UFB installation - a Wellington story

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2078 posts

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#1226064 31-Jan-2015 22:22

Gobit: The bit that riles me and which I really can't understand is:

Downer is the sub-contractor which lays the fibre for Chorus
Downer is also the sub-contractor which does the lines work for Wellington Electricity
The geography of Wellington being what it is, there were always going to be aerial installations
Surely Chorus and Wellington Electricity could have come to some arrangement whereby when Downer lays the fibre to the base of a power pole for Chorus, Downer at the same time assesses for Wellington Electricity whether any more cables can be safely strung up on that particular pole.

Are you sure about that?

Northpower were the contractor for Wellington Electricity for our install. Downers did our Chorus work.

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Gobit

40 posts

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#1226152 1-Feb-2015 11:44

Hi Graeme

Are you sure about that?

No I'm not certain that it will be Downer which does both legs in every instance.

However, there's a pool of sub-contractors which do work for both Chorus and Wellington Electricity. Seeing they do work for both, one would expect them to be up to the play with both companies' requirements and their professional judgement to be acceptable to both companies. Which brings me back to the thought that surely it would be more efficient and cost-effective for whichever sub-contractor lays the cable for Chorus to the base of a power pole, to undertake an assessment at the same time for Wellington Electricity as to how many connections that pole can hold.

Cheers, Gobit

chevrolux

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#1226173 1-Feb-2015 14:15

k1w1k1d: Those houses are closer to the street than the distance Enable had to thrust under our drive, so why isn't fibre going underground?

Because a bunch of muppets are running the UFB project.

graemeh

2078 posts

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#1227503 2-Feb-2015 11:15

Gobit: Hi Graeme

Are you sure about that?

No I'm not certain that it will be Downer which does both legs in every instance.

However, there's a pool of sub-contractors which do work for both Chorus and Wellington Electricity. Seeing they do work for both, one would expect them to be up to the play with both companies' requirements and their professional judgement to be acceptable to both companies. Which brings me back to the thought that surely it would be more efficient and cost-effective for whichever sub-contractor lays the cable for Chorus to the base of a power pole, to undertake an assessment at the same time for Wellington Electricity as to how many connections that pole can hold.

Cheers, Gobit

I once asked a network architect at a Telco why it took a team of installers 45 minutes to work out that they couldn't blow the fibre through because the outside ducting was not connected to the inside ducting. His answer was "they are paid minimum wage".

I think that could also be the problem with expecting a sub-contractor to do work for two companies at the same time.

alexps

40 posts

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#1227723 2-Feb-2015 13:44

graemeh:
Gobit: Hi Graeme

Are you sure about that?

No I'm not certain that it will be Downer which does both legs in every instance.

However, there's a pool of sub-contractors which do work for both Chorus and Wellington Electricity. Seeing they do work for both, one would expect them to be up to the play with both companies' requirements and their professional judgement to be acceptable to both companies. Which brings me back to the thought that surely it would be more efficient and cost-effective for whichever sub-contractor lays the cable for Chorus to the base of a power pole, to undertake an assessment at the same time for Wellington Electricity as to how many connections that pole can hold.

Cheers, Gobit

I once asked a network architect at a Telco why it took a team of installers 45 minutes to work out that they couldn't blow the fibre through because the outside ducting was not connected to the inside ducting. His answer was "they are paid minimum wage".

I think that could also be the problem with expecting a sub-contractor to do work for two companies at the same time.

And there, I would cynically suggest, is the answer to 90% of the questions in all Geekzone forums.

Glassboy

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#1227744 2-Feb-2015 13:51

graemeh:
I once asked a network architect at a Telco why it took a team of installers 45 minutes to work out that they couldn't blow the fibre through because the outside ducting was not connected to the inside ducting. His answer was "they are paid minimum wage".

I think that could also be the problem with expecting a sub-contractor to do work for two companies at the same time.

Why work here for minimum wage when you could work in Australia on the NBN roll out?

sbiddle

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#1227957 2-Feb-2015 18:03

Glassboy:
graemeh:
I once asked a network architect at a Telco why it took a team of installers 45 minutes to work out that they couldn't blow the fibre through because the outside ducting was not connected to the inside ducting. His answer was "they are paid minimum wage".

I think that could also be the problem with expecting a sub-contractor to do work for two companies at the same time.

Why work here for minimum wage when you could work in Australia on the NBN roll out?

What NBN rollout?

graemeh

2078 posts

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#1227963 2-Feb-2015 18:17

sbiddle:
Glassboy:
graemeh:
I once asked a network architect at a Telco why it took a team of installers 45 minutes to work out that they couldn't blow the fibre through because the outside ducting was not connected to the inside ducting. His answer was "they are paid minimum wage".

I think that could also be the problem with expecting a sub-contractor to do work for two companies at the same time.

Why work here for minimum wage when you could work in Australia on the NBN roll out?

What NBN rollout?

I thought it had been scaled back to a Fibre to the Exchange project. :)

blakamin

4431 posts

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#1227970 2-Feb-2015 18:44

graemeh:
sbiddle:
Glassboy:
graemeh:
I once asked a network architect at a Telco why it took a team of installers 45 minutes to work out that they couldn't blow the fibre through because the outside ducting was not connected to the inside ducting. His answer was "they are paid minimum wage".

I think that could also be the problem with expecting a sub-contractor to do work for two companies at the same time.

Why work here for minimum wage when you could work in Australia on the NBN roll out?

What NBN rollout?

I thought it had been scaled back to a Fibre to the Exchange project. :)

By the time they've finished it'll just be fibre- to- the- other- side- of- the- fibre- factory project.

Glassboy

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#1230185 3-Feb-2015 08:50

sbiddle:
What NBN rollout?

There's plenty of fibre being blown around Australia, whatever the status of the NBN is. I know of a few Kiwis living over there and doing really well. They tend to be harder working than the Australian crews.

blakamin

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#1230714 3-Feb-2015 19:03

Glassboy:
sbiddle:
What NBN rollout?

There's plenty of fibre being blown around Australia, whatever the status of the NBN is. I know of a few Kiwis living over there and doing really well. They tend to be harder working than the Australian crews.

Why's that? Getting more done because they're stapling it to fences???

toejam316

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#1230761 3-Feb-2015 20:36

blakamin:
Glassboy:
sbiddle:
What NBN rollout?

There's plenty of fibre being blown around Australia, whatever the status of the NBN is. I know of a few Kiwis living over there and doing really well. They tend to be harder working than the Australian crews.

Why's that? Getting more done because they're stapling it to fences???

Probably because technicians from here still know how to use a shovel :P

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.

blakamin

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#1230774 3-Feb-2015 20:52

toejam316:
blakamin:
Glassboy:
sbiddle:
What NBN rollout?

There's plenty of fibre being blown around Australia, whatever the status of the NBN is. I know of a few Kiwis living over there and doing really well. They tend to be harder working than the Australian crews.

Why's that? Getting more done because they're stapling it to fences???

Probably because technicians from here still know how to use a shovel :P

Couldn't tell from looking at UFB installs... :D

sbiddle

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#1230778 3-Feb-2015 20:59

Glassboy:
sbiddle:
What NBN rollout?

There's plenty of fibre being blown around Australia, whatever the status of the NBN is. I know of a few Kiwis living over there and doing really well. They tend to be harder working than the Australian crews.

Yes it's mainly fibre for FTTN. By 2018ish Australia will have a broadband network that's as good as what NZ had in 2011 once cabinetisation was complete!

blakamin

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#1230794 3-Feb-2015 21:18

sbiddle:
Glassboy:
sbiddle:
What NBN rollout?

There's plenty of fibre being blown around Australia, whatever the status of the NBN is. I know of a few Kiwis living over there and doing really well. They tend to be harder working than the Australian crews.

Yes it's mainly fibre for FTTN. By 2018ish Australia will have a broadband network that's as good as what NZ had in 2011 once cabinetisation was complete!

I still think 2018ish is wishful thinking. Communications minister is too busy looking at being PM.

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