farm/ cottage and only get – 0.5-5Mbps – Hallelujah !!! this company is the answer to your prayers .All you need is to provide and install your OWN fibre to the home from the roadside , for the second time I post the URL : https://b4rn.org.uk/ a genuine /kosher/honest/ above board company and I tell you this if I had the money I would invest heavily in this company , its a winner ! Yes I know Virgin supplies a connection post at your roadside but this is different , forget VM who will never supply that remote cottage/farm go B4RN a genuine company. Do you want a FULL Gigabit of of speed – £30/month . A BRITISH small business which I support 100 % go Britain !!!. By the way do you know American Telecom business websites know about it and praise it also –its that good .