Milton Keynes Broadband Action Group

Interested in lobbying BT for Broadband access? Contact us!

Questions for BT

Reactions are posted here.

The Questions and Answers 10.5.04 – 14.5.04

ISDN customers and the trial (1)
ISDN customers and the trial (2)
What is an acceptable level of service?

The Questions and Answers 21.5.04

New broadband availability checker results for MK - what's going on?

ISDN customers and the trial

A member writes:
"BT has refused to allow NDO to accept my order for the ADSL trial because I have HomeHighway. According to NDO, BT said I could participate in the trial if:

1) I contact BT to have my HomeHighway installation converted to analogue. I pay for this, and there is no return without paying installation again.

2) after conversion, I apply for the trial.

3) however, because the conversion will take weeks, there will be no space left in the trial (probably) leading to

4) I will have paid significant sums of money to be stuck with *nothing*. No HomeHighway, no ADSL.

BT will *not* allow NDO to enter a conversion order (as can normally occur). BT will *not* allow NDO to reserve a 'trial slot'. As far as I am concerned, BT can jump off a high cliff.

NDO's advice is the obvious one - wait until the trial is over, then place the order. It will be a 'normal' order at that point, assuming a successful trial."

We appreciate your frustration. However, the purpose of the trial is to determine how far we can provide reliable broadband service in conjunction with the effect the customer’s internal wiring has on the service.

In the UK we operate with three wires. Two are used to carry the voice and the third is used to operate the ringing tone on incoming calls. We know the configuration with the bell wire can cause imbalance across the other two wires, which can affect broadband. Determining the scale of this effect will be one of the trial’s outcomes. (See below)

The other important purpose of the trial is to understand the impact the customer’s internal wiring has on broadband e.g. the customer’s other telephone extensions and other electrical equipment. This could be the TV, central heating system, radios, stereos etc.

ISDN conversions during the trial are a complex matter. Firstly, BT does not supply all of the ISDNs and therefore we cannot insist that other suppliers carry out conversion work for free. Secondly, we can't guarantee that ISDN customers will be able to keep their numbers in the event that broadband service can’t be provided and they return to ISDN. This is particularly disruptive for businesses.

Finally, we are currently looking at the possibility of including ISDN and HomeHighway customers should non-ISDN customer take up be less than required.
ISDN customers and the trial

A member suggests:

I wonder if some sort of compromise could we worked out with BT for those members who have Home Highway/ISDN.

The proposal could take two forms, both involve 'reserving' space on the Long Reach trial, and as we are talking about a small number, but members with a real need for BB, it would be of value for future rollouts across the country.

Proposal A:-
BT reserve 44 slots for our members, at some point into the trial when BT have some real stats for the MK environment they selectively invite our members to convert to BB, but with free conversion back to ISDN if BB fails.

Proposal B:-
BT reserve 44 slots until the end of the trial, AND if the trial is a success our members get priority connection, but with free conversion back to ISDN if BB still fails.

In both cases members pay for the removal from ISDN, termination of contract, so BT gets some income. BT's risk of free conversion back is minimized, as they have the trial data.

BT: Thank you for your considered proposition. Please refer to our answer to question 1.
What is an acceptable level of service?

At the end of the trial who decides or what determines what comprises "an acceptable level of service"? If, for example, the speed turns out to be not nearly as fast as normal broadband but the connection technically functions, will consumers be able to opt out of continuing their subscription?

What is the cut-off point for an acceptable level of service and who decides that - consumer or ISP?

BT: An acceptable level of service is defined by the broadband product’s description. Please check this with your service provider. It’s also defined by the customer’s satisfaction i.e. if the service runs acceptably, customers do not log faults.
New broadband availability checker results for MK - what's going on?

The BT availability checker has changed its messages for many MK Action Group members. Until recently many members received a message telling them they were too far away from the exchange and now they're getting a "Good News, you 'should' be able to get broadband" message. What's going on? Are they eligible to get broadband via the trial or not?

BT: The broadband availability number checker is a live database, constantly being updated to reflect changes to the network and line data. Network upgrades, fault fixing, and data upgrading and correction are all activities which can affect whether a customer's number checker result says yes, maybe or no to broadband.

A great deal of work is going on in the background for this trial, and the number checker is beginning to reflect that.

If you're now receiving a "Good news! ...our initial test indicates that it should be possible to provide ADSL broadband on this telephone line" this means "yes" you should be able to get broadband subject to the normal line tests, so order broadband through the normal channels - not through the trial. Once you've placed your order, further line tests are carried out, and if these indicate that broadband can not be served on your line, this is noted and you're eligible to join the trial.

Another response you might receive from the number checker is: Good news! ...our initial test indicates that it may be possible to provide ADSL broadband on this telephone line." This answer is a "may be", so place an order as normal if you want broadband. If your line fails the subsequent tests and you're told that it's unable to support broadband, then join the trial.

A third response you might receive from the number checker is "... the length of the telephone line between you and the exchange is too long for ADSL broadband...." This answer is a definite "No", so join the trial if you want broadband.

A rewrite

BT wrote above:

In the UK we operate with three wires. Two are used to carry the voice and the third is used to operate the ringing tone on incoming calls. We know the configuration with the bell wire can cause imbalance across the other two wires, which can affect broadband. Determining the scale of this effect will be one of the trial’s outcomes.

I stumbled across an alter-ego that designed a modem a few years ago. He re-writes BT's paragraph:

Three wires are used in telephone extension wiring in the UK.

You have miles of lovely symmetrically balanced twisted pair copper running between your house and the exchange. This balance means that any interfering signal picked up on one wire is cancelled out by a similar signal picked up on the other wire.

This symmetry gets lost as soon as any telephone extension wiring gets involved. In extension wiring a third wire is added for the bell circuit. The bell wire is "unbalanced" which affects the broadband signal. This may cause a problem to the broadband signal on long lines.

By adding a Master Socket with a Broadband filter, the effect of the bell wire on the broadband signal is removed.

One of the aims of the trial is to analyse the significance of this imbalance.

Links

Milton Keynes Broadband Home
Activities
BT Trial