Fibre on Demand (FoD / FTTPoD)
As many of you may recall BTWholesale’s FoD service, which offers the potential for people within reach of an FTTC capable line to order a full ultrafast fibre optic (FTTP) broadband connection (provided you don’t mind paying for most of the often hugely expensive civil works), has been stalled on a “stop sell” for over a year because the service was too time consuming and expensive to install (here).
Since then Openreach has conducted a number of FoD2 trials, which have attempted to make the process of deploying the service faster and thus more cost effective. At this stage the service is still very expensive and not really intended for residential homes, but the improvements have been enough to get the “stop sell” lifted. According to BTWholesale, “Stop Sell lifted March 2016 following improvements in order handling and installation process.”
However the expected lead times for delivery have been extended. Otherwise it’s now down to ISPs with regards to whether or not they begin offering the service again.