Sheffield & Attercliffe Exchanges

[Ray_Von]

Just received this from my MP..

Quote:Dear Mr xxxxxxx
I apologise for the delay in getting back to you but the office has been extremely busy in July and then I
have been away for the last couple of weeks as I have already explained.
The reality is also however that there really is nothing more to add to the previous correspondence I have
had with you. BTs position remains unchanged that they have no plans immediately to upgrade the
exchange in Attercliffe. The Digital Region project has come to an end and there has not been a buyer
found for it. BT, for the reasons I have explained, have indicated that they have no interest in taking over
that network.
I have written to the Minister about this issue and asked for Government support for BT to upgrade the
Attercliffe exchange as part of the national commitment to deliver high speed broadband to rural and other
areas of the country. So far I have not received a reply and am chasing the Minister again for that.
I have had a number of complaints, particularly in the light of the termination of Digital Region, from other
users and am looking now to arrange a meeting between the Council, BT and the Chamber of Commerce to
see if together we can find some way forward.
I will let you know as soon as I get a response from the Minister and the outcome of the meeting I am trying
to arrange.
Yours sincerely
Clive Betts
MP for Sheffield South East

Not looking good is it.

[SpencerUk]

"has not been a buyer found for it"

Erm...Did I miss something here or has Geo Networks already bought this?

[cptwhite]

Yeah, it was mentioned on ISP review:

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/201...ssets.html

[WillPS]

What a bloody crap situation it is.

BT don't want to upgrade for whatever reason - probably things are quite 'cosy' for them as it stands
and the government wont coax them in to doing it - because we're not "rural" enough.

So, tiny little villages in the middle of nowhere are being funded to be better connected than the fifth largest city's centre!!

How long before this madness is seen to!?

[prichardson]

@SpencerUK

I suspect they refer to this as buying it as a going concern.

With regards to BDUK, I believe that is the councils fault.

I am trying to get the references to prove it, but I believe that Sheffield applied for BDUK as a way to prop up DRL.

Barnsley and Doncaster didn't, thus are entitled to apply for the cash still.

Attercliffe has long been a BT sore spot. It used to regularly run out of capacity for backhaul and port capacity 7 years ago (pre-ADSL2+).

There is little doubt the situation has changed and that only newer kit has allowed the above to improve due to higher capacity backhaul over the same fibre, plus denser port capacity.

The silly thing about Attercliffe is, FTTC does not even need to spur off the Attercliffe exchange, just "a" exchange.

The real problem here is that the city centre doesn't have it on the Radar.

Eldon House has more than enough capacity available. As a major hub for years, including larger portions of Shefffield than it currently serves, the has masses of empty floor space. I quite literately mean that old kit that used to take upto significant portions, now stands as empty space.

It will no longer have masses of racks installed for legacy copper, so much of this will sit idle.

Hell, Eldon House is a regional hub for 21CN, so it's not even as if the damned thing doesn't have the infrastructure there.

FTTC is still seen as a viable alternative to leased lines. So City is unlikely to see it for some time to come.

However, if they hubed Attercliffe off of City, then BT lose all ability to play the "cost" card to enabling City for it and with it goes the huge markup that leased lines provides compared to FTTC.