More fibre, more pavement dug up

[Harry Bloomfield]

Just two years after Sky dug our pavements up, we now have Spring Fibre digging them all up again. Sky cut a narrow slot using a machine on tracks, leaving access points at the end of every drive, and no manholes. Spring seem to be doing rather differently, cutting the tarmac by hand twice, then lifting the tarmac and spoil out, between the cuts, with a small digger, then dropping green ducts in, between manholes.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Competition should keep prices down.

Each utility has its own dedicated depth and position, the different techniques may be as a result of this.

Why were Sky digging? They use satellites for existing TV subscribers, and as far as I know BT Openreach for their broadband. Was it Virgin Media possibly?

Green would be Virgin, Grey BT Openreach. I've no idea where a new upstart fibre would go, someone must have decided where they should go.

 

[cwhaley]

You would hate it here.

For the past four months, we have had to endure the repair of an historic bridge with 24/7 two-way controlled lights, Cadent gas works connecting some new properties up, two separate weeks of Severn Trent closing the carriageway to repair leaks, three successive weekends of complete road closures at the Railway Station for the electrical utility supplier (one of only three ways into the village), and there are future works planned.

All these works happened on a 1.5 mile stretch of a B road. The works need to happen, but there's no co-ordination between them. It's made getting home from work a nightmare.

 

[Fred Blogs]

I wish they would dig our streets up and lay fibre to the premises. Like a lot of things in Wales our broadband is abysmal.

 

[wobs]

Competition should keep prices down.

Each utility has its own dedicated depth and position, the different techniques may be as a result of this.

Why were Sky digging? They use satellites for existing TV subscribers, and as far as I know BT Openreach for their broadband. Was it Virgin Media possibly?


View attachment 315833

Green would be Virgin, Grey BT Openreach. I've no idea where a new upstart fibre would go, someone must have decided where they should go.

That's clearly just a guideline. When they dug up the footpath outside our house (and they did so about 5 times for different companies), they hit the water main for our supply. It was less than 250mm below the slabs. We were without water for a few hours, but there was a nice fountain for a few minutes, so swings & roundabouts..

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Green would be Virgin

Sorry, my error - it was Virgin..

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

All these works happened on a 1.5 mile stretch of a B road. The works need to happen, but there's no co-ordination between them. It's made getting home from work a nightmare.

There was no advance warning, no warning at all - they just turned up and began digging, it's causing the usual chaos once again. We had a new and perfect, beautifully smooth road surface, after the last lot of major works. It has remained perfect, but that seems likely to be wrecked now

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

There was no advance warning, no warning at all - they just turned up and began digging, it's causing the usual chaos once again. We had a new and perfect, beautifully smooth road surface, after the last lot of major works. It has remained perfect, but that seems likely to be wrecked now

Spring, seems to be a fibre wholesaler, offering bandwidth to ISP's.

 

[Brigadier]

Just two years after Sky dug our pavements up, we now have Spring Fibre digging them all up again. Sky cut a narrow slot using a machine on tracks, leaving access points at the end of every drive, and no manholes. Spring seem to be doing rather differently, cutting the tarmac by hand twice, then lifting the tarmac and spoil out, between the cuts, with a small digger, then dropping green ducts in, between manholes.

Well, they don't get paid for not digging holes, so what else are they going to do?

 

[conny]

We have a company called City Fibre working throughout BSE, one road at a time. No matter what road they close, be it one of the 3 major routes, or any of the minor roads it causes absolute chaos! They set up diversionary routes for anyone that 'wants' to use them, but set up 2-3-or 4 way traffic lights. Even if one of those 'routes' is simply a private business road that is hardly used! Timings on each set are different depending on what time of day it is. For instance, going into BSE of a morning, the green will be on for at least 1 minute but usually slightly longer. Getting through these you then reach the normal lights a short distance later. These may only be green for 30-45 seconds, so not everyone who got through the temporary lights will get through these ones. Result is, you get a tail back and if it goes back far enough, which it often does, you get this traffic blocking the other 2 or 3 sets waiting to come out. Many minor bumps and arguments at this time of morning. Then in the evening it is all reversed with the same outcome.
We now rarely travel into town, but if it's important, we will try to schedule our meeting/appointment to around mid day.

 

[Brigadier]

I go through Tamworth a couple of times a week, and it's chaos around there too.

Whoever has decided to put temporary 3 and 4-way lights up all over the place but, worse still, it seems on most of the main roads in, out, and around.

It would make some sort of sense to fix one issue, while leaving the other routes free to accommodate the diverted traffic.
Not to chog them all up at the same time.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I have just emailed our friendly local councillor, to attempt to find out what is going on and why no one in the street was given any advance notice before the works began, and to try to find out what it's all about. As usual a near instant reply, to say the it is nowt to do with council, the council don't need to give any permissions for the work, central government OK's it, and it's out of their hands. They don't even seem to know the purpose of the works. He seems to be suggesting there have been other complaints about the failure to inform.

 

[Brigadier]

I have just emailed our friendly local councillor, to attempt to find out what is going on and why no one in the street was given any advance notice before the works began, and to try to find out what it's all about. As usual a near instant reply, to say the it is nowt to do with council, the council don't need to give any permissions for the work, central government OK's it, and it's out of their hands. They don't even seem to know the purpose of the works. He seems to be suggesting there have been other complaints about the failure to inform.

Send a reply then, to the effect of If:

- it's nothing to do with you
-you don't need to give permission
- you don't know why someone is digging up pavements in your patch

What exactly is the point of you?


Sloping Shoulder Brigade; reply-by-return when they think they can palm responsibility off

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

All sounds great to me. Encouraging competition, hopefully forcing BT Openreach to control its prices. Also no red tape, they can just get on with it and do things efficiently without needing a flock of managers and paper-pushers authorising everything.

We're all paying at least £300 a year for a connection, it's way too expensive. Hopefully this amount will start to reduce if things actually get more competitive.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

We're all paying at least £300 a year for a connection, it's way too expensive. Hopefully this amount will start to reduce if things actually get more competitive.

It requires a vast amount of investment to provide, there is a lot more to the network, than just a telephone exchange and some sort of line to your home. In real terms, the cost has dropped dramatically over the years.