BT upgrades their LLU2 packages, "up to" 3mb becomes 6 mb, 8 mb becomes 24 mb

Bohrio

Hello everyone

Just to let you know that from today, BT has decided to change their current LLU2 packages, a brief description:

Customers on option 1 remain as such, no changes
Option 2 speeds increase to up to 6 mb and usage limit increased to 30 gb
Option 3 speeds increase to up to 24 mb and unlimited cap (fair usage policy applies)

Here you have the official communique


NEWS RELEASE DC08-276


BT LAUNCHES NEXT GENERATION BROADBAND IN IRELAND

- BT introduces full speed ADSL2+ broadband with speeds of up to 24Mb and unlimited usage

Dublin, Wednesday 30th July 2008: BT today announced that it will immediately switch on the full capability of its own next generation network in a radical move that could bring broadband speeds of up to 24Mb to consumers and businesses in Ireland.
The up to 24Mb service, which will be available from telephone exchanges serving close to 330,000 homes and businesses, costs as little as €42.50 (incl VAT) per month for consumers or €40 (ex VAT) for businesses. These prices contrast starkly with eircom’s up to 12Mb broadband service for €169 (ex VAT) per month.
Following on from a successful launch in January of up to 8Mb broadband in selected areas in Dublin, Kildare and Limerick, today’s announcement will see BT investing in additional exchange areas by the end of September 2008. For no additional cost, all customers currently on up to 8Mb broadband will be upgraded to the new service.
Emer Kennedy, Director of BT’s Consumer Division said, “Our investment in a next generation network in Ireland enables us to radically shake up the market by trebling broadband speeds without increasing prices. While actual speeds achieved will be impacted by individual line conditions, by making the maximum attainable speed (24Mb) available on our network, we are ensuring that BT customers have access to the fastest possible DSL broadband service available from any operator in Ireland today.”
Liam O'Brien, Managing Director BT Business, added, "Over the past number of years BT has launched a range of innovative services for businesses including converged voice/data solutions, managed IT services and hosting & data backup and the development of a high bandwidth broadband infrastructure will enable us to continue to drive the market. The availability of full speed ADSL2+ broadband is complementary to the existing high-bandwidth services that we currently offer to the corporate market, where we frequently deliver speeds of 1 Gigabit and greater."

BT’s new service will be available immediately in the following exchanges: Tallaght, Dun Laoghaire, Dolphins Barn, Dublin North Main, Terenure, Merrion, Crown Alley, Beggars Bush, Swords, Clondalkin, Summerhill, Blanchardstown, Naas, Dooradoyle, Navan and Kilkenny City.

By the end of September 2008 the new broadband service will be available in Douglas, Ballincollig (Cork) and Whitehall, Belcamp, and Foxrock (Dublin) and Greystones (Wicklow).

The company is also introducing unlimited usage for this new service, subject to fair usage.
New customers will also get a free connection and free modem.
For more details on BT’s new broadband service and pricing please visit www.btireland.ie or call 1800 923 927.

For more information, visit www.bt.com/aboutbt


There is more on the communique but no need to post it here. You should see it soon on the media.




__________________

Akaik only a small amount of customers will be able to enjoy the full 24 mb as you will need to be less than ~1.1 km away from the exchange, but people on their current 8 mb package should have no problem in getting speeds close to 12-15 mb.

The upgrades should have taken place early today for most customers, customer's are subject to a prequalify test, if your line doesnt prequalify for higher speeds then your line will remain as it is, untouched.

There will be a small delay on the Swords Exchange.

Joseph Kuhr

Bugger once again my exchange is left out :-( So for those who can't get the service they are expected to stay on 3mb and pay the same price as someone who is getting up to 24mb? I hope they upgrade their customer service to deal with the complaints....I'd even hazzard a guess that it is against consumer laws.

vectra

Does this mean that now I got upgraded to 8mb, I will once again get a free upgrade to whatever my line can hanle to a max of 24mb ?? :eek:

JackieChan

Vectra,
If your on a BT LLU exchange and currently on the 8Mb package then yes.

OT but,so is this the limit for BT(or any other DSL provider) then. If they eventually upgraded all exchanges to ADSL2 are DSL users 'limited' to 24Mb downstream?

What next step can they take to increase speeds?

vectra

JackieChan wrote: »

Vectra,
If your on a BT LLU exchange and currently on the 8Mb package then yes.

Not sure what i am on.
I live in Fermoy, Co.Cork but think I am on the Glanmire exchange ?
Will I need to buy a new Router/Modem ?

Jonathan

JackieChan wrote: »

What next step can they take to increase speeds?

VDSL. VDSL2.


Bohrio, do you have any idea when the Malahide exchange will have LLU equipment installed?

watty

you need very close to exchange, very good line for 24Mbps The Elite 5%?

Magnet: Rory

has the contention ratio been reduced?

Gonzo

VDSL/VDSL2 if it ever happens in Ireland will only happen in parts of Dublin city or maybe some other large towns/cities. I see that most vdsl areas in the world are in the biggest of cities even in the most developed countries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VDSL

But could VDSL/VDSL2 ever be installed in all of eircoms exchanges over the next 2 to 3 years to give everyone a better chance of getting faster speeds or am I just dreaming?

paulm17781

Interesting, this is in no doubt to compete with UPC. Smart really are looking uncompetitive in the residential sector now, it'll be interesting to see what they come back with.

smellslikeshoes

Knew this was coming, a little surprised they didn't do sooner. BT wouldn't have went to the trouble of unbundling exchanges if they weren't going to provide something on them that Eircom wasn't. When BT implemented their 8mbit on LLU exchanges it was well before Eircom even announced their speed upgrades, and going above 8mbit was obviously going to happen when the Eircom upgrades finally went ahead to make sure they were still ahead of Eircom.

Jonathan

Gonzo wrote: »

But could VDSL/VDSL2 ever be installed in all of eircoms exchanges over the next 2 to 3 years to give everyone a better chance of getting faster speeds or am I just dreaming?

No point really. After about a mile, speeds are on par with ADSL2+. Great if you are near to the exchange. Feck all use to anyone else

paulm17781

jmccrohan wrote: »

No point really. After about a mile, speeds are on par with ADSL2+. Great if you are near to the exchange. Feck all use to anyone else

Is VDSL not done with fibre to the cabinet meaning most people are within that mile?

Jonathan

paulm17781 wrote: »

Is VDSL not done with fibre to the cabinet meaning most people are within that mile?

Both right :P

wikipedia wrote:

VDSL2 (Very High Speed Digital Subscriber Line 2) is an access technology that exploits the existing infrastructure of copper wires that were originally deployed for POTS services. It can be deployed from central offices, from fibre-fed cabinets located near the customer premises, or within buildings.

smellslikeshoes

paulm17781 wrote: »

Interesting, this is in no doubt to compete with UPC. Smart really are looking uncompetitive in the residential sector now, it'll be interesting to see what they come back with.

Smart are in a pretty strange position now, even if they up their speeds to a very possible 24mbit they will still only be on par with BT's speeds. 24mbit is the limit of adsl2+ so I can only imagine that this will probably start forcing the like of smart to start pushing towards VDSL quite soon.

Magnet: Rory

But is there not still the difference of contention between Smart and BT, last i heard BT were still contended at around 24:1?

jor el

Rorser wrote: »

But is there not still the difference of contention between Smart and BT, last i heard BT were still contended at around 24:1?

Plus BT are an absolutely horrid company to deal with. Regardless of speed, I'd never have anything to do with BT again.

vectra

jor el wrote: »

Plus BT are an absolutely horrid company to deal with. Regardless of speed, I'd never have anything to do with BT again.

I have been with BT since 2000 in the time of No Limits" package.
I was one of the culprits that abused the "Fair usage Policy" but spoke to them on the phone after being notified that i was about to lose me package.I was offered a different package which i accepted as it was far better than the Eircon costing. As it happened I started sneaking a little bit here and a little bit there over and above what I should have. They never bothered me about it so it was back to businness as usual and abuse it.. Never a problem with them. Took the 3mb BB package from them when it was offered.. Still no problem with them.. I am staying with them anyway :cool:

Magnet: Rory

Ìf everyone around you is on a line which is 10-24mb will it not be beaten back badly by contention?

I checked the site and i cant see the new packages?

StickyMcGinty

Gonzo wrote: »

But could VDSL/VDSL2 ever be installed in all of eircoms exchanges over the next 2 to 3 years to give everyone a better chance of getting faster speeds or am I just dreaming?

from that wiki link...

In Republic of Ireland, eircom announced their plan to start providing VDSL2 within the year 2007. However there is not yet any firm date for any deployment as of November 2007.

anyone have an update on this? absolutly nothing about VDSL on eircom.net/.ie

EDIT: found this on eircom wholesale, not very useful

JackieChan

StickyMcGinty wrote: »

EDIT: found this on eircom wholesale, not very useful

Looks like they stopped updating that site late 2006/v.early 2007

Does this mean a whole new price structure for all their BB packages especially for the likes of us that can't get speeds of over 3MB.

paulm17781

hellboy99 wrote: »

Does this mean a whole new price structure for all their BB packages especially for the likes of us that can't get speeds of over 3MB.

I'd doubt it. I think if you can get the higher speeds you're one of the lucky ones. Complain and see if that gets you somewhere?

Magnet: Rory

finally found out contention is currently 24:1 for the new BT service

Solair

It's not all that revolutionary -

UPC Cable
Smart
and Magnet all offer similar speeds.

Smart's service is CONTENTION FREE too. It's great.

Also, remember that most phone lines (anywhere, not just in Ireland) can't support maxed out 24mbit/s ADSL2+ Typically lines tend to reach capacity at about 16mbit/s. I've had this experience with other ADSL2+ providers in Ireland and also in the UK.

24mbit/s is theoretical, if you live in the telephone exchange!

Honestly though, BT are really not worth the hassle !
If Smart or Magnet or UPC are available, I'd go with them instead.

BoB_BoT

I've a feeling this was brought up in the massive eircom thread here, but it's over 100 pages so didn't even try to find it :P, but are eircom using adsl2 or adsl2+ ?

The reason I ask, is that their max package they're pushing is 12mb for business customers, which seems to be the max for adsl2, whereas adsl2+ an go up to 24mb. Am I right in thinking that BT are pushing adsl2+ yet eircom have only done upgrades to support adsl2?

Solair

I suspect that eircom have done a software update on their existing DSL equipment, not installed new gear.

Eurorunner

So if your fortunate enough to be on basic dsl in ballygobackwards - where its probably not all that profitable for them - so no incentive to upgrade right now, any predictions on how long it will take for such smaller exchanges to be upgraded?

Sponge Bob

eircom have upgraded about 50 exchanges to adsl2+

the other 500 are adsl only .

Then again BT have only upgraded about 20 or their 40 -50 exchanges beyond ADSL .

rc28

vectra wrote: »

Not sure what i am on.
I live in Fermoy, Co.Cork but think I am on the Glanmire exchange ?
Will I need to buy a new Router/Modem ?

No, aren't you on the 7.6mb package? This is not part of BT's LLU rollout, you are gettting a resold Eircom product and unless your exchange goes adsl2+ you will be on plain old adsl for the forseeable future..
There is some confusion around the place in distinguishing bteween bt's own 8mb(on select exchanges) and the 7.6mb package it also offers as part of Eircom's speed upgrades- see other thread.

Solair

All I would say is BT are very good at PR and marketing.
However, when it comes to service ...

vectra

rc28 wrote: »

No, aren't you on the 7.6mb package? This is not part of BT's LLU rollout, you are gettting a resold Eircom product and unless your exchange goes adsl2+ you will be on plain old adsl for the forseeable future..
There is some confusion around the place in distinguishing bteween bt's own 8mb(on select exchanges) and the 7.6mb package it also offers as part of Eircom's speed upgrades- see other thread.

Ah,
Right
Thanks

MickeyD

DownStream Connection Speed 17675 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed 983 kbps

Woohoo!

smellslikeshoes

Solair wrote: »

It's not all that revolutionary -

UPC Cable
Smart
and Magnet all offer similar speeds.

Smart's service is CONTENTION FREE too. It's great.

Also, remember that most phone lines (anywhere, not just in Ireland) can't support maxed out 24mbit/s ADSL2+ Typically lines tend to reach capacity at about 16mbit/s. I've had this experience with other ADSL2+ providers in Ireland and also in the UK.

24mbit/s is theoretical, if you live in the telephone exchange!

Honestly though, BT are really not worth the hassle !
If Smart or Magnet or UPC are available, I'd go with them instead.

I would agree with you there, even now I would definitely go with smart over BT or UPC but for the average folk on the street who don't know what contention is all about they are going to go with more advertised speed (Upc's 20 and BT's 24 over smarts 15) for the less money of UPC & BT.

Eurorunner wrote: »

So if your fortunate enough to be on basic dsl in ballygobackwards - where its probably not all that profitable for them - so no incentive to upgrade right now, any predictions on how long it will take for such smaller exchanges to be upgraded?

Frankly they just won't be, even in other counties that are miles ahead of here with broadband and have had a much friendlier regulatory situation for LLU its still not economical to unbundle the smaller exchanges.

BoB_BoT

Solair wrote: »

I suspect that eircom have done a software update on their existing DSL equipment, not installed new gear.

humm that would explain why it's only taking 1hr of downtime to do the "upgrades".

thenightrider

What are they like with torrents does anyone no do they block ports etc

Jonathan

thenightrider wrote: »

What are they like with torrents does anyone no do they block ports etc

BT block no ports.

vibe666

BT’s new service will be available immediately in the following exchanges: Tallaght, Dun Laoghaire, Dolphins Barn, Dublin North Main, Terenure, Merrion, Crown Alley, Beggars Bush, Swords, Clondalkin, Summerhill, Blanchardstown, Naas, Dooradoyle, Navanand Kilkenny City.

I'm in Navan and we didn't even get the 8mbps upgrade yet, I don't even think we managed the LLU2 yoke.

Does this mean I'll have jumped from 3mbps to xxmpbs....something faster when I get home?

methinks a phonecall will be needed at least.

i've been meaning to switch to the business package for a while, but never quite got round to it. spending time disconnected was putting me off as last time that happened when I moved it took them 3 months to get me back online.

Vunderground

Dolphin's Barn Exchange.

rc28

Vunderground wrote: »

Dolphin's Barn Exchange.

Wow you are lucky. What's supposed to be the upload speed on the new package?

Username!

rc28 wrote: »

Wow you are lucky. What's supposed to be the upload speed on the new package?

That would be 1MB.

rc28

BT have updated their website to include the new packages but they are really making it look unfair by putting the 24mb unlimited package on the same page as the similarly priced but capped 7.6mb one:
http://www.btireland.ie/AtHome_bb.shtml

rc28

I find it funny that BT offer faster broadband here(24mb) than they do in the UK(8mb). After this Summer, with all the upgrades (eircom up to 7.6mb, UPC up to 20mb, Magnet up to 50mb, BT now at 24mb) whether our ranking on the OECD broadband list will have improved? Although, most of those speed upgrades are only available in the major towns.

boardsdotie

Dooradoyle exchange in Limerick does not seem to be upgraded yet :mad:

Clover

vibe666 wrote: »

I'm in Navan and we didn't even get the 8mbps upgrade yet, I don't even think we managed the LLU2 yoke.

Does this mean I'll have jumped from 3mbps to xxmpbs....something faster when I get home?

methinks a phonecall will be needed at least.

i'm on the Blanchardstown exchange and i rang up today about getting put on BT's LLU equipmet as i am still on the 3 meg speed when i should be on 8 meg.

so my line is getting put onto BT's LLU equipment and it should take around 5 days , so all going well it should be done by next week.

Bohrio

Hello

I can see people have some questions in regards this upgrade

This is what I have:

What has been announced?

BT has announced that all "Option 3" customers served by BT exchange equipment will have their service caps removed - that is to say we will run our customer lines as fast as they will go up to the effective 24Mb limit of ADSL2+ technology. In addition, line speeds to Option 2 customers in these areas is being upgraded to "up to 6Mb" service.

Which exchanges are affected?
Today: Tallaght, Dun Laoghaire, Dolphins Barn, Dublin North Main, Terenure, Merrion, Crown Alley, Beggars Bush, Swords, Clondalkin, Summerhill, Blanchardstown, Naas, Dooradoyle, Navan and Kilkenny City
Over the next two months - Douglas and Ballincollig (Cork), Whitehall, Belcamp, and Foxrock (Dublin), and Greystones (Wicklow).
Beyond Sep 08 - Unannounced

Yes, exchanges such as Navan and Kilkenny are up and running now. If you want to get the service just ring BT Sales and ask for an upgrade, the downtime should be no more than 15 minutes.

What is the "contention rate" on the new service?

Every operator seems to apply their own interpretation to this question. Mainstream Broadband intenet access is ALWAYS a "shared" service, and claims to the contrary should be treated with caution. Contention can happen at many levels within a network. We have two straightforward answers. The actual contention experienced by customers on our network is zero but all BT Broadband services have an end-to-end "network planning" ratio across our network of 48:1. BT's backhaul network is second to none, and is highly scalable.

I'm an BT Option 1 customer. Will my service be affected by this announcement?

No.

I'm an BT Option 2/3 Customer outside the LLU area. Will my service be affected by this announcement?

Yes. As part of this announcement, we are increasing the usage caps for Option 2 customers to 30GB, and allowing all Option 3 customers unlimited usage. All customers remain subject to their terms and conditions and our Fair Usage policy. Our plans for speed upgrades for customers outside our LLU footprint have already been communicated.

What's your fair usage policy?

It can be viewed on our website - in short we don't want to have a small minority of very heavy users impact the service experience, we will act accordingly, and we reserve the right to restrict or withdraw service in these circumstances.

I'm a DSL customer with another operator within the BT LLU area, and my line is already maxxed out. Will BT service be faster?

Probably. The vast majority of DSL customers in Ireland are being serviced by first generation platforms connected to busy networks. Our analysis suggests that the majority will get a useful increase in sych speed from ADSL2+ service, and will also benefit from a superior network service.


What's my upload speed

For 6 mb is 512 kbps, for 24 mb is 1 mb (although most people will sync at ~812 kbps).

---

Some people dont seem to understand the difference between BT Broadband packages, there is what they call LLU2 and then the "normal" Broadband.

I could explain the technical differences or how is set up, or to check your adsl modulation, but there is no point, the way to look at this is: check the list of exchanges (look all the way up), if your exchange is in the list, then you are on an LLU2 exchange, if your exchange is not on the list, then you are not. That's it.

So, basically, if you are a BT customer on a LLU2 exchange then you will take advantage of higher or unlimited caps and faster speeds, if you are not on a LLU2 exchange then you will only take advantage of the usage cap increase, and not the speed.

There is the possibility that your exchange is on the list but that your line might have not been upgraded, this means that you are still using the "normal" broadband service, either because you are on one of their new exchanges (such as Navan or Kilkenny City) or because you have never asked for it. If this is the case, then call BT sales and ask them to upgrade your line to the new up to 24 mb service (or up to 6 mb). Remember this is only for the exchanges already mentioned.

This is what I have been given, hope it helps

I might open a new threat and paste this answers, just in case...

Calebmcd

The westport exchange is getting the 12mb llu in September.

Is this different to LLU2?

Magnet: Rory

Are you implying that Smart or Magnet customers do not benifit at all from having a 1:1 contention (managed) service?

Bohrio

Rorser wrote: »

Are you implying that Smart or Magnet customers do not benifit at all from having a 1:1 contention (managed) service?

Hi

I am just posting what I have been given. That's all.

I do know, nevertheless, all ADSL2+ exchanges, including Smart and Magnet, have to go through contention.

For example, at the moment, BT contention on their LLU2 exchanges is literally 0, as the amount of customers on each exchange is very very low, when this increases, so will contention.

Magnet: Rory

Are you sure? I would imagine that a good deal of BT's exchanges have a great amount of customers on them?

My question is will this contention ratio result in a 24mb from BT being slower in the long run than a Magnet and Smart connection (1:1) or a UPC connection (17:1)?

Bohrio

Rorser wrote: »

Are you sure? I would imagine that a good deal of BT's exchanges have a great amount of customers on them?

My question is will this contention ratio result in a 24mb from BT being slower in the long run than a Magnet and Smart connection (1:1) or a UPC connection (17:1)?

I think that their exchanges are at only 5-10% of capacity. So technically you are uncontented.

Smart and Magnet dont have a 1:1 contention for ADSL2 either, they manage their network so it will look as they do but they dont.

If the number of customer reaches a certain amount they will suffer from congestion too.

That's why contention is so tricky. You can look on Smart's forum and check it yourself.

For ex, Magnet's fiber is 1:1 (I personally have it and it is very fast) but when I get home, on the evenings, my speed decreases up to 30% sometimes. This is most likely due to lack of international bandwidth, technically their contention is 1:1 (as its fiber) but I still get contented.

So at the moment, BT is uncontented (at exchange leveland on LLU2), but, when the amount of customer grow they will suffer from congestion, same as any other provider. If they do it right, and they know how to manage their network then you wont notice it.