The London Broadband Situation

ntluser · 24-03-2004, 07:12

Life wouldn't be complete without a broadband thread dedicated to the suffering and woes of London customers in their battle to get broadband, so I thought I'd start one if only to find out what's happening.

So is Lewisham fully connected for broadband? And what about the other parts of London?

Did the London campaigners get broadband or are they still waiting? Or did they get fed up of waiting and get ADSL from BT?

If anyone can shed light on these and other related questions, please feel free to enlighten us.

24-03-2004, 07:51

afaik Woolwich is connected & routes through Lewisham, I'd imagine other local areas, like Catford, Greenwich, Brockley & Deptford, are too - anyone know for sure?

Neil · 24-03-2004, 08:20

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ndon+broadband

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ndon+broadband

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ndon+broadband

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ndon+broadband

We've been here many times I'm afraid ntluser, & are still no closer to getting a definitive answer.

I know from peeps I met/spoke to at ntl Hook, that it will cost far too much money for ntl to bring BB to all of their London areas, I have said this on the site(s) many times, but still people insist on dragging it up again.

NoBB · 25-03-2004, 13:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ndon+broadband

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ndon+broadband

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ndon+broadband

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ndon+broadband

We've been here many times I'm afraid ntluser, & are still no closer to getting a definitive answer.

I know from peeps I met/spoke to at ntl Hook, that it will cost far too much money for ntl to bring BB to all of their London areas, I have said this on the site(s) many times, but still people insist on dragging it up again.

I do think people still drag it up again. But they will continue to 'drag it up' until they get some kind of answer from ntl. I have been watching the London debate on this forum for a long time now, and I have noticed, with regret, that anytime that London Broadband or CR3 questions are raised it seems to spark off arguments. Mainly between those who do not care about what is happening (or not) in London, and those who actually are trying to seek some answers via this forum, and also gain support from fellow ntl customers. I do not think that those who raise questions on the London issue should always be summarily dismissed by other members, or as seems to be more often the case, by moderators.

ntluser · 25-03-2004, 13:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ndon+broadband

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ndon+broadband

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ndon+broadband

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ndon+broadband

We've been here many times I'm afraid ntluser, & are still no closer to getting a definitive answer.

I know from peeps I met/spoke to at ntl Hook, that it will cost far too much money for ntl to bring BB to all of their London areas, I have said this on the site(s) many times, but still people insist on dragging it up again.

Thanks for the links, Neil, though most of them seem to lead to threads from June 2003.

I was just interested to see if the plans which Chris Collinson outlined on NTHW.com had been implemented and if all the areas he mentioned were now receiving broadband. I was also interested to find out if regular London campaigners like RippedOff, Inkblot, Hawkmoon and others had, after all their work (and mine!!) finally got the service they were after.

Much of the information obtained about London was 'leaked' rather than it being an official press release. The fact that customers had to press to get answers made them more annoyed and made the situation worse.

Even when NTL did finally come up with a plan and a statement there were no regular progress reports. Honest communication with customers would have taken a lot of the tension out of the situation.

Given that NTL has the franchise for London but not the finance and possibly not the will to get things moving in London too, maybe the simple answer would be to sell the franchise to a company or possibly to a consortium of companies, who were willing to undertake the necessary development. Yes the costs would be high but then so would the profits.

NoBB · 25-03-2004, 13:58

ntluser, no difference in most of London AFAIK. All the stuff said by Collinson was obviously bull****, and remember the letter that was sent out by him 'by mistake'? Unfortunately we will not hear from rippedoff as he has been banned! That's what happens to campaigners! The most recent information that I have had from ntl directly is that there is very little chance of broadband or interactive / CR3 becoming available in all of London before 2006 at the very earliest - if at all. In my area (same as rippedoff!) of Lambeth, I was told maybe by early 2007. How anyone can come up even with these possible dates though is beyond me, as there does not yet seem to be a commitment to upgrade London, never mind a plan! So do not take any of these dates as 'gospel' - I am as much in the dark as everyone else. I do however welcome this thread being re-started - we do need to keep up the pressure and keep asking the same old questions.

poolking · 25-03-2004, 14:02

Maybe if NTL hadn't gone on their spending spree in the 90s, and decided to take their time in acquiring the franchises, I reckon they would have had enough money to give London broadband.

Maybe they should have just bought the London Franchises and totally upgraded the network in London then stood back and wait for the money to roll in and then buy other franchises when they could afford them.

NoBB · 25-03-2004, 14:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by poolking

Maybe if NTL hadn't gone on their spending spree in the 90s, and decided to take their time in acquiring the franchises, I reckon they would have had enough money to give London broadband.

Maybe they should have just bought the London Franchises and totally upgraded the network in London then stood back and wait for the money to roll in and then buy other franchises when they could afford them.

Although I agree that your 'maybe' theories are OK, it does not really matter what they maybe should have done - what matters is what are they going to do now, and when! I think Londoners (and others who still are without BB) really want to know is some hard facts about the future, whether it be good news or bad - at least they will know where they stand, and can go to another provider if they want. Currently, the ntl practice seems to be to keep customers by constantly promising 'coming soon'. Yes, they still do that!

altis · 25-03-2004, 14:24

Keep your eyes open for UK Broadband (AKA Pound Radio and PCCW) who recently won many of the 3.4GHz wireless broadband licences.

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communicatio...9149852,00.htm

poolking · 25-03-2004, 15:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoBB

Although I agree that your 'maybe' theories are OK, it does not really matter what they maybe should have done - what matters is what are they going to do now, and when! I think Londoners (and others who still are without BB) really want to know is some hard facts about the future, whether it be good news or bad - at least they will know where they stand, and can go to another provider if they want. Currently, the ntl practice seems to be to keep customers by constantly promising 'coming soon'. Yes, they still do that!

The only way I can see it is for NTL to plunge itself even further into debt with a huge loan to fund the London upgrade.

BBKing · 25-03-2004, 15:30

Which isn't going to happen. Piecemeal upgrades to selected areas is the way it's going.

ntl didn't buy 'the London franchises', they bought the residential business of C&W, which was running the former VCL parts of London at the time, as well as large areas in the rest of the country. The history of that deal is well documented elsewhere, it was the height of the .com boom and money was easier. C&W weren't going to hang onto the poor cable in London, why would it would bleed money supporting a shrinking userbase (no chance of any upgraded services) when it wanted out of the residential business anyway?

Chrysalis · 25-03-2004, 15:44

I thought BT took good care of you guys in london, maybe ntl decided they cant compete against the 8mbit ADSL thats available in london.

Ignition · 25-03-2004, 17:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

I thought BT took good care of you guys in london, maybe ntl decided they cant compete against the 8mbit ADSL thats available in london.

That still isn't a commercial product, is in trial stage, and is only available in 35 of over 100 London exchanges - pop into the Bulldog forum on ADSLGuide for more info!

Certainly nothing to do with BT though - on their lines London, like everywhere else, is limited to 1Mbit on all BT Home products, 2Mbit on business products, and 2Mbit on certain Datastream 'Home' products supplied over business classed lines.

Neil · 25-03-2004, 17:23

BB in London in the ex Videotron areas that have not been enabled already, ain't gonna happen IMHO.

Chrysalis · 25-03-2004, 18:11

yeah I was wrong its not BT who provide the super ADSL services its easynet and bulldog, but whats overall london ADSL coverage like at the moment. over 95% ?