Contents:
The "Reach" Problem
What is the Reach problem?
At its simplest, a reach issue is when a house/business is physically too far away from the (broadband-enabled) exchange which serves it, to receive the broadband service. As a very rough indicator, any location outwith a 5.6 km radius (approx 8 km line length) from the telephone exchange may not be able to receive broadband. However it's not an exact science, and broadband has been known to be available on longer lines and conversely, unavailable on shorter ones.
Why does this occur?
At this distance, the telephone signal may have degraded to a level that is too poor to provide a broadband service.
Do any other factors contribute to the reach problem?
The key factor is the length of the telephone line from the exchange to the location. The presence of hills, valleys, water and the route the cabling takes (typically following a road) all add to the length of the line. Other factors include the quality of the copper cabling/joints and the presence of aluminium on the line. Any, or a combination of the of these, will affect an individual location's ability to receive a broadband service.
Do any technical factors contribute to the reach problem?
There are a number of other technical issues why broadband may be unavailable - and these all contribute to the reach problem in Scotland.
Where are the reach problems in Scotland ?Known reach problems are scattered throughout the country, though there is some evidence of "clustering" - where local conditions affect a group of households in the same way.
Is the reach problem unique to Scotland ?
No - it is a UK-wide issue. In fact anywhere in the world which uses ADSL (broadband over copper telephone lines) technology is liable to be affected by the reach problem.
back to topTechnical issues which may contribute to the Reach problem:
DACS
What is DACS?
DACS stands for Digital Access Carrier System
In normal circumstances, a phone line is provided by one copper pair - i.e. a pair of lines. However, where there is a shortage of copper pairs in the local network, DACS is used to provide two phone lines over one copper pair. A DACS line is incompatible with broadband, and the DACS unit must be removed from the line before broadband can be provided.
Before June 2006, BT removed DACS equipment up to a cost of £1000 per line.
However in June 2006, Openreach (the part of BT which manages the local telecoms infrastructure) announced a new policy on DACS removal. As part of this policy, Openreach are investing an additional £10 million on DACS removal and providing replacement capacity in the network - this will result in fewer refused broadband provision orders.
If you have had a broadband order refused because of DACS (prior to June 2006), you should resubmit your order to your provider. If DACS is removed on your line then your order should be successful.
Openreach have advised that while there will still be instances where they are unable to replace the DACS equipment due to very high costs and that success cannot be guaranteed there, is however now a much higher likelihood of orders being successful.
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TPON
What is TPON ?
TPON stands for Telephony over Passive Optical Network
TPON was a method used by BT mainly in the 1980s and early 1990s to deliver phone lines to new build areas where there wasn't enough existing copper capacity available. This decision was made before ADSL was envisaged, and as ADSL requires a copper pair route between customer and exchange, this means customers in TPON areas are currently unable to receive ADSL.
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Exchange Activate
What is Exchange Activate?
Exchange Activate is BT's smaller-scale Broadband product designed for rural and remote telephone exchanges with smaller numbers of users. Exchange Activate is an Ofcom-approved product, unique to Scotland as part of the Executive's intervention.
Exchange Activate was installed in 148 of the smallest and remotes exchanges in the Scottish Executive's Broadband for Scotland intervention. Exchange Activate exchanges provide broadband at a bandwidth of up to 512Kbps. On Exchange Activate exchanges there are limits on both the number of ISPs which can serve from them and on the number of users which they can serve.
Which exchanges are Exchange Activate?
List of full active exchanges
How do I know which exchange I am served from?
You can find out the exchange you're served from by entering your phone number into the BT number checker
I'm served by an Exchange Activate exchange. Which ISPs are available to me to choose from?
In addition to BT, the ISPs below provide a 512kbps service on all Exchange Activate exchanges.
Why don't all ISPs offer a service on Exchange Activate exchanges?
Under the Executive's contract with BT, at least four Internet Service Provider (ISPs), in addition to BT, are able to serve on Exchange Activate exchanges, thus achieving a situation where competition exists, and which also satisfies the European Commission. However, no ISP is obliged to provide their service on Exchange Activate exchanges and the decision whether to operate or not is solely a commercial one for the ISP concerned.
What has the Executive done to encourage more ISPs to offer a service on Exchange Activate exchanges?
In conjunction with BT, the Executive undertook activity to raise awareness and understanding of Exchange Activate - and this has been achieved, with at least five ISPs now serving on all Exchange Activate exchanges. Our understanding is that no other ISPs are currently planning to extend their services to Exchange Activate exchanges, and the Executive cannot to bring pressure on any ISP to do so.
I've heard there are capacity issues associated with Exchange Activate.
All Exchange Activate exchanges support at least 35% take-up, under the Executive's contract with BT. Where capacity issues might be a problem, the Executive is in discussion with BT as to how this can be alleviated.
So why have I been told that my exchange is full?
ISPs on Exchange Activate exchanges have allocations of ports for service provision and once this allocation has been used up, on some occasions it has transpired that people's orders have been refused with ISPs (wrongly) telling them that there is no more capacity at the exchange, when in fact their allocation which is used up. So your ISP may have given you incorrect information.
Can an ISP increase its allocation of ports within Exchange Activate exchanges?
Yes. There is a process in place whereby ISPs can increase their allocations (from the remaining unused capacity at the exchange), however the Executive and BT are aware that this process hasn't always ran smoothly in the past. BT has been working to pro-actively improve their systems to prevent this happening in the future.
Can I get a higher bandwidth than 512Kbps on Exchange Activate exchanges?
No, this is not available on Exchange Activate exchanges.
When will a higher bandwidth be available on Exchange Activate exchanges?
BT has no immediate plans to upgrade its Exchange Activate exchanges. In most cases, there are network constraints which inhibit higher bandwidths being provided. These constraints however, will be removed over the longer term commercially - over the next five years - by BT's 21st Century Network programme deployment in Scotland.
Why did the Executive install Exchange Activate exchanges?
To upgrade all exchanges to full ADSL, would have cost significantly more funding than was available for the Broadband for Scotland project. We believe that the best use of the available budget was made - and that every exchange being able to provide at least basic broadband (512Kbps) is preferable than some exchanges not being able to supply broadband altogether. ADSL Max
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What is ADSL Max?
ADSL Max, launched on 31 March 2006, is the name for a new range of broadband products which offers a broadband service at up to 8Mpbs. The reverse side is that it also offers lower bandwidths - down to 256Kbps and below. This is five times faster than dial-up and can be a considerable improvement where dial-up is the only alternative.
ADSL Max has been known to push the boundaries of the "reach" problem. The Executive has been made aware of people, previously on the periphery of "reach" who can now get a low bandwidth broadband service on ADSL Max. If you ordered broadband before 31 March 2006 and previously had an order refused due to distance from the exchange, you may wish to consider re-ordering.
view BT's press release on ADSL Max
http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/Showarticle.cfm?ArticleID=09eed77b-c628-4f06-9f16-430df2c70a38
Where is ADSL Max available?
ADSL Max is available on all Scottish exchanges, excluding the 148 exchange activate exchanges enabled for broadband under the Executive's intervention
list of all exchanges Max-enabled
list of EA exchanges
list of 21 non-commercial exchanges in Western Isles
Do all ISPs offer ADSL Max?
No - you should contact your ISP to find out if you can receive this service.
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Definition of "community"
For the purpose of defining 'community', the Executive used "census output areas" which are the smallest building blocks for the higher order definitions of communities within the census. A typical census output area contains around 50 households.