Fibre broadband update
A few people have asked me recently about Fibre Broadband availability in Escrick - getting detailed information out of BT OpenReach is difficult, so this is based on what I've managed to piece together, rather than an official position. The official position is simply that you should check: www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/where-and-when/ and wait patiently!
For the more impatient or curious......
To get fibre broadband (known as "Fibre to the cabinet" - FTTC), your phone line needs to be connected to both an exchange that has been fibre enabled and a street cabinet (known as a Primary Connection Point cabinet - PCP) that has been enabled for fibre broadband.
Significantly, only phone lines connected to PCP cabinets can get FTTC - phone lines that are connected directly to telephone exchanges cannot (known as "exchange only lines"). This is apparently because OfCom rules prohibit BT from installing the FTTC equipment within telephone exchange premises because it can interfere with other equipment.
For the Escrick area, historically most of Escrick village had "exchange only lines" - i.e. connected directly to the telephone exchange on the A19. There were two PCP cabinets connected to the Escrick exchange: Cabinet 1 for Stillingfleet; and Cabinet 2 for the Escrick Business Park on the A19.
Cabinet 1 has recently been upgraded to offer fibre broadband, and hence most Stillingfleet residents should now be able to get fibre broadband. Cabinet 2 has not yet been upgraded.
The more observant will notice that a few months ago a pair of new cabinets appeared outside the Escrick Telephone Exchange on the A19 - one of these is a new PCP cabinet (Cabinet 3) and one of these is a FTTC cabinet. This is BT's approach for "exchange only" lines - namely to put a PCP cabinet outside the exchange, and move the phone lines from being exchange only lines into cabinet connections, and then connect them to a FTTC cabinet nearby.
You can use BT's website to see which cabinet or exchange your phone line is connected to by entering your number on the BT website:
https://www.dslchecker.bt.com/pls/adsl/ADSLChecker.TelephoneNumberOutput
If you are connected to a cabinet this will be shown on the first line - if no cabinet number is shown, you are most likely an "exchange only" line.
Given that the new cabinet 3 is physically installed, and that cabinet 1 has recently been upgraded to fibre broadband - hopefully this is a sign that fibre broadband is nearly here!