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Brumfondl

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#142610 18-Mar-2014 17:33
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So UFB was meant to be installed at my place 3 weeks ago (24th Feb was the date given by Chorus). A week previous to that a gentleman wearing a Downer logo on his chest came around to check things out for the install. He surmised that the easiest thing to do was go across to the powerpole and then run from there to the house and then round to where the ONT would be installed, basically following the path that all the other wires to the house are taking (phone, cable, etc). He left, seeming happy with his measurements and that the install would take place as scheduled on the 24th.

Come the 24th, I take the day off from school (re-skilling due to job loss, blah blah blah) as recommended by the Downer wearing gentleman as he said the installs are generally an all-day thing (though Slingshot had told me it was booked for the afternoon).

Large amounts of nothing happened all morning. 'no worries', says I, as it was booked for an afternoon install.

Large amounts of nothing continued to happen. I am starting to wonder if they had knocked on the door and I had missed it or something similarly horrible. Come 3:30pm I ring Slingshot to see what the deal is. They have no idea as everything seems hunky dory from their end and the install is booked in, etc. They say they will put through a query to Chorus but will probably not find out anything that day.

Sure enough, the next day they let me know that Chorus put the install on hold, without actually telling any of the interested parties, because the install involves the use of a "Wellington Power Pole", and apparently they have to investigate what tyoe of connections need to be used and that all Wellington Power jobs are being assessed on a case by case basis.

So, 3 weeks later and all I have so far is a Hold install date of 6/3/2020 at midnight. From what I can tell, to use the powerpole they are going to have to dig up the footpatch to get from the little green box thing out front to the pole, whereas it is just dirt from the box to my house, but that is just speculation on my part.

It would have been really nice (and possibly saved me taking time off) if Chorus had actually let me or Slingshot know that the install was on hold instead of just not doing it and waiting till someone contacted to find out what was going on before they said anything (which they didn't actually do till about 19 hrs after they were asked).

If Chorus are often so reticent about telling people what is happening then I am unsurprised  the uptake of UFB is a tad slow since people like me will be spreading tales of woe and thereby making others weary about going through the exercise, not that there are many places round where I am in Wellington that you can get UFB, which leads me to ask if anyone knows why a large chunk of the city which was lated for UFB by April this year is not put of to a period from mid 2025 to mid 2016?

Thanks to anyone who actually bothers to read this through to the end smile

Brumfondl





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Sideface
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  #1008313 18-Mar-2014 18:51
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You are a lucky man and I envy you - I also live in Wellington and will probably have to wait until 2019 for UFB.
Just remember - you are a lucky man, and you have only waited 3 weeks.




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bonkas
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  #1008384 18-Mar-2014 20:34
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Yes I beleive there a few threads on here about overhead pole UFB installations adding a delay because of consent processes etc.

4 Months and still waiting here.

Will just have to be patient and keep phoning asking for an update.





sbiddle
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  #1008451 18-Mar-2014 21:33
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Access problems have been an issue in Wellington where WE own poles that Chorus want to access. This even made the media around Xmas time as there had been something like 70+ customers who had been waiting for up to a year for both copper and UFB connections where the use of a WE pole was required.

Looks like the issues aren't yet fully sorted.



chevrolux
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  #1008933 19-Mar-2014 12:51
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I will never miss an opportunity to say it....

Why on earth bother with the dam poles if it is such a nightmare to co-locate on them?! This brand new network should have been put in the ground like any other decent comms network. Wellington is ugly enough with HFC rubbish running everywhere already and they want to add yet another service to the poles?!

Zeon
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  #1008968 19-Mar-2014 13:46
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Install a new pole next to other pole?




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sbiddle
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  #1008975 19-Mar-2014 13:55
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chevrolux: I will never miss an opportunity to say it....

Why on earth bother with the dam poles if it is such a nightmare to co-locate on them?! This brand new network should have been put in the ground like any other decent comms network. Wellington is ugly enough with HFC rubbish running everywhere already and they want to add yet another service to the poles?!


Probably 99% of the network that has been deployed in Wellington so far is underground. Service delivery to a home is another story entirely, with the vast majority of homes receiving their power and phone via overhead leadin.

Where existing services are delivered via underground leadin UFB is deployed this way. Where it's deployed overhead UFB typically uses this.




Cbfd
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  #1009063 19-Mar-2014 15:40
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Some places its cheaper to put on power poles due to cost and so forth - drilling isnt cheap your looking at $28-40 per meter they drill for laying the duct so costs goes up very quickly

 
 
 

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jacwlg
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  #1009103 19-Mar-2014 16:27
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I had a very similar experience with telecom and chorus, in my case, it wasn't the power pole but getting the phone number from previous supplier and the consents on shared driveway.
I don't complain about the process because they have to follow what they have to follow, but it's the lack of communication and the inconvenience of having to take a day off work (or school in your case) just to have no one showing up, happened to me twice while the bookings were confirmed and reconfirmed.

In the end, I'd had 3 bookings with telecom/chorus over 2 months period to get it installed.

BTW, when the tech folks finally turned up, they were quite professional and easy to deal with, so no complaint about that either.

sbiddle
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  #1009112 19-Mar-2014 16:35
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Cbfd: Some places its cheaper to put on power poles due to cost and so forth - drilling isnt cheap your looking at $28-40 per meter they drill for laying the duct so costs goes up very quickly


There was a lot of undergrounding of power and copper services in the Wgtn area a few years ago, however in many of these areas poles were still kept for the leadin as it's a very expensive process to move services to underground for every home.



sheldonlendrum
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  #1010127 20-Mar-2014 20:37
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3 weeks ? Not too bad.
My install was done in 3 days. BUT my mother in laws - It was available on the 1st of october, The Chorus guys turned up on the 16th as agreed and installed the inside units. done in < 2 hours.
They told us the outside crew will be round in a few days and we will get a call before.

Weeks go by nothing.
I contact the MIL's ISP and they pass my messages on to UltraFast ( Tauranga area ).
Nothing, I ring and ring and nothing.
On the 7th of January I get an email saying we need to sign a right of way request - she is not on a ROW.
After 2 weeks of emailing, I get a new form for one neighbour to sign because the plinth id beside his driveway.
He signed it, I post it back the next day.

No reply until I contact the ISP and get a call the next day apologising ( not his fault ) and he has confirmed they will be here on the morning of the 20th of March.

Guess what, I call that ISP rep on the 18th to confirm. We are all go as far as the ISP is aware.
Come 6:47pm on the 19th my MOL gets the call from UFF saying is has been postponed, no reason, no date.

6 months have gone past .... getting ... annoyed !

Rant over :)

linw
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  #1010388 21-Mar-2014 08:22
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Pretty good reason for the rant, I would say. It's not a good look when they're supposed to be encouraging people onto UFB.

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