National Broadband Ireland : implementation and progress

joe123

For people that are on FTTC and getting speeds of 30Mb+ are they at the mercy of Open Eir whether they decide to upgrade these cabinets in future?

While 30Mb is solid, will they ever get the chance of FTTH type speeds?

theguzman

joe123 wrote: »

For people that are on FTTC and getting speeds of 30Mb+ are they at the mercy of Open Eir whether they decide to upgrade these cabinets in future?

While 30Mb is solid, will they ever get the chance of FTTH type speeds?

Eir have recently changed focus from rural back to Urban and with the encroachment of Siro and Virgin Media Eir will be forced into upgrading the last mile to fibre, those Huawei cabinets are fibre ready. "eFibre" vDSL started back in 2013 by Eir with the cabinet rollout, there was talks of vectoring to increase that 100mb to 200mb which those Huawei cabinets were capable of but it never seemed to materialise.

dam099

theguzman wrote: »

Eir have recently changed focus from rural back to Urban and with the encroachment of Siro and Virgin Media Eir will be forced into upgrading the last mile to fibre, those Huawei cabinets are fibre ready. "eFibre" vDSL started back in 2013 by Eir with the cabinet rollout, there was talks of vectoring to increase that 100mb to 200mb which those Huawei cabinets were capable of but it never seemed to materialise.

I think they are vectored already, that pushed it from 70 or 80 to 100.

I had read here that 200 would also require bonded pairs which they are probably never going to do at this stage, better off just running fibre all the way into the premises than doing another copper pair.

Supervectoring can supposedly push the existing copper to 300 at short distances but not sure if thats new equipment at the cabinet.

theguzman

dam099 wrote: »

I think they are vectored already, that pushed it from 70 or 80 to 100.

I had read here that 200 would also require bonded pairs which they are probably never going to do at this stage, better off just running fibre all the way into the premises than doing another copper pair.

Supervectoring can supposedly push the existing copper to 300 at short distances but not sure if thats new equipment at the cabinet.

I know of one guy getting 100mb but the cabinet is outside their front door and the run from cabinet to socket has to be 15 to 20 metres max. If there was spare pairs (always an issue) it would be a quick speed increase) for minimum investment. The majority of FTTH customers are on the cheaper 150mb plan anyway that I can see and it is only tech nerds like us here who go for the gigabit plan.

Xithus

joe123 wrote: »

For people that are on FTTC and getting speeds of 30Mb+ are they at the mercy of Open Eir whether they decide to upgrade these cabinets in future?

While 30Mb is solid, will they ever get the chance of FTTH type speeds?

I get around 28mb myself and my housing estate varies from around 11-30mb. On the NBI site bar a few of the houses we've been marked as blue or whatever and covered by the operators. I've been in touch with Eir, OpenEir & NBI trying to get the whole estate marked for an upgrade on the NBP with no joy so far. It's very annoying seeing as Eir (openeir?) stopped just short of either end of estate in their rollout. But it looks like we'll be stuck at those speeds for the foreseeable future.

joe123

Xithus wrote: »

I get around 28mb myself and my housing estate varies from around 11-30mb. On the NBI site bar a few of the houses we've been marked as blue or whatever and covered by the operators. I've been in touch with Eir, OpenEir & NBI trying to get the whole estate marked for an upgrade on the NBP with no joy so far. It's very annoying seeing as Eir (openeir?) stopped just short of either end of estate in their rollout. But it looks like we'll be stuck at those speeds for the foreseeable future.

My estate was recently moved over to FTTC. Half the houses are flagged as getting max 30Mb speeds while.the rest of us can only get 15Mb. Every house in the estate is part of the intervention plan however. I wonder could NBI cancel the rollout for some of those now. Apparently we we were already surveyed just not updated on the map yet.

The Cush

The Cush wrote: »

From the SBP today, article on the draft programme for government.

There is going to be a commitment in the programme for government to accelerate the rollout of the national broadband plan. This is in line with the recent commitment made by Richard Bruton, Minister for Communications, to deliver it to 542,000 homes within five years instead of seven.

From the finalised Programme For Government

Broadband

Ensuring access to high-quality internet connections for people across Ireland is essential to the development of all parts our country, socially and economically. Facilitating remote working and innovation opportunities is essential in addressing climate change, adapting to an evolving economy, and competing internationally.

We will:

● Seek to accelerate the roll-out of the National Broadband Plan.
● Work with local authorities to establish designated groups to help facilitate local roll-out of the infrastructure.
● Learn from initiatives like the Ludgate Centre in Skibbereen to enable greater public/private cooperation in developing digital hubs and smart working facilities.
● Continue to support the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce.
● Support the development of Broadband Connection Points across the country, as well as digital hubs that can support remote working in as many of the Broadband Connection Points as possible.
● Give the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) greater powers of enforcement, with a particular focus on improving competition, innovation and customer service within the communications sector.

joe123

NBI now surveying in Kildare. Up on their facebook. Again, they tend to name a portion of town lands, but it just leaves others in Kildare wondering that dont get their area mentioned.

"Work to transform the digital divide in Co. Kildare has stared. With over 13,000 premises to survey it’s great to see that surveyors are in the following townlands over the coming weeks:
- Kill
- Kilteel
- Rathmore
- Two Mile House
- Johnstown
- Naas
- Sallins
- Brannockstown
- Carragh

#BuildingALimitlessIreland #NationalBroadbandPlan #NBI"

Dero

joe123 wrote: »

NBI now surveying in Kildare. Up on their facebook. Again, they tend to name a portion of town lands, but it just leaves others in Kildare wondering that dont get their area mentioned.

Yep. I asked them if they'd be extending that to other parts of Kildare or moving on somewhere else first. I just got the generic "sign up for updates and keep an eye on social media" response, which suggests that our area is not scheduled any time soon anyway.

P.S. I'm delighted for those being surveyed and am not resentful in any way, but it sure would be nice to at least get a feel for the time frame.

fergus1001

Dero wrote:

Yep. I asked them if they'd be extending that to other parts of Kildare or moving on somewhere else first. I just got the generic "sign up for updates and keep an eye on social media" response, which suggests that our area is not scheduled any time soon anyway.

this is so frustrating I was delighted when I seen kildare and then deflated when I seen the town lands

has anyone an idea of how it worked in the other counties ? did they expand or just move on ?

joe123

fergus1001 wrote: »

this is so frustrating I was delighted when I seen kildare and then deflated when I seen the town lands

has anyone an idea of how it worked in the other counties ? did they expand or just move on ?

When I spoke with NBI asking the same thing for Galway, they told me that these listed townlands arent the extensive list so there is more surveyed than what they say. My own area in Galway was not mentioned but when chatting to them, they said my area was part of the survey.

Disappointingly a friend of mine spoke with them this week who lives in the same area as me and was told a different story that the area wasnt surveyed. He also asked do teams remain in each county or how does it work. They told him no once the mentioned areas within a county have been surveyed, they move their team to new regions and will come back at a later date.

Its all incredibly vague.

Dero

joe123 wrote: »

They told him no once the mentioned areas within a county have been surveyed, they move their team to new regions and will come back at a later date.

This is how I assume it will work. It makes sense for NBI as they can keep announcing new counties being surveyed, but it is frustrating all the same.

Having said that, I have to keep reminding myself what I'm being disappointed about here. For the longest time, even the thought of FTTH was a pipe dream. Now that I know it's happening, I'm disappointed that it's not instant.

joe123

Dero wrote: »

This is how I assume it will work. It makes sense for NBI as they can keep announcing new counties being surveyed, but it is frustrating all the same.

Having said that, I have to keep reminding myself what I'm being disappointed about here. For the longest time, even the thought of FTTH was a pipe dream. Now that I know it's happening, I'm disappointed that it's not instant.

Yeah but for those in counties surveyed but their own area not listed, they are completely in the dark. Does it mean surveying has to start in every county before they come back? I've said it before but if a town land was just listed as 2025, at least they know it's not happening any time soon. Or at least list in full the areas surveyed within a county.

Anyways I've mentioned enough my dislike at the vagueness of it all so il stop haha I'm impatient and the God awful broadband is wrecking my head these days with working from home.

Dero

joe123 wrote: »

Yeah but for those in counties surveyed but their own area not listed, they are completely in the dark. Does it mean surveying has to start in every county before they come back? I've said it before but if a town land was just listed as 2025, at least they know it's not happening any time soon. Or at least list in full the areas surveyed within a county.

Anyways I've mentioned enough my dislike at the vagueness of it all so il stop haha I'm impatient and the God awful broadband is wrecking my head these days with working from home.

Oh I agree entirely, and that's exactly the position I'm in.

However, taking a step back and realising that we're frustrated about when and not if is a huge thing. It's not too long ago that it was touch and go whether it would happen at all.

ussjtrunks

Will Starlink we a good stopgap, do we know anything of how reliable it’ll be yet?

wexfordman2

ussjtrunks wrote: »

Will Starlink we a good stopgap, do we know anything of how reliable it’ll be yet?

No and no.

theguzman

ussjtrunks wrote: »

Will Starlink we a good stopgap, do we know anything of how reliable it’ll be yet?

If the hype and technology deliver what it says on the tin it could be a far superior service to 3G and 4G services. Wisp's also are fairly bad and starlink if it delivers what it claims would be 3rd on my list of suitable internet delivery methods.

FTTH (Fibre to the Home - NBI are building this now.)
Copper vDSL "eFibre" Docsis Cable for Virgin Media
Starlink LEO Satellite
WISPS are inevitably over subscribed and 3G and 4G also.

Starlink will be nothing like previous sat broadband, however it might be quiet costly with $80 - $100 per month projected in America, we are incredibly lucky in Ireland and Europe in general by our lower cost communications compared to the USA.

If Starlink does what it says on the tin I'd be choosing it anyday instead of Imagine or your local snakeoil wisp. It is designed for places like Artic Canada and rural Wyoming not Ireland which has a high enough population density to warrant FTTH and rightly so and with our Govt vision it is now starting despite the best efforts of snake oil wireless charlatans.

ECO_Mental

Just off the phone with a contractor who has won one of the packages to install the fibre for the NBI and he says they are mobilising as they speak and is looking to be climbing up poles installing fibre this August.

Its all go on his end getting vans ready, training people etc etc. His company has limerick to do so having first installs done by the end of this year I think is realistic. Excellent stuff

numorouno

ECO_Mental wrote: »

Just off the phone with a contractor who has won one of the packages to install the fibre for the NBI and he says they are mobilising as they speak and is looking to be climbing up poles installing fibre this August.

Its all go on his end getting vans ready, training people etc etc. His company has limerick to do so having first installs done by the end of this year I think is realistic. Excellent stuff

Is threre a different contractor for each county?

Jofspring

ECO_Mental wrote: »

Just off the phone with a contractor who has won one of the packages to install the fibre for the NBI and he says they are mobilising as they speak and is looking to be climbing up poles installing fibre this August.

Its all go on his end getting vans ready, training people etc etc. His company has limerick to do so having first installs done by the end of this year I think is realistic. Excellent stuff

Any chance of a pm of the company? Be interested to know where they are starting or have some kind of greenlighting to begin working on.

is_that_so

Latest report on our digital transformation, still a way to go as those connectivity issues remain.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/state-makes-significant-progress-on-digital-transformation-1.4276586

ACitizenErased

ECO_Mental wrote: »

Just off the phone with a contractor who has won one of the packages to install the fibre for the NBI and he says they are mobilising as they speak and is looking to be climbing up poles installing fibre this August.

Its all go on his end getting vans ready, training people etc etc. His company has limerick to do so having first installs done by the end of this year I think is realistic. Excellent stuff

Carrigaline townlands in Cork is supposed to be first no? Maybe that's before August?

ECO_Mental

numorouno wrote: »

Is threre a different contractor for each county?

I don't know if it's per county but he did say cork was another contractor.(as I'm from cork so I asked) ..you see them a lot doing fibre installs for other people at the moment. The big player I don't can I mention ah why not!!!!! it's KN Networks doing cork

I presume they may have bunched maybe the smaller counties into other groups and the bigger counties are individual packets. I didn't get into that detail, but they are full steam ahead. He did it was a long road 2013 he started this whole process

andrewbrowne

According to the rollout map fibre broaband (no overhead line option) should be available at my address in 6 weeks. Thats was 10 or 12 weeks ago and it still saying the same.

My home is one of 10 or 12 new houses on an existing development with the existing houses already with access to the fibre.

KN networks mechanic told us we are just waiting for it to be activated. They done call outs on pretty much the same thing for all the new residents. It's what they get paid to do so they don't care if they have to tell us all the same thing.

Anyway the lines/underground cables, cabinets, boxes and access points in the home are there so it's infrastructurally sound in the regard.

Obviously covid will have held things up but what is the waiting game about in layman's terms

The Cush

andrewbrowne wrote: »

According to the rollout map fibre broaband (no overhead line option) should be available at my address in 6 weeks. Thats was 10 or 12 weeks ago and it still saying the same.

My home is one of 10 or 12 new houses on an existing development with the existing houses already with access to the fibre.

KN networks mechanic told us we are just waiting for it to be activated. They done call outs on pretty much the same thing for all the new residents. It's what they get paid to do so they don't care if they have to tell us all the same thing.

Anyway the lines/underground cables, cabinets, boxes and access points in the home are there so it's infrastructurally sound in the regard.

Obviously covid will have held things up but what is the waiting game about in layman's terms

I assume this is open-eir's urban FTTH rollout and not NBI's national broadband plan?

Thread on the urban rollout here - https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057946234&page=16

andrewbrowne

No problem. I will repost it in the other thread. Thank you. It's fibre optic anyway

The Cush

heavydawson wrote: »

I don't think this was previously mentioned in this thread but there have been some rumblings about the wholesale prices it appears will be offered by NBI:

https://twitter.com/shortword/status/1261324938247536640

This was the text from NBI's original Bitstream and VUA Reference Offer v1.1.2 from last April, page 44

(p) Usage will be measured using 95th percentile measuring as described in Schedule 3. A fixed charge for Wholesale Bitstream will be applied to connections where the average usage for a Service Provider is below the threshold as defined in the Wholesale Bitstream/VUA price list. Where average per user usage is above the threshold a small incremental fee will be applied per user.

The latest version, v1.1.3, has removed some text

(p) Usage will be measured using 95th percentile measuring as described in Schedule 3. A fixed charge for Wholesale Bitstream will be applied to connections where the average usage for a Service Provider is below the threshold as defined in the Wholesale Bitstream/VUA price list. Where average per user usage is above the threshold a small incremental fee will be applied per user.

now simply says

(p) Usage will be measured using 95th percentile measuring as described in Schedule 3.

The €30 - €45 monthly Wholesale Bitstream per user usage aggregate price cap remains, page 56.
Can anyone speculate on the removal of that text?

The Cush

Article in the SBP today on the withdrawal of 78 schools as BCPs by the catholic church over fears it could be sued. They will still be provided with broadband for their own use but not available to the community.

With regard to the concerns of the Catholic Church, which Ring did not name in his response, the minister said the Church had determined that no scholl under its patronage would be permitted to act as a BCP host location in the absence of a state indemnity.

"This effectively removed 78 schools from offering a public internet service at these locations," he said

Also a further 46 host sites have been removed or withdrawn from the scheme. That means a total of 124 sites or 40% have been withdrawn from the original plan. In most cases according to the Dept the removed sites were where the owners decided they no longer wished to participate.

35 replacement sites have been identified.

No BCPs are operational yet but the first sites should be up and running within the next 4-6 weeks, most sites should be completed by the end of 2020 with the final sites completed by early 2021.

Pique

Sued for what?

Also, I thought contracts would have been signed with the owners having a legal obligation? Not that I think their removal makes much difference as they seem to be surplus to requirements anyway, but it's strange.

Orebro

It's pretty clear - they want state indemnity in case someone falls over their laptop cables and injures themselves, and get sued in the process. Totally understandable imho.