This really is getting beyond a joke:
How on Earth, in the South West, can they justify giving fibre to the cabinet to places like Westbury, Devizes, Dartmouth and Wimbourne before they properly complete the cities?
Jack Lopresti should be asking some very serious questions about this now as it looks as if we’re not even likely to get anything by early 2012 now.
There’s been an obvious – and proved – demand for the service from Almondsbury to Bradley Stoke but still BT will not respond.
Disgrace.
I agree. It’s disgusting how in 2011 in South Bradley Stoke we are receiving less than 1mb broadband!!!!
I’m on the Filton exchange in Palmers leaze which seems worse than the almondsbury exchange for speed!
I believe everyone in Bradley Stoke should start emailing Ian Livingston, the BT chairman and ask why we are being ignored.
He has a public email address, no doubt answered by a secretary, but if we email it he will hear about it.
Don’t the council have a slush fund for ‘economic development’ or something that they could slide under the counter to BT? 🙁
The problem we will always have in getting faster broadband in BS is that most streets have been cabled for Virgin Media and so our need is diluted in comparison.
Now if there was no cable and 9,000 houses had registered for the BT Infinity race our voice would have been heard.
Average voting percentage for all 2,495 exchanges in BT’s recent Race to Infinity customer demand survey was 2.03%.
Average for the 41 exchanges announced for upgrade yesterday (12th Jan 2011) was 2.01%.
So, it appears that BT has taken absolutely no notice of its own customer survey!
Of the 41 exchanges announced, none met the qualifying level of 1,000 votes in BT’s survey.
The highest finisher of the 41 is Wallingford in 345th place (7.07%).
14 of the 41 exchanges being upgraded polled fewer than 100 votes, with Billinge managing just 15 votes from 3,365 possible.
Data:
1. Race to Infinity Final Result (all 2,495 exchanges)
2. Race to Infinity Final Result (41 exchanges announced for upgrade on 21st Jan 2011)
Come on Jack Lopresti…..Do SOMETHING and earn your money!!
I agree with Simon, everyone should email Ian Livingston and raise the concern about it!
I thought i’d email Ian Livingston.
This is the reply i got:
These exchanges were not relating to the Race to Infinity votes but were done as part of our efforts to include and prioritise some market towns/more rural areas in our roll out plans. The top 6 in the race to Infinity will be enabled and we are looking at whether the remain top ten can be done as well.
All this is in addition to the existing roll out plans and more tranches will be announced in due course.
Ian
@SH (editor) – should we think about producing some kind of generic email to send to Mr Livingston to try and give them some hassle over the problems here? If well publicised enough, and if he gets a few hundred emails, I think it could help to demonstrate our annoyance?
@Anon-e-mouse I think there’s a degree of truth in what you’re saying. The problem affects a smaller proportion but BT have it within them to use FTTC on the cabinets that serve these streets rather than the whole town. In many areas, exchanges get FTTC but not all of the cabinets do – why can’t they do that here?
@Chris K – good idea about the generic letter/email. Any volunteers?
Happy to write if everyone else thinks it’s a good idea/is willing to email as well as me!
I believe that part of the problem for the Bradley Stoke people on the Almondsbury exchange, is the line length. I understand that this is because the line comes down Bradley Stoke Way and turns Right at the Webbswood road to do a loop around the cabled bluebells, before going across the road to the streets around Marjoram Place.
Why dont BT put in a short cut across the Webbswood roundabout, therefore reducing the line lengths and improving line speed.
With the community divided between the Cable “haves and have nots” and the apathy that that generates, we don’t stand a chance.
An article at Thinkbroadband,
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/4536-draft-openreach-duct-and-pole-sharing-document-reveals-pricing.html
appears to offer hope. The costs mentioned should appeal to Virgin to rollout their service to the rest of Bradley Stoke.
So, if BT does not respond to our reasonable requests soon, some else might!.
An article on ThinkBroadband, http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/4540-councils-invest-in-gloucestershire-and-herefordshire-broadband-pilot.html, would imply it now pays to live in a rural location rather than a suburb of a city if you want good broadband speeds.
With the Filton exchange, on which a large number of Bradley Stoke residental numbers reside will no doubt be left to the the bottom of the FTTC upgrade list. The cost to upgrade such an exchange is greater than the percieved uptake. Well that’s how i see it.
If we want better speeds and an upgrade quicker we’d need a campaign from the other areas of Bristol that are served by the same exchange.
Some reason, i think we’ll never get the upgrade on the Almondsbury exchange! 🙁
Bring on cable and / or fast broadband. Where do we turn next? BT monopoly continues.
Useful contact details for anyone wishing to write to BT/Openreach about the atrocious broadband speeds in Bradley Stoke:
Steve Robertson
CEO
Openreach
Kelvin House
123 Judd St
London WC1H 9NP
steve.j.robertson@bt.com
Ian Livingstone
CEO
BT Group
81 Newgate Street
London EC1A 7AJ
ian.livingston@bt.com
Please let us know how you get on.
I have been in Bradley Stoke for 18 months now and have lived with dire BB speeds. I helped with the leaflet drop to promote the Race To Infinity and I am saddened that we have been missed out again.
However, I have recently moved ISP, from O2 to Plusnet. When on O2 my speed would vary greatly, around 3Mb during working hours and over night, to less than 1Mb during peak evening times. Now on Plusnet I am getting a fairly steady 3Mb all day and evening.
This also helps with the fact the Almondsbury exchange has been reclassified and can now get Plusnet for as little as £6.49 a month