FTTH in apartment building (share block)

[User52]

Hi guys

So we are getting fibre in the near future according to Telkom, and I wanted to know how apartment buildings are equipped with fibre. Will it work more or less the same as a normal home? As in Telkom supplies a fibre line to the apartment itself and not a distribution box somewhere in the basement. Then a cat6/7 cable runs from the DB to the apartment? Is the installation going to be a mission, or is it relatively straight forward? We currently have Telkom mini distribution boxes on some floors in the building. These are for VDSL/ Phone services. So will Telkom just route the fibre line where the VDSL lines used to be? The building is old, so that is why I worry about installation difficulties.

If anyone has any experience of getting Telkom to install FTTH in an apartment block, please to let me know!

Thanks a lot!

 

[metro_digital]

We've just had Openserve install fibre in our apartment block. Our building is also very old.
It looked like a straightforward process, although getting body corporate to approve everything was the biggest delay.
They ran the fibre from the curb into the property. Not sure if it was underground or via the existing telephone poles. Then each floor got a distribution box for all the apartments on that floor.
They then ran cable through the existing trunking in the passageways (from existing dstv installations) to little white boxes outside each apartments door. Then when a resident wants to get fibre, your ISP arranges install, and they take it from the box outside your door, to an ONT device in the apartment.

I just had mine connected today, so I'm hoping it all works nicely when I get home tonight. The install in the flat took about 2 hours, but when installing for the whole block, it took a week or 2, as there are over 60 units in the building, and they do all of them.

Hope that helps

 

[User52]

We've just had Openserve install fibre in our apartment block. Our building is also very old.
It looked like a straightforward process, although getting body corporate to approve everything was the biggest delay.
They ran the fibre from the curb into the property. Not sure if it was underground or via the existing telephone poles. Then each floor got a distribution box for all the apartments on that floor.
They then ran cable through the existing trunking in the passageways (from existing dstv installations) to little white boxes outside each apartments door. Then when a resident wants to get fibre, your ISP arranges install, and they take it from the box outside your door, to an ONT device in the apartment.

I just had mine connected today, so I'm hoping it all works nicely when I get home tonight. The install in the flat took about 2 hours, but when installing for the whole block, it took a week or 2, as there are over 60 units in the building, and they do all of them.

Hope that helps

That really helps! Thanks a lot.

I hope you get your internet up and running tonight. So from what you said basically it is much like a home install where each apartment gets a fibre cable just outside their door. No special splitters or anything like that. When you say body corporate had issues with install, what kind of issues did they talk about? Was it just access control, working out where trenching was going to happen, etc. One more question is this: Did you need a minimum number of signups from residents? We have a number of old people in our block of flats, and probably only half of them have ADSL/VDSL. All have landline phones but not all have DSL connections. Is this an issue with Openserve/ Telkom?

Thanks a lot, it really helps to know what the process is.

 

[metro_digital]

That really helps! Thanks a lot.

I hope you get your internet up and running tonight. So from what you said basically it is much like a home install where each apartment gets a fibre cable just outside their door. No special splitters or anything like that. When you say body corporate had issues with install, what kind of issues did they talk about? Was it just access control, working out where trenching was going to happen, etc. One more question is this: Did you need a minimum number of signups from residents? We have a number of old people in our block of flats, and probably only half of them have ADSL/VDSL. All have landline phones but not all have DSL connections. Is this an issue with Openserve/ Telkom?

Thanks a lot, it really helps to know what the process is.

Thanks, got it up and running and it's very fast.
Yes every apartment has a small rolled up length of fibre outside, waiting for the day you want to install.
Our body corporate is made up of mostly old people who are very reluctant to change anything, so they were concerned with the impact of the install on the common property, as well as just not seeing the benefit of the technology. It took almost a year for everything to get approved because of them. We had to meet with Link Africa and Openserve to explain to them what was involved, and the fibre companies had to take pictures around the property showing exactly where cables would go and where they would trench if needed. You might not need to go to such lengths.
We actually managed to get openserve and Link Africa (an open access provider) to install in the block, so we now have a choice.

I don't think we required a minimum amount of signups, but there are a few people who have signed up now that it's available. I think the providers just wanted to get it into the building, because they know people will use the service as data demand grows.
The fibre install into the building was also free, but the install into a residents apartment might have a cost depending on who you choose as an ISP.
A lot of our building is also older people with landlines and some with adsl.
A good way of convincing them is to tell them their DSTV will need fibre to work soon, and so the free install from Openserve is essential if they still want DSTV. I'm not sure how it will work with the DSTV (maybe their new decoders) but thats just what the lady from Link Africa told me. I don't use DSTV so am not bothered, but the oldies are very much reliant on their TV, so it might make them act quicker if they are stalling, like our guys were.

Hope this answers your questions.

 

[User52]

That is perfect! That answers all questions that I could possibly have asked about.

I see what you mean with DSTV. I think almost everyone in our block has DSTV, so that is a good way to get them to approve Openserve infrastructure upgrades. I also know the chairman of the board very well (it is a share block). He runs the place so most things such as this are left up to his approval. I will let him know before Telkom/ Openserve arrive and want to upgrade to fibre.

Thanks again.