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Reactions and Comments
Here are the reactions and comments from members to BT's Broadband Trial
announcement:
19/04/04
Great news!
Richard, Great Linford |
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I'm moving to the new Oakhill development and no broadband! I saw the
trial on the BT Intranet Site, and am keen to get involved.
Regards,
Anthony, Oakhill |
Hooray!!! Maybe I will finally get Broadband on my inexplicably long 7.8 km
line in the middle of Loughton!
Thanks for the update. Lets hope I can get on the trial!
Regards
Mike, Loughton |
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Is this press release in the public domain yet as I can't find it at BT's
site, also can we speculate on who the ISPs are likely to be? [I was
cleared to "roll" at 11:00. Give BT a few more minutes to
put up their page. I have no idea yet as to the ISPs involved.]
Regards
Bob, Loughton |
Congratulations on the successful action!!
Indeed, my telephone number query about the broadband availability said
"good news", I ordered broadband, the BT engineer said it looked like a
borderline case, and eventually the BT wholesale said no (a couple of weeks
ago).
My hopes are now raised!
Regards,
Dmitri, Willen |
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I'll call BBC 3CR and get
on the breakfast show tomorrow. Listen tomorrow morning at 7.15. [I'll
set up Anubis for
that ungodly hour.]
John Baker (Milton Keynes Broadband Action Group Press Secretary) |
One query I would raise about the BT trials would be the question of cost.
Do you know if they are offering a money back option if the connection
proves to be unreliable or does not meet a certain level of performance?
Many thanks
John, Loughton |
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Congratulations! Very very well done! I'll ask Cllr Sam Crooks to press
the Council to explore P-P funding options with BT.
Jenni, Monkston |
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I've often read your site with interest, and would like to offer any
assistance that uk-bug.net can do to
further push broadband availability within MK. Andy M Jenkins, Oldbrook |
Good news indeed! They had to do something soon!
Duncan, Wavendon Gate |
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I live in Wolverton and can't get broadband. Is the BT trial open to me as
well or are they not interested in Wolverton? [The trial involves all
01908 numbers, so that includes Wolverton. I'd put your problem down to an
admin one. The town of Wolverton is well served with Broadband: we don't
have any members living there.]
Cheers
Tony, Wolverton |
I have just read your comments on the new BT trial for further extended
reach.
I live in Stokesley (North Yorks) and am keen to get ADSL but am currently
too far from the exchange (about 7km).I know it's only Milton Keynes at
the moment, but any idea if it's successful when it might be rolled out to
the rest of the country?
[Yes. Milton Keynes is the target for the trial that ends in late
summer. Assuming the trial is a success, I guess BT will be rolling it out
across the UK.]
Thanks
Dean Stokesley, North Yorkshire |
Excellent news!
A bit like buses though, 18 months without BB and two methods suddenly both
become available.
Does anyone have any advice on what to do now if your phone line is between
6 and 10km (actually assuming it's less than 10) and you can clearly see the
Bow Brickhill tower out of your bedroom window?
Ending up with 2 connections perhaps though that strikes me as a bit greedy.
[They are both trials - so could be "pulled" at any time. I'd volunteer for
both BT's and
NTL's.]
Peter, Browns Wood |
I saw the press release this morning about the trial above 60dB and did a
bit of research.
The release on your website states "10km line length and beyond", however
I've spoken to an ISP who say they're being told 7km is the figure. Have you
heard anything about this?[Try Francis King, Press officer, BT
Wholesale.]
I've put up a
news article on my site with a few of my other findings.
Cheers,
Sam,
http://www.samknows.com/broadband/ |
This latest announcement appears to be good news, but if I read correctly
will not help me.
My line checks O.K. until the 'additional tests' are carried out and I get a
rejection. Last time, with BT they even sent me a Modem, but this had to be
returned after the additional tests.
Now we have lost our SPOC, where do we go? I will obviously not qualify for
the trial.
Your thoughts please.Regards
Clive, Middleton
[Middleton will be fine. BT are changing the rules they use to allow
broadband over long telephone lines.
If the existing lines to your house don't work, they have alternative
solutions.
The most obvious solution being to use the
cable that was run in in December.] |
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Well done Nick! This sounds hopeful. Let's keep 1035 sets of fingers crossed
for the next few weeks. Janet, Bolbeck Park |
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Has your web server melted yet? [It's getting a bit warm!]
Nick, Stony Stratford |
I currently live outside the range of Broadband service in a BB enable area.
My area code is 01256, is there any way of being included in this long range
BB trial that is going to run in Milton Keynes.
I know I live a long away from the trial area, but I really do want to get
Broadband. Maybe having to wait until the autumn before getting connected is
frustrating, not being able to get Broadband is very frustrating in general.
[We know a bit about
frustration in Milton Keynes!]
Regards
Jesper, Basingstoke
[I don't know when Basingstoke (01256) will benefit. Milton Keynes is
the target for the trial that ends in late summer. Assuming the trial is a
success, I guess BT will be rolling it out across the UK.] |
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From your email it looks like 35 people will be disappointed i.e. 1000
trialists and 1035 people on your list. [Members had better keep me
supplied with free beer. All slackers are noted!]
Duncan, Wavendon Gate |
Hello Nick,
I've just come across your site and thought you might be interested to know
that I have a working 512k service from freedom2surf in Great Linford MK14
5DX, since Jan 2001. I had no idea that there was such a problem in MK.
[A case of one neighbour can get it, while the
next cannot!]
good luck
David, Great Linford |
I was interested in the second half of this from BT's statement.
"The trial will begin in Milton Keynes initially, though will also include
areas to test broadband service performance on lines of up to 10km line
length and beyond."
Seems to indicate it's a wider area than just MK?[The 01908 code area
covers several outlaying villages and towns, as well as the new city of
Milton Keynes. 10 telephone exchanges serve the 01908 numbers.]
Anyways, keep up the good work!
Dean, Stokesley, North Yorkshire |
Fantastic news, I look forward to seeing the list of ISP's.
Would be very interested in trialling.
Well done.
Ian, Far Bletchley |
I am interested in taking part in this trial. I use the Internet for
business, and it is just too unreliable and slow. BT tell me that I'm 5.5 km
from the exchange at Shenley Church End. I've had technicians come to
measure the loss on the line on two occasions, and each time the signal was
9dB to far beyond the limit.
Best wishes,
Adrian, Nash |
Many thanks for your effort and emails over the last few months, and this
does seem like good news at last. You even get a mention in the
BBC news web
site.
Cheers
Neil, Wavendon Gate |
I wish I'd found your site years ago... maybe it wasn't there then. I'm
happy to say that I did finally get broadband after about 2 years of arguing
with BT and countless failed woosh tests. I could ramble on but, I'm sure
you've heard it all before. (200 yards too long... etc.)
Eventually reduced myself to telling porkies about crossed lines, strangely
only at night, when BT engineers don't work... so BT did the predictable and
desired thing and swapped my line at the end of the street. Passed the
whoosh test and the rest is history. I'm in Heelands, BTW. If you know of
anyone in the Heelands desperate to have some connectivity who can't, maybe
I could rent them a Wi-Fi connection until this extended-extended reach
stuff comes in
Anyway, I thought I'd drop you a line of support and thank you for putting
the group together - It would have been great comfort to know that others
were in the same boat and were uniting to do something about it.
Best Regards,
Ian, Heelands |
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Will that mean free broadband until the end of summer 2004? Gareth
[See what we learn on May 11th.
http://www.bb4mk.org/bttrial/
9. Is BT charging customers who participate in the trial?
The charges to take part would depend on the service provider involved and
should be made clear on May 11.
BT Wholesale are running the trial and will be charging service providers
the normal connection and monthly rental charges.] |
The newsgroup uk.telecom.broadband has been commenting on the MK Trial (see
thread: BT to trial extending 512K ADSL to "10 Km") where it would appear
that ISPs are being told that the distance limit is 7km.
The Broadband Resource explains below:
"After a number of people contacted me regarding the 7km figure, I contacted
the BT Wholesale press office for an answer. They confirmed that service
providers were being provided with the 7km figure, although this is expected
to be the minimum increase and is subject to the results of the trials. The
response also stated that they will not be limiting the trials to any
particular dB loss or line length - all lines will be considered."So I
guess that the 10km range will be the absolute maximum distance and
performance for some trialists over the 7km range will be unusable depending
on the line quality.
Bob, Loughton
I received the following clarification from BT:
| The 7km/10km question. The Service Provider
Q&A slipped through the update process from an earlier draft. The
trial was initially due to be to 70db line loss. It was later
decided that performance testing on higher line loss lines would
provide valuable data - hence no limit for the trial. |
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I'm sorry, but I don't understand this trial. I was told by BT that
because I live in the Newton Longville /Far Bletchley area I am too far from
the exchange to receive broadband of any kind.
How does this "Trial" changes things?
Fat Boy, Milton Keynes
[BT have a planning rule that says that Broadband cannot be installed
on long telephone lines over 6km in length.
In fact Broadband will work over longer distances. In other countries the
telephone companies allow this. Also BT realise that some Broadband
customers have been inadvertently allowed on long lines in the UK over 6km
in length: the customers are quite happy, their broadband is working fine.
For the Trial BT are going to suspend their planning rule. Anybody
with a 01908 number is welcome to participate in the trial. There will be no
artificial distance limit. Any limit will relate to the quality of the
broadband signal.] |
I have had an email from Demon (my ISP) to say that they do not intend to
participate in the Long Range Trial.
Presumably then, in order to participate we will need to sign up with a
competing ISP before we can apply to join the trial and if this is not
successful drop them again. Don't ISPs insist on an annual contract for an
ADSL connection?
I think there are some procedural questions here that will need further
clarification. Perhaps BT can be persuaded to provide free ISP facilities
for the trialists.Regards
Bob, Loughton
[Best to wait till May 11 when participating ISPs declare their
position. Terms and conditions would depend on individual ISPs.] |
I had a visit from some very nice men from NTL this morning. I had my
wireless broadband trial up and running by 2.30pm. It's rather good, isn't
it?
I am still thinking about applying for the BT trials, just for comparisons
sake. Do you know if that would be allowed?[They are both trials - so
could be "pulled" at any time. I'd register for both BT's and NTL's.]
Best regards
Ron, Loughton |
I am very impressed with your achievements with BB4MK and am sure that you
guys will achieve great things.
I am sure that BT and NTL don't realise the true value of what you have
done.
Take care!
Michael, Ely |
Congratulations it seems your hard work has paid off, we are for once being
listened to.
Thanks for your hard work. June's not that far away.Peter, Willen |
What excellent news!!
Many thanks for all your hard work for the noble cause, which must have been
the cause of this sudden progress.
I will certainly be keeping an eye out for the list of participating ISPs on
11 May and hope to be part of the trial.
Mind you, I am still hoping to be re-visited by the NTL/MKC wireless trial
team, once they get the Bow Brickhill transmitter up and running. Wouldn't
it be good, if we actually had competition for our custom?
Keep up the good work.
Peter, Middleton |
Thanks so much to all of you active members of the MK Broadband Group. Look
forward to seeing if I can participate in BTs trial.
Jane, Walnut Tree |
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