National Broadband Ireland : implementation and progress

westyIrl

Bit of a deviation of the above question with regard to final connections. Fiber is a long way off for me but I like to think ahead. I have the final ~150m underground ducted from the Eir pole. I'd be quite sure some of this is collapsed/blocked. When the time comes I was supposing NBI would just run a line overhead.

However, I just realised that the reason it was probably ducted in the first place is that the duct passes under an ESB overhead line. (Is this relevant with fiber?) Would this mean that NBI would have to sort the duct out or is it still my baby to ready the duct? My preference is that it is forced underground but just curious as to whos problem it would be. Replacing the duct would be quite involved and that's with a digger and plant at my disposal.

Thanks,

Jim

listermint

westyIrl wrote: »

Bit of a deviation of the above question with regard to final connections. Fiber is a long way off for me but I like to think ahead. I have the final ~150m underground ducted from the Eir pole. I'd be quite sure some of this is collapsed/blocked. When the time comes I was supposing NBI would just run a line overhead.

However, I just realised that the reason it was probably ducted in the first place is that the duct passes under an ESB overhead line. (Is this relevant with fiber?) Would this mean that NBI would have to sort the duct out or is it still my baby to ready the duct? My preference is that it is forced underground but just curious as to whos problem it would be. Replacing the duct would be quite involved and that's with a digger and plant at my disposal.

Thanks,

Jim

It would be your responsibility to clear the duct. They might try with the gear they have but if it's not possible it would be passed back to you

I've ducted my driveway last year in preparation for it as j was redoing the drive. Roughly 70 meters .

Days work for me with a digger. Worst part was rolling out the pipe best leave it lying long out in the sun to heat up and loosen out.

kaizersoze

westyIrl wrote: »

Bit of a deviation of the above question with regard to final connections. Fiber is a long way off for me but I like to think ahead. I have the final ~150m underground ducted from the Eir pole. I'd be quite sure some of this is collapsed/blocked. When the time comes I was supposing NBI would just run a line overhead.

However, I just realised that the reason it was probably ducted in the first place is that the duct passes under an ESB overhead line. (Is this relevant with fiber?) Would this mean that NBI would have to sort the duct out or is it still my baby to ready the duct? My preference is that it is forced underground but just curious as to whos problem it would be. Replacing the duct would be quite involved and that's with a digger and plant at my disposal.

Thanks,

Jim

NBI will clear blocked ducts on the customer's premises unlike KN installing for OpenEir.

In the vast majority of cases, NBI will reuse pre-existing poles and ducting meaning there will be no need for any grounds work when installing fibre broadband. In a small number of cases where there is a blockage within an existing duct or in the event a customer requested duct where no ducting exists, this may necessitate civil works on the customer’s premises.

listermint

kaizersoze wrote: »

NBI will clear blocked ducts on the customer's premises unlike KN installing for OpenEir.

That doesn't say they'll do it free though. There would be a cost to such works. Which makes it your responsibility

kaizersoze

listermint wrote: »

That doesn't say they'll do it free though. There would be a cost to such works. Which makes it your responsibility

Wouldn't be my understanding of it......



https://nbi.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Cable-Information-Sheet.pdf

westyIrl

listermint wrote: »

That doesn't say they'll do it free though. There would be a cost to such works. Which makes it your responsibility

Yep trying to find where responsiblitily lies is what I am trying to figure. With the overhead ESB lines, I'm guessing they would be forced to go with existing duct. (I'm not sure if this is still required with fiber being non conductive)

Kaizersoze's post seems to clear it up insofar that it would be their responsiblitly if overhead is a no-go.

BTW not being a cheap skate and wouldn't mind doing it myself but it will probably require a mole machine & resurfacing works, hence my preference to avoid it if I can. No question there is cost involved.

Jim

Pique

How hardy is an overhead fibre line anyway. Same as a copper phone line? More? Less?

kaizersoze

westyIrl wrote: »

Yep trying to find where responsiblitily lies is what I am trying to figure. With the overhead ESB lines, I'm guessing they would be forced to go with existing duct. (I'm not sure if this is still required with fiber being non conductive)

Kaizersoze's post seems to clear it up insofar that it would be their responsiblitly if overhead is a no-go.

BTW not being a cheap skate and wouldn't mind doing it myself but it will probably require a mole machine & resurfacing works, hence my preference to avoid it if I can. No question there is cost involved.

Jim

A bit more info.....

The National Broadband Plan contract provides for the provision of fibre for premises (including any newly constructed premises in the NBP intervention area) for a standard wholesale connection charge of €100.

The charge of €100 will be levelled on the Retail Service Provider who connects the premises, and not directly on the homeowner.

It is up to the RSP whether this cost will be passed on or not, and there have been no decisions made by any RSPs on that front yet.

In exceptional circumstances where the cost of connection exceeds €5,000, NBI through the retail provider can request the homeowner to contribute towards the excess cost. Such a scenario is considered unlikely and should it arise, technical solutions will be explored to ensure the homeowner does not incur any additional charges.

https://nbi.ie/news/latest/2020/08/10/carrigaline-will-be-first-connected-to-national-fibre-broadband-plan/

wexfordman2

listermint wrote: »

It would be your responsibility to clear the duct. They might try with the gear they have but if it's not possible it would be passed back to you

I've ducted my driveway last year in preparation for it as j was redoing the drive. Roughly 70 meters .

Days work for me with a digger. Worst part was rolling out the pipe best leave it lying long out in the sun to heat up and loosen out.

I take it you had an existing eir pole to duct to ? Oir old copper line used to (disconnected it ten years ago) run from a pole across the road and up the road a bit, but it does/used to run under an esb line, so if they use that it will run under the esb line again, which 8 suspect they will be reluctant to do.

What are my options of ducting, if that eir pole is accross the road, I take it I am dead in the water and it will have to go overhead?

Agent Avenger

Was able to preorder the other day for July-August time frame now the dates have changed for a sixth time to Dec-Jan 22, they are beyond a joke. Originally part of the Carrigaline rollout but moved to Cork-Mahon at some stage. Into May and as far as I'm aware less than 3,000 premises connected, weren't they supposed to have 20,000 done by the end of 2020?

ACitizenErased

Agent Avenger wrote: »

Was able to preorder the other day for July-August time frame now the dates have changed for a sixth time to Dec-Jan 22, they are beyond a joke. Originally part of the Carrigaline rollout but moved to Cork-Mahon at some stage. Into May and as far as I'm aware less than 3,000 premises connected, weren't they supposed to have 20,000 done by the end of 2020?

That’s fairly shocking to be honest, what the hell is holding everything up? They didn’t even stop during the pandemic. You being pushed back to 2022 means people in 2022 could end up being 2023.

kaizersoze

ACitizenErased wrote: »

That’s fairly shocking to be honest, what the hell is holding everything up? They didn’t even stop during the pandemic. You being pushed back to 2022 means people in 2022 could end up being 2023.

True they didn't stop during the lockdowns but their work practices were and still are fairly restricted. Chamber & trench work, duct work, cable stringing etc were restricted due to social distancing as well as crews traveling together.

Yes it could be faster but I'm sure it's not all plain sailing. This is a mammoth project where delays are inevitable but I've said it here before, once they get a couple of DAs up and running and the kinks ironed out the rollout will ramp up.

listermint

wexfordman2 wrote: »

I take it you had an existing eir pole to duct to ? Oir old copper line used to (disconnected it ten years ago) run from a pole across the road and up the road a bit, but it does/used to run under an esb line, so if they use that it will run under the esb line again, which 8 suspect they will be reluctant to do.

What are my options of ducting, if that eir pole is accross the road, I take it I am dead in the water and it will have to go overhead?

Live EIR pole just at the left of our gate. No idea where the old phone ducting goes but I definitely know it was goosed because found remnants of the pipe chopped when I was digging zero chance of them using that for fibre..I think a garage extension built in 86 the builders smashed it

Redriddick

NBI lads pulled up outside my house there and were looking for the chamber. I showed it to them and asked what's the story with when they would be stringing fibre, yer man said it could be a year before its done. I'm 3 miles out side roscommon Town on the athlone side, go live on NBI website aug-oct this year.
Reckon yer man was allowing for some flexibility

Steve F

Three men arrived outside my house this morning and worked on the pole outside my home.
They left some black tubing running up the pole from underground and capped it off with a clear plastic cap and secured it about 7 foot up with black tape.
Anyone know how near I might be to Fibre being available for installation to my home with this being done this morning?

Steve F

See attached

Redriddick

Steve F wrote: »

See attached

That's just the duct, ours were done months ago

xxyyzz

Redriddick wrote: »

NBI lads pulled up outside my house there and were looking for the chamber. I showed it to them and asked what's the story with when they would be stringing fibre, yer man said it could be a year before its done. I'm 3 miles out side roscommon Town on the athlone side, go live on NBI website aug-oct this year.
Reckon yer man was allowing for some flexibility

I don't think the guys on the ground would have that information to be honest. It was probably finger in the air stuff.

Redriddick

xxyyzz wrote: »

I don't think the guys on the ground would have that information to be honest. It was probably finger in the air stuff.

Ha, yep, reckon them lads have a pain in their face from lads like me running out to them as soon as they pull up.....

heavydawson

Steve F wrote: »

Three men arrived outside my house this morning and worked on the pole outside my home.
They left some black tubing running up the pole from underground and capped it off with a clear plastic cap and secured it about 7 foot up with black tape.
Anyone know how near I might be to Fibre being available for installation to my home with this being done this morning?

There's no guarantee of any timeline based on actual work done I'm afraid. That ducting is used where they need to the fibre underground (if passing under ESB cables, etc.). We had it done a few months back. There have been 3 separate pieces of work done since then:
1. Repairing broken ducting on my road (5-6 weeks ago)
2. Re-surfacing the section of the road that was broken for the duct repair (2 weeks ago)
3. Replacement of bad/damaged poles (just last week)

My parents in law who live about 5km away as the crow flies had fibre strung up on the poles down their Boreen 2 weeks ago (they were running ~ 1 month ahead of us for the other work items I mentioned above)

FWIW, our area is scheduled to be ready Aug-Oct this year

Even with the fibre on their poles, there are still no Distribution points, so I assume that's the next phase prior to being able to pre-order.

In short, sit tight! Assume the worst and hope for the best in terms of time-frame.

Steve F

heavydawson wrote: »

There's no guarantee of any timeline based on actual work done I'm afraid. That ducting is used where they need to the fibre underground (if passing under ESB cables, etc.). We had it done a few months back. There have been 3 separate pieces of work done since then:
1. Repairing broken ducting on my road (5-6 weeks ago)
2. Re-surfacing the section of the road that was broken for the duct repair (2 weeks ago)
3. Replacement of bad/damaged poles (just last week)

My parents in law who live about 5km away as the crow flies had fibre strung up on the poles down their Boreen 2 weeks ago (they were running ~ 1 month ahead of us for the other work items I mentioned above)

FWIW, our area is scheduled to be ready Aug-Oct this year

Even with the fibre on their poles, there are still no Distribution points, so I assume that's the next phase prior to being able to pre-order.

In short, sit tight! Assume the worst and hope for the best in terms of time-frame.

Thanks
I was hoping when I saw that on the pole I was close to getting it
A few weeks ago there was a crowd of fellas from Scotland,yes Scotland stringing cable down another road to meet our underground cable.
I asked one of them if he knew any time frames and he said usually when we do work like this its a couple of months away....maybe thats their standard answer they give everyone :rolleyes:

heavydawson

Steve F wrote: »

Thanks
I was hoping when I saw that on the pole I was close to getting it
A few weeks ago there was a crowd of fellas from Scotland,yes Scotland stringing cable down another road to meet our underground cable.
I asked one of them if he knew any time frames and he said usually when we do work like this its a couple of months away....maybe thats their standard answer they give everyone :rolleyes:

For what its worth, the best indicator outside of the timeframe on the NBI website seems to be punching your eircode in on nbi.ie once a day. That's the fastest way (that I've seen) to determine when pre-orders are open for your address. As we get closer to August, that's my plan.

From the NBI docs:

Pre-order period dates from ~90 (ninety) days prior to the Ready for Service (RFS) date to 14
(fourteen) days prior to the RFS date only. From 14 days prior to the RFS date, the pre-order
window will close, and pre-orders will no longer be available for selection.

Using the current estimate of Aug->Oct this year:
In the best case scenario, you'll be available to pre-order from May 3rd (based on August 1st RFS - 90 days).
In the worst-case pre-order will be available from August 2nd (based on 31st October RFS - 90 days)

, all assuming the estimates don't slip (and they already have for certain deployment areas)

mun1

Pre ordered with digi web today . Not expecting service until late july/august .
In county limerick .
Survey was done 12 months ago, make ready works (trees, poles, ducting ) was done from January to march .
Still no cables up outside house, but thats the easy bit.

Got an email today titled “we have an update for your area” (near Templeboy in Sligo) Cue excitement

Followed by rapid disappointment when the email says surveying is yet to commence and we will update you in due course

Why update me with that???!!! 😠

heavydawson

mun1 wrote: »

Pre ordered with digi web today . Not expecting service until late july/august .
In county limerick .
Survey was done 12 months ago, make ready works (trees, poles, ducting ) was done from January to march .
Still no cables up outside house, but thats the easy bit.

Where do you do the pre-order? Did you see an option to pre-order on nbi.ie when you punch in your eircode?

mun1

heavydawson wrote: »

Where do you do the pre-order? Did you see an option to pre-order on nbi.ie when you punch in your eircode?

Ye, once you enter Eircode it tells you its at pre order and you can click button to see retailers

EarWig

TV spectrum technology could provide alternative for rural broadband.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/tv-spectrum-technology-could-provide-alternative-for-rural-broadband-1.4569335?mode=amp

micksey1969

Got an email from NBI today saying your house is in the intervention area and Surveying has yet to commence in your area. Surveying is required in order to produce a detailed network design so we can bring the NBI™ network to your premises. WE WERE SURVEYED last August. The first house in my estate is down for October-December connection, im the 6th house in?

heavydawson

EarWig wrote: »

TV spectrum technology could provide alternative for rural broadband.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/tv-spectrum-technology-could-provide-alternative-for-rural-broadband-1.4569335?mode=amp

It's definitely not an alternative.
From Microsofts own white-paper:
https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE4oBXg

What range and throughput performance should we expect with TVWS?

As with any wireless technology, the answer to this question will vary significantly based a variety of conditions, including whether the link is line-of-sight or non-line-of-sight, the presence and intensity of interference from other co-channel or adjacent channel transmitters, and other factors. The throughput is a factor of RF parameters, the number of TVWS channels used and geographic conditions. Different TV white space radio models deliver different performance, so it’s always a good idea to test different radios prior to determining which to deploy. Current (4 x 6 MHz channels) TVWS radios can deliver a throughput of up to 186 Mbps (8 MHz TV channels in Europe, Africa, and Asia also allow channel bonding up to 24MHz) and we are seeing typical range of a TVWS base station radio at about 7 miles (less or more distance depending on signal quality and other factors). TVWS signals can travel great distances under good radio conditions and we have closed links out to almost 25 miles in maritime applications. Like all radio signals, the farther they go the weaker they get, and the throughput decreases.

Main site:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/airband

heavydawson

mun1 wrote: »

Ye, once you enter Eircode it tells you its at pre order and you can click button to see retailers

Curious to know, had you signed up for email updates prior to this? And if so, did you get an email telling you that you could pre-order?