Kloon
Expert Member
This thread is to serve as a general thread regarding Vumatel Fibre in Brackenfell North (Ferndale, Bracken Heights, Eden Park, Springbok Park, Morgenster, Morgenster Heights & Aurana. I will try and keep this updated with build information untill all work has been done and then we can transition it to general thread about service in the area.
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On the 9th of November 2017, Vumatel held their townhall meeting for Brackenfell North residents informing them about the rollout of Fibre to the area. Vumatel then officially started trenching the next day, the 10th of November 2017. Brackenfell North has been broken up into 9 areas, two of which had trenching kicked off on the 10th, Area 7 & Area 4.
It has been 2 weeks now, Area 7 already has their trenching done, ground and wall boxes placed and the majority of the reinstatement work, ie. retarring and restoring paving etc, has been completed, only a couple more streets to go.
In Area 4 they are still busy with trenching in some streets but a large portion of work is already done and there is also a team busy with reinstatement work in that area. The area is much bigger than Area 7 plus it houses the POP ( Point Of Presence ).
Area 6 seems like the next area to get done, as the whole of last week they drilled all the holes underneath the streets where the fibre needs to cross over. I went looking in the other area and could not see any sign of work being started there yet.
From talking with the contractors and Vuma team there is only one POP ( Point Of Presence ) for Brackenfell North. This is the point where your house and the areas are connected to the main network that leads back to the datacenter in Cape Town. The POP is located in Area 4, next to the NG Church at the primary school. The POP is fully constructed and operational with a backup generator, just in need of the fibre lines now from the looks of things. According to Vumatel each house in the area will have a dedicated line via the POP to the datacenter.
Vumatel has been very communicative providing weekly email updates about progress in the area for those that are signed up to their mailing list. I will keep this thread updated with more information as the roll-out progresses.
Unfortunately, all civil has to stop on the 15th of December 2017 and can only commence again in the new year, so hopefully they will have another area done by the time they need to stop.
[UPDATE 29 Nov 2017]
Vumatal has started trenching in area 6 and area 1. Area 4 also seems close to completion, they have started to inject the actual fibreoptic cables into the trunking and distribution boxes which means that they are close to done.
[UPDATE 7 Dec 2017]
Vumatel has updated their roll out map and from what can be seen 3 new area has had civil work commence, areas 5, 6 and 9. Nothing on the map regarding area 1, however a resident has reported that they started doing some digging there.
All these new areas has an estimated fibre ready date of Jan 2018, and since I live in area 6, I can confirm they are progressing nicely here, I would say 90% of the houses in the area has had trunking holders installed underneath the driveways, the actual trunking still needs to be laid though.
Areas 4 and 7 are in the final stages of fibre works as they call it, where they pull through and connect the actual fibre lines. Estimated fibre ready dates for these areas are still Dec 2017, so these residents will likely be lit in the next week or two.
[UPDATE 11 Jan 2018]
Although the proposed start date should have been 15 Jan after the forced downtime by CCT the teams have been back at work since 10 Jan already. This morning there seems to be larger than usual teams on the street already busy trenching.
[UPDATE 17 Jan 2018]
Vuma sent out an email confirming that Areas 4 & 7 are now live. It seems they might have been live since earlier the week since I talked to a installer yesterday that confirmed they are busy installing a fibre line for a client in the street.
[Update 24 Jan 2018]
For the most part the contruction teams have left area 6 with just a few still here and there doing reinstatment work. Also spoted the Fusiooptics team in the area busy blowing the actual fibre and connecting it up to the wall boxes. Observed and chatted a bit with one of the workers while he was doing 2 houses. Each house will be getting 2 fibre strands into their wall boxes, so you can have 2 connections or they can use the other one in case the one breaks somewhere. He also mentioned that they are aiming to have area 6 live by next week Friday.
[Update 26 Jan 2018]
Latest update from Vumatel:
Area 1 - Fibre work in progress
Area 2 - Fibre work in progress
Area 3 - Fibre work in progress
Area 4 - Live
Area 5 - Fibre work in progress
Area 6 - Fibre work in progress
Area 7 - Live
Area 8 - Civil work in progress
Area 9 - Civil work in progress
[Update 2 Feb 2018]
Latest update from Vumatel is that all areas are now in the final stage, Fibre Works, before going live. In my area, area 6 the Fusionoptics teams as well as the Vuma teams have been heavily active blowing fibre, and splicing. Spoke to one of the Vuma people and although they do not want to give exact dates, he said that all areas will definitely be live before the end of February, some areas earlier in February than others.
[Update 7 Feb 2018]
Areas 3, 6 and 9 are now also live.
Join the Facebook Group
On the 9th of November 2017, Vumatel held their townhall meeting for Brackenfell North residents informing them about the rollout of Fibre to the area. Vumatel then officially started trenching the next day, the 10th of November 2017. Brackenfell North has been broken up into 9 areas, two of which had trenching kicked off on the 10th, Area 7 & Area 4.
It has been 2 weeks now, Area 7 already has their trenching done, ground and wall boxes placed and the majority of the reinstatement work, ie. retarring and restoring paving etc, has been completed, only a couple more streets to go.
In Area 4 they are still busy with trenching in some streets but a large portion of work is already done and there is also a team busy with reinstatement work in that area. The area is much bigger than Area 7 plus it houses the POP ( Point Of Presence ).
Area 6 seems like the next area to get done, as the whole of last week they drilled all the holes underneath the streets where the fibre needs to cross over. I went looking in the other area and could not see any sign of work being started there yet.
From talking with the contractors and Vuma team there is only one POP ( Point Of Presence ) for Brackenfell North. This is the point where your house and the areas are connected to the main network that leads back to the datacenter in Cape Town. The POP is located in Area 4, next to the NG Church at the primary school. The POP is fully constructed and operational with a backup generator, just in need of the fibre lines now from the looks of things. According to Vumatel each house in the area will have a dedicated line via the POP to the datacenter.
Vumatel has been very communicative providing weekly email updates about progress in the area for those that are signed up to their mailing list. I will keep this thread updated with more information as the roll-out progresses.
Unfortunately, all civil has to stop on the 15th of December 2017 and can only commence again in the new year, so hopefully they will have another area done by the time they need to stop.
[UPDATE 29 Nov 2017]
Vumatal has started trenching in area 6 and area 1. Area 4 also seems close to completion, they have started to inject the actual fibreoptic cables into the trunking and distribution boxes which means that they are close to done.
[UPDATE 7 Dec 2017]
Vumatel has updated their roll out map and from what can be seen 3 new area has had civil work commence, areas 5, 6 and 9. Nothing on the map regarding area 1, however a resident has reported that they started doing some digging there.
All these new areas has an estimated fibre ready date of Jan 2018, and since I live in area 6, I can confirm they are progressing nicely here, I would say 90% of the houses in the area has had trunking holders installed underneath the driveways, the actual trunking still needs to be laid though.
Areas 4 and 7 are in the final stages of fibre works as they call it, where they pull through and connect the actual fibre lines. Estimated fibre ready dates for these areas are still Dec 2017, so these residents will likely be lit in the next week or two.
[UPDATE 11 Jan 2018]
Although the proposed start date should have been 15 Jan after the forced downtime by CCT the teams have been back at work since 10 Jan already. This morning there seems to be larger than usual teams on the street already busy trenching.
[UPDATE 17 Jan 2018]
Vuma sent out an email confirming that Areas 4 & 7 are now live. It seems they might have been live since earlier the week since I talked to a installer yesterday that confirmed they are busy installing a fibre line for a client in the street.
[Update 24 Jan 2018]
For the most part the contruction teams have left area 6 with just a few still here and there doing reinstatment work. Also spoted the Fusiooptics team in the area busy blowing the actual fibre and connecting it up to the wall boxes. Observed and chatted a bit with one of the workers while he was doing 2 houses. Each house will be getting 2 fibre strands into their wall boxes, so you can have 2 connections or they can use the other one in case the one breaks somewhere. He also mentioned that they are aiming to have area 6 live by next week Friday.
[Update 26 Jan 2018]
Latest update from Vumatel:
Area 1 - Fibre work in progress
Area 2 - Fibre work in progress
Area 3 - Fibre work in progress
Area 4 - Live
Area 5 - Fibre work in progress
Area 6 - Fibre work in progress
Area 7 - Live
Area 8 - Civil work in progress
Area 9 - Civil work in progress
[Update 2 Feb 2018]
Latest update from Vumatel is that all areas are now in the final stage, Fibre Works, before going live. In my area, area 6 the Fusionoptics teams as well as the Vuma teams have been heavily active blowing fibre, and splicing. Spoke to one of the Vuma people and although they do not want to give exact dates, he said that all areas will definitely be live before the end of February, some areas earlier in February than others.
[Update 7 Feb 2018]
Areas 3, 6 and 9 are now also live.
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