POTS in the Street, Fibre in New Apartment. Now What?

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thekiwikeith

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#171763 30-Apr-2015 12:48

My new apartment complex in Auckland will be ready for occupation within three months and despite repeated queries the developers cannot or will not tell me what level of wired service will be available when we move in.

Knowing in advance will assist me in making the best choice in moving/upgrading from my existing Orcon ADSL.

Building is "future proofed" which I've been assured means wired to the street for fiber. That's all my contact knows. Chorus maps show no fiber service to the immediate address, although Glenfield High School is 300 metres to the north and a new high density housing area 300 metres to the south and both enjoy UFB.

It's kinda hard to believe Chorus would pass up an opportunity to hook into existing fiber from the outset. There must be planning in place but no intelligent answers available from the developers as to what phone or broadband service will be available. Do they have way to temporarily connect to existing POTS (seems counterproductive) or can I expect UFB from the outset, please?

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#1294269 30-Apr-2015 12:53

Is your apartment in that new retirement village that they are building near Glenfield College? If so then you would probably only get POTS. As old people love their landlines.

Shindig

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#1294316 30-Apr-2015 14:22

Aredwood: Is your apartment in that new retirement village that they are building near Glenfield College? If so then you would probably only get POTS. As old people love their landlines.

hahahahahahah

Old people love their landlines!!!

The little things make the biggest difference.

lxsw20

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#1294317 30-Apr-2015 14:24

How else to they call Leighton Smith and have a rant?

Sideface

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#1294342 30-Apr-2015 15:19

thekiwikeith: ... Building is "future proofed" which I've been assured means wired to the street for fiber. ...

Never assume.

"Future proofed" is a nebulous advertising term, like "gourmet" or "new" or "improved" ... it means nothing, or whatever you want it to mean.

"Wired to the street for fiber" may mean fiber to the home (FTTH) or fiber to the node (FTTN).

Keep asking the developers to clarify what they will be providing.

Sideface

sbiddle

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#1294376 30-Apr-2015 16:06

Whether a building has fibre reticulated is up to the developer, not Chorus.

I'm aware of 2 brand new apartments buildings in Wellington completed within the last few months that are in fibre ready parts of town, but are copper only. No fibre has been run to the apartments, and doing this would be an incredibly expensive and messy job.

These apartments don't even RJ45s or a mini patch panel in each apartment - it's 2 x BT jacks wired in series back to a frame in the riser.

cr250bromo

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#1294395 30-Apr-2015 16:24

I've lived in a few apartments over the years and in my experience the developer generally does everything as cheaply and as basically as possible. All they want to do is sell the apartments ASAP, any problems are for the body corporate to deal with later. So as per above you should press the developer on what they have done and what their plans are.

DarthKermit

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#1294396 30-Apr-2015 16:25

sbiddle: These apartments don't even RJ45s or a mini patch panel in each apartment - it's 2 x BT jacks wired in series back to a frame in the riser.

Maybe they're being specifically marketed to old people who love their land lines?

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thekiwikeith

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#1294456 30-Apr-2015 17:36

Thanks guys. Some good thoughts here but nothing that really helps in my conversations with the middle management type I have to deal with.

As best I understand from repeat conversations wiring, inside the complex is fibre. But no connection available at the street.

Yes Chorus is responsible for the connection to the premises and indeed one service already lists individual apartments at that address when queried about UFB.

But so far, no answers from Chorus and none from developer.

I'm assuming (I know, I know .... ) that it's counterproductive for Chorus to hook up to POTS in the street when they can connect to a nearby fibre backbone, but maybe not.

Which gets me back to my original question. Is it a big deal for Chorus to link POTS to a solely fibre-wired complex?

Sideface

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#1294464 30-Apr-2015 18:03

thekiwikeith: ... I'm assuming (I know, I know .... ) that it's counterproductive for Chorus to hook up to POTS in the street when they can connect to a nearby fibre backbone, but maybe not. ...

Never assume

Since when have Chorus considered productivity?
UFB costs more to install than POTS.
Guess which option the developer will prefer?

Sideface

toejam316

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#1294493 30-Apr-2015 18:37

Sideface:
thekiwikeith: ... I'm assuming (I know, I know .... ) that it's counterproductive for Chorus to hook up to POTS in the street when they can connect to a nearby fibre backbone, but maybe not. ...

Never assume
Since when have Chorus considered productivity?
UFB costs more to install than POTS.
Guess which option the developer will prefer?

Generally, it's not Chorus' fault; Developer calls, asks for a quote, designer scopes and designs the job, developer balks, and then begrudgingly chooses the cheapest option. This has lead to some really interesting build outs in new sub-divisions, there are a couple I know of where Stage 1 is UFF/Chorus, Stage 2 is UFF only, and Stage 3 is Chorus only. Although I think the price of reticulation for fibre vs POTS has changed in the favour of fibre, it may not be cheaper but I wouldn't imagine it would be significantly more expensive any more.

Anything I say is the ramblings of an ill informed, opinionated so-and-so, and not representative of any of my past, present or future employers, and is also probably best disregarded.

Jase2985

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#1294502 30-Apr-2015 18:56

IMO they shouldnt be putting copper into any new subdivision.

thekiwikeith

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#1294531 30-Apr-2015 20:13

Thanks TJ316. Still no answers to my question but the conversation here has helped me in framing further questions to the developer.

As I understand the UFB rollout there will be available fiber outside our front door around the end of the year or in 2016. So the issue will come to a head pretty quickly.

Pre-purchase inspection next month and that should bring answers.

sbiddle

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#1294542 30-Apr-2015 20:35

Sideface:
UFB costs more to install than POTS.
Guess which option the developer will prefer?

Why do you think UFB costs more?

Running copper inside a building carries significant cost. Getting Chorus or the LFC onboard in the early stages insures the building is ducted with contributions from both parties. Depending on the size of the building this cost for fibre could be well less than what it will cost to reticulate copper around the building, and will typically be significantly less work.

thekiwikeith

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#1294679 1-May-2015 00:01

sbiddle:
Sideface:
UFB costs more to install than POTS.
Guess which option the developer will prefer?

Why do you think UFB costs more?

Running copper inside a building carries significant cost. Getting Chorus or the LFC onboard in the early stages insures the building is ducted with contributions from both parties. Depending on the size of the building this cost for fibre could be well less than what it will cost to reticulate copper around the building, and will typically be significantly less work.

Now we're getting somewhere. Thanks, sbiddle. You've confirmed my thoughts. So if no copper in the building, which I've been led to believe, why is developer so soy about announcing type of service?

And still, my original question. If UFB not initially in the street then what's involved in hooking interior fibre to POTS in the street?

Jase2985

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#1294694 1-May-2015 05:36

fibre and POTS are 2 completely separate systems

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