Exchange Only line

Michael74

Hi. I have an EO line (Exchange Only line) which basically means my phone line goes straight from the house to the exchange, no cabinets. This means there is nowhere to put a fibre cabinet, thus no super fast fibre unless I want to buy from Virgin. (paying £10 per month more that the current cheapest fiber offer)

According to BT Openreach website its says "my property is either currently, or planned to be, covered through private sector providers by the end of 2019"

However according to an Email I recived from Openreach this week they said "We're working hard on various solutions to exchange only lines, but I'm afraid we can't give any completion dates just yet as we're still in the very early stages."

I emailed Connecting Devon and Somerset (a govt funded agency) who contacted Openreach again on my behalf who received this response " unfortunately the reply from Openreach is somewhat conflicting to what’s visible on their website; today they’ve confirmed that they do not have any current plans to upgrade the EO lines on your street."

In Scotland they are merrily converting EO lines but in England its tough cookies....

Does anyone else having this issue or managed to resolve it?

rusty_f

My last house had an exchange only line and my only option was Virgin. It was much better than the sub-2MB/sec speed I got via ADSL but was frustrating as I couldn't jump ship. It didn't stop me haggling with Virgin every price rise though - they didn't know I couldn't get FTTC!

There is nothing you can do, it has to be commercially viable. If you already have a fibre provider (Virgin), then its probably less likely they'll find a solution to it in your area - unless there is a large demand from everyone in your area.

Michael74

Indeed Connecting Devon and Somerset wondered if its down to it being commercially viable or not. But there are plenty of people who have access to cable and superfast. In Scotland EO lines are being converted with no great issues. I think its down to the Scottish Govt ensuring that everyone gets good value for money rather than the "English" govt just handing the money out shouting look we are getting everyone faster BB its all abit rubbish really lol

rusty_f

Are the exchange only lines in Scotland you are referring to in areas where Virgin are available? That's the key here - there are rules about state funding and building over an existing provider's fibre network. If fibre is available (most likely via Virgin or an alt-net), then BT won't be able to use public funds for it. They'd need to invest using their own money, assuming they could guarantee a return on that investment.

I live in England and my situation was down to the fact I had an alternative - and I was living in London!

AndyPK

What speed do you get?

You can get reasonable deals with virgin if you play hard ball.

I pay £25 for 50mb and phone.

Michael74

A good point well made, so I checked using an online overlay map comparing available speeds and providers and I don't see much difference in VMs coverage and Openreach superfast coverage in England than Scotland. I remain unconvinced about the rural argument, bearing in mind I live in Devon and fully understand that premise. Look how long it took them to unbundle the Local Loop, Openreach won't do anything unless they are forced to do so.

Michael74

My average is 18.2 Mbps. Once upon a time that did me, but I now have a two children who are old enough to use the internet and things are sloooooowwwwiiiiiinnnngggg dooooooowwwwwwnnnnn lol

I pay EE £20.50pm for BB and phone (weekend calls)

tberry6686

don't see much difference in VMs coverage and Openreach superfast coverage in England than Scotland

This is where Virgin are using BT lines in Scotland. If you look for Virgins own network in Scotland it is tiny. It only covers Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee.

That is the reason EO lines are being sorted in Scotland - there are no alternatives through most of the country

rusty_f

tberry6686 wrote: »

This is where Virgin are using BT lines in Scotland.

Virgin stopped using Openreach for ADSL broadband years ago. They only sell on their own network now.

Owain_Moneysaver

Michael74 wrote: »

My average is 18.2 Mbps. Once upon a time that did me, but I now have a two children who are old enough to use the internet and things are sloooooowwwwiiiiiinnnngggg dooooooowwwwwwnnnnn lol

Not a complete fix, of course, but with a suitable router you can give the children a separate virtual network and restrict their bandwidth so they don't hog it all.

Michael74

rusty_f wrote: »

Are the exchange only lines in Scotland you are referring to in areas where Virgin are available? That's the key here - there are rules about state funding and building over an existing provider's fibre network. If fibre is available (most likely via Virgin or an alt-net), then BT won't be able to use public funds for it. They'd need to invest using their own money, assuming they could guarantee a return on that investment.

I live in England and my situation was down to the fact I had an alternative - and I was living in London!

Also EO lines are relatively short, the more rural you are the more cabinets there are between you and the exchange, and cabinets mean fibre BB. This is why you were only on an EO line in London, they are mainly found in suburbs, as I said before I think the rural bit is a Red Herring, its down to Openreach in England just being allowed to do as they please.

The long and short of it is EO line require more work to convert and Openreach don't want to spend the money as we are a smaller customer base. Yes thats capitlism/consumerism, but I don't have to take it lying down lol