The FTTH petition for Fourways / Broadacres

[MagicDude4Eva]

Since my nick of the woods (Broadacres) does not have a resident association and based on discussions with various FTTH providers none of the open-access providers have much drive to get fibre into the hood, I have decided to attempt canvassing support for getting open-access FTTH into our suburb.

Although we have DFA all over the place, none of the FTTH providers have any appetite to actively engage with estates. I am discussing a broader campaign with our management agent who manages a number of estates in the suburb so that we can petition for at least 600 interested parties (Vumatel for example requires an area having 30% interest and a footprint of at least 2000 houses - both not really an issue). Our estate of 200 houses will have a 80% signup rate and I would expect the same level of interest across neighbouring estates as well.

If you live in an estate/complex in the said areas and there are no concrete fibre plans, please PM me the name of the estate and street location (and preferably a contact email of the estate-manager / management agent). I will then assist with the FTTH provider to establish backhaul capacity into our area so that we can land fibre within the next 6 months.

 

[dasigan]

Broadacres Fibre

I'm in Carrington Place on Pine Road. Very keen to get any fibre dsl.

Schweet....

Since my nick of the woods (Broadacres) does not have a resident association and based on discussions with various FTTH providers none of the open-access providers have much drive to get fibre into the hood, I have decided to attempt canvassing support for getting open-access FTTH into our suburb.

Although we have DFA all over the place, none of the FTTH providers have any appetite to actively engage with estates. I am discussing a broader campaign with our management agent who manages a number of estates in the suburb so that we can petition for at least 600 interested parties (Vumatel for example requires an area having 30% interest and a footprint of at least 2000 houses - both not really an issue). Our estate of 200 houses will have a 80% signup rate and I would expect the same level of interest across neighbouring estates as well.

If you live in an estate/complex in the said areas and there are no concrete fibre plans, please PM me the name of the estate and street location (and preferably a contact email of the estate-manager / management agent). I will then assist with the FTTH provider to establish backhaul capacity into our area so that we can land fibre within the next 6 months.

 

[Greencom]

Hi MagicDude4Eva

We as Greencom are already working in both Fourways and Broadacres estates and building business cases for these , some complexes have already reached critical mass requirement.
We fully support any initiative from any community to get the fibre out there .

Greencom offer an open access network plus uncapped , unshaped layer3 broadband www.greencom.co.za

I have PM'd my contact details to you MagicDude4Eva

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

Hi MagicDude4Eva

We as Greencom are already working in both Fourways and Broadacres estates and building business cases for these , some complexes have already reached critical mass requirement.
We fully support any initiative from any community to get the fibre out there .

Greencom offer an open access network plus uncapped , unshaped layer3 broadband www.greencom.co.za

I have PM'd my contact details to you MagicDude4Eva

Awesome - I sent you an email. I can populate two estates (Broadacres Country Estate - 200 houses/60% interest and Castellet - have not done survey yet).

 

[Intergral]

Pm sent for The Plantation Club in broadacres

 

[luka138]

If I want to get interest in my community, should I speak to my ward councillor?

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

Just an update: To get FTTH providers on board without a resident association seems to prove extremely difficult as none of the FTTH companies have much interest to even bother running an installation to estates with 200 houses. I am giving up for this year as everyone is now in "xmas mood" and nothing seems to be getting done anymore. Tried all the players in the Fourways area and their responses have been dismal.

On the upside, I have spoken to representatives from Telkom and they said that they will aggressively roll out fibre in this area starting mid/late Q1. To be honest, I rather wait for a Telkom than having to beg Greencom/Vumatel for this...

 

[ghostR]

Just an update: To get FTTH providers on board without a resident association seems to prove extremely difficult as none of the FTTH companies have much interest to even bother running an installation to estates with 200 houses. I am giving up for this year as everyone is now in "xmas mood" and nothing seems to be getting done anymore. Tried all the players in the Fourways area and their responses have been dismal.

On the upside, I have spoken to representatives from Telkom and they said that they will aggressively roll out fibre in this area starting mid/late Q1. To be honest, I rather wait for a Telkom than having to beg Greencom/Vumatel for this...

Not unusual for FTTH companies such as greencom/vumatel to simply have everything handed to them on a silver platter and not do anything - I agree, rather wait for Telkom to roll out ftth in the area.

 

[luka138]

Just an update: To get FTTH providers on board without a resident association seems to prove extremely difficult as none of the FTTH companies have much interest to even bother running an installation to estates with 200 houses. I am giving up for this year as everyone is now in "xmas mood" and nothing seems to be getting done anymore. Tried all the players in the Fourways area and their responses have been dismal.

On the upside, I have spoken to representatives from Telkom and they said that they will aggressively roll out fibre in this area starting mid/late Q1. To be honest, I rather wait for a Telkom than having to beg Greencom/Vumatel for this...

Which Telkom guys did you speak to? 10210? I'd also like to speak to them.

 

[MickeyD]

Which Telkom guys did you speak to? 10210? I'd also like to speak to them.

10210 ???? 90% of them do not work for Telkom but an outsourced company that Telkom contracts for that function.

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

Which Telkom guys did you speak to? 10210? I'd also like to speak to them.

No - engineers who do the planning of installations. Their info is generally quite accurate (i.e. when VDSL rolled out into Broadacres they equally gave a time-window of 6 months and it happened within 4 months).

 

[luka138]

No - engineers who do the planning of installations. Their info is generally quite accurate (i.e. when VDSL rolled out into Broadacres they equally gave a time-window of 6 months and it happened within 4 months).

Are they your exclusive contacts? XD
We were activated for VDSL just over a week ago and I'm wondering what our chances are. When did you get VDSL?

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

Are they your exclusive contacts? XD
We were activated for VDSL just over a week ago and I'm wondering what our chances are. When did you get VDSL?

I got VDSL late last year. I am linked to Kengies L4 MSAN which is about 1300m from my house and am on a 20Mbps profile (I am pretty sure that I could go to 40Mbps, but cost is an issue). I can't really share my Telkom contacts, but will post updates once I hear anything.

I gave up on the FTTH companies (Greencom, MTN, Vodacom, Vumatel) as I found that I did all the work and even when producing commitment of 130 houses in one estate (and another 100 in another), they could just not be bothered. It's a thankless job and to be honest the majority of residents in my estate are completely disinterested in participating or helping (and are quite quick to complain that everything takes so long).

I will restart this whole thing next year in Feb again - right now I am quite happy with VDSL on VOX.

 

[luka138]

I got VDSL late last year. I am linked to Kengies L4 MSAN which is about 1300m from my house and am on a 20Mbps profile (I am pretty sure that I could go to 40Mbps, but cost is an issue). I can't really share my Telkom contacts, but will post updates once I hear anything.

I gave up on the FTTH companies (Greencom, MTN, Vodacom, Vumatel) as I found that I did all the work and even when producing commitment of 130 houses in one estate (and another 100 in another), they could just not be bothered. It's a thankless job and to be honest the majority of residents in my estate are completely disinterested in participating or helping (and are quite quick to complain that everything takes so long).

I will restart this whole thing next year in Feb again - right now I am quite happy with VDSL on VOX.

Could you perhaps ask on my behalf?
I'm not in a good area or anything (Grassy Park, middle class). However, 3 sections of Grassy Park recently got VDSL. Perhaps it's because we're close to a fibre backbone, but I can dream, can't I?

 

[Mr_SA]

I am really sad to see that I only saw this thread now.
I have also been fighting to get FTTH to Broadacres with the different service providers. Greencome promised to have my complex (The Homestead, Lombardy Road) activated by December and 2 days AFTER they were meant to start installation, they came back and said they couldn't do it. Absolutely disgraced by Greencom, terrible service and all promises but no actions. I hope MetroFibre takes them off their Service Providers list!!!!!!!
I have been in contact with DNA Optic Fibre who are pushing for our area to get FTTH urgently. I am actually expecting a update from them later today with regards to what is happening. They however need to run the main cable all the way from Witkoppen (8km streth), which seems as though it will take quite a while.
I am so frustrated as there is no ADSL or even LTE coverage in the area, and with the LSM being 8-10, you would think they would be happy to get the good paying customers onboard. Really seems as though some companies don't see the bigger picture.

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

I am really sad to see that I only saw this thread now.
I have also been fighting to get FTTH to Broadacres with the different service providers. Greencome promised to have my complex (The Homestead, Lombardy Road) activated by December and 2 days AFTER they were meant to start installation, they came back and said they couldn't do it. Absolutely disgraced by Greencom, terrible service and all promises but no actions. I hope MetroFibre takes them off their Service Providers list!!!!!!!
I have been in contact with DNA Optic Fibre who are pushing for our area to get FTTH urgently. I am actually expecting a update from them later today with regards to what is happening. They however need to run the main cable all the way from Witkoppen (8km streth), which seems as though it will take quite a while.
I am so frustrated as there is no ADSL or even LTE coverage in the area, and with the LSM being 8-10, you would think they would be happy to get the good paying customers onboard. Really seems as though some companies don't see the bigger picture.

I am really sad to see that I only saw this thread now.
I have also been fighting to get FTTH to Broadacres with the different service providers. Greencome promised to have my complex (The Homestead, Lombardy Road) activated by December and 2 days AFTER they were meant to start installation, they came back and said they couldn't do it. Absolutely disgraced by Greencom, terrible service and all promises but no actions. I hope MetroFibre takes them off their Service Providers list!!!!!!!
I have been in contact with DNA Optic Fibre who are pushing for our area to get FTTH urgently. I am actually expecting a update from them later today with regards to what is happening. They however need to run the main cable all the way from Witkoppen (8km streth), which seems as though it will take quite a while.
I am so frustrated as there is no ADSL or even LTE coverage in the area, and with the LSM being 8-10, you would think they would be happy to get the good paying customers onboard. Really seems as though some companies don't see the bigger picture.

How can you not have ADSL - the MSAN is literally up the road from you (Cnr Lombardy and Syringa)? Our complex (Broadacres Country Estate) has VDSL and Telkom was actively pushing for VDSL over the last 3 month with Telkom sales people knocking on doors - I am surprised that they did not cover you guys at the bottom of Lombardy - it's not like there are many complexes along the road.

Anything mobile (LTE / 3G) is garbage, but I know that MTN is busy with their CityPower street-lamp project (hence all the street lamps being put up over the last 6-8 months). In typical MTN fashion, they forgot to ask for home-owner consent, hence you will only notice a tower at Castellet (i.e. the estate on cnr Lombardy/Syringa - you can not miss the ugly mast) - I don't think it has been powered on as the HOA was eager to have it installed but now there is an environmental impact study happening. MTN said that they will canvas properties over the next 2 months.

We spoke to Vumatel and they did not want to foot the bill to run backhaul (a good 10km from Bryanston).

MTN and Vodacom also knocked on our doors and their offering was super-expensive and we discarded it as it was not network neutral (Vodacom had some crazy OOB pricing in their offer).

Now Greencom has come along and they said that they are signing up in the area and they have loaded our estate in the signup (http://www.123contactform.com/form-1715008/Greencom-OSRF-FTTH?disable_cdn_usage=yes)

I also know that Telkom is now rushing into the area with FTTH and I have heard that they want to connect users also within Q1 (same as Greencom). Since Greencom only requires a min 3-month contract, I will give it a shot if they can confirm an installation date. Otherwise I will probably just wait for Telkom.

 

[Mr_SA]

How can you not have ADSL - the MSAN is literally up the road from you (Cnr Lombardy and Syringa)? Our complex (Broadacres Country Estate) has VDSL and Telkom was actively pushing for VDSL over the last 3 month with Telkom sales people knocking on doors - I am surprised that they did not cover you guys at the bottom of Lombardy - it's not like there are many complexes along the road.

Anything mobile (LTE / 3G) is garbage, but I know that MTN is busy with their CityPower street-lamp project (hence all the street lamps being put up over the last 6-8 months). In typical MTN fashion, they forgot to ask for home-owner consent, hence you will only notice a tower at Castellet (i.e. the estate on cnr Lombardy/Syringa - you can not miss the ugly mast) - I don't think it has been powered on as the HOA was eager to have it installed but now there is an environmental impact study happening. MTN said that they will canvas properties over the next 2 months.

We spoke to Vumatel and they did not want to foot the bill to run backhaul (a good 10km from Bryanston).

MTN and Vodacom also knocked on our doors and their offering was super-expensive and we discarded it as it was not network neutral (Vodacom had some crazy OOB pricing in their offer).

Now Greencom has come along and they said that they are signing up in the area and they have loaded our estate in the signup (http://www.123contactform.com/form-1715008/Greencom-OSRF-FTTH?disable_cdn_usage=yes)

I also know that Telkom is now rushing into the area with FTTH and I have heard that they want to connect users also within Q1 (same as Greencom). Since Greencom only requires a min 3-month contract, I will give it a shot if they can confirm an installation date. Otherwise I will probably just wait for Telkom.

As I mentioned, Greencom are full of promises and no delivery, so I really would not believe much they promise. They promised to have our complex up and running in December etc, and then realized there was no way of delivering on that. They are just a reseller for MetroFibre, so they are held back by MetroFibre and whether you go through DNA Optic Fibre or Greencome, its the same pricing and "contracts"... I just prefer to deal with the guys that are transparent.

Its Metrofibre that we need to push to lay the backbone.

I have called Telkom a few times requesting ADSL and they said there is no exchange for our complex, I even went into the Fourways Telkom branch (Headache in itself) and they said there was nothing. There is even a Telkom Box in our complex, but no ADSL infrastructure. So, the interneals have never been run in our complex... Although all the pipes etc are there for the cables, but have no cables.
It has been super frustrating moving to Broadacres for this main reason. I cant even give DSTV the boot, as I have no internet to download/stream anything. Feels like living in the stoneages.

I really hope Fibre arrives soon, as whoever gets into the area first and quickly will definitely benefit the most.

 

[DERoestorf]

How can you not have ADSL - the MSAN is literally up the road from you (Cnr Lombardy and Syringa)? Our complex (Broadacres Country Estate) has VDSL and Telkom was actively pushing for VDSL over the last 3 month with Telkom sales people knocking on doors - I am surprised that they did not cover you guys at the bottom of Lombardy - it's not like there are many complexes along the road.

Anything mobile (LTE / 3G) is garbage, but I know that MTN is busy with their CityPower street-lamp project (hence all the street lamps being put up over the last 6-8 months). In typical MTN fashion, they forgot to ask for home-owner consent, hence you will only notice a tower at Castellet (i.e. the estate on cnr Lombardy/Syringa - you can not miss the ugly mast) - I don't think it has been powered on as the HOA was eager to have it installed but now there is an environmental impact study happening. MTN said that they will canvas properties over the next 2 months.

We spoke to Vumatel and they did not want to foot the bill to run backhaul (a good 10km from Bryanston).

MTN and Vodacom also knocked on our doors and their offering was super-expensive and we discarded it as it was not network neutral (Vodacom had some crazy OOB pricing in their offer).

Now Greencom has come along and they said that they are signing up in the area and they have loaded our estate in the signup (http://www.123contactform.com/form-1715008/Greencom-OSRF-FTTH?disable_cdn_usage=yes)

I also know that Telkom is now rushing into the area with FTTH and I have heard that they want to connect users also within Q1 (same as Greencom). Since Greencom only requires a min 3-month contract, I will give it a shot if they can confirm an installation date. Otherwise I will probably just wait for Telkom.

@MagicDude4Eva

When did you speak to VUMA? I know they will be deploying in Paulshof soon, as far as I am aware, so the situation might have changed.

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

@MagicDude4Eva

When did you speak to VUMA? I know they will be deploying in Paulshof soon, as far as I am aware, so the situation might have changed.

VUMA was early in November. We provided them with a signup list of 80 units (out of 200) but they never came back. VUMA could not even be bothered to assist us with updating their website to include Broadacres as a signup area to show interest. At least Greencom has made that happen (i.e. they presented on 6th Feb and had the estate included in their website by 8th Feb).

I have now signed up with Greencom and am eager to see what the process is. Our estate has conduits/sleeves which are owned by Telkom and any FTTH provider will not be able to use those. Pulling fibre into my house is easy as in this case they will just pull through my own conduit (which is currently used by Telkom for VDSL) - so fibre will just travel into the ceiling and terminate right next to my VDSL modem - everything else is the difficult part.

 

[D3athD00r]

I spoke to guys digging trenches in Rosewood road. Metrofibre has started laying the fibre all the way along the road.