Cable in Isle of Dogs (Canary Wharf) E14

JonathanCassar · 09-03-2009, 17:58

Hi,
Dispite there being various CATV covers in the street & Cable and Wirless Cabinets etc Virgin Media have no coverage in my area dispite it being recently built and high density housing in the main.

I've emailed virgin about this and got their usual stock answer about cable being expensive etc to lay and completely ignored my point that CATV cabinets etc and manhole covers are present in the area.

on the samknows website it says yes to cable (even though virgin says no to various postcodes in the area)

I'm not expecting this to change anytime soon but would love to know WHY when there appears to be infrastructure there is no cable services.

If anyone knows the reason please reply or if anyone a contact at virgin who could answer why theres no provision, would be appriciated.

Thanks

J

m419 · 09-03-2009, 18:15

Your better off telephoning Virgin Media,that website post code search engine gives far too much inaccurate.

Your area is in an ex-Bell Cable Media (Cable and Wireless/NTL) franchise, if you phone up Virgin Media on 0800-183-1234 free, tell them that there is an issue with recognising your address as being Cabled! Even if there is no Cable socket present they will provide a new connection.

JonathanCassar · 09-03-2009, 19:28

will try that thanks

spiderplant · 09-03-2009, 19:55

Bad news, I'm afraid.

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/10...e-of-dogs.html

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...d.php?t=349679

JonathanCassar · 10-03-2009, 06:21

that explains the CATV boxes and no cable!!

I searched Canary wharf and E14 - but not Isle of Dogs Typical!! strange thay didnt update it though as the area has a very high concentration of riverside apartments and (not so) rich bankers etc!

m419 · 10-03-2009, 12:16

Well I know someone that lives round there and they have phone and broadband. Give them a call anyway! That news sounds old,NTL said the same about the Westminster area,next minute,I see them offering Cable Broadband!

JonathanCassar · 10-03-2009, 12:51

is there a good coverage map anywhere as im really confused now!!
are there any forum members in the E14 (island gardens area) that has Cable BB?

Thanks

m419 · 10-03-2009, 15:03

Thats what I was looking for too,because a friend of mine needs to know what streets are covered by the network covering Westminster, and not all of the borough is covered and some streets are no longer able to because of redevelopment.

m419 · 10-03-2009, 22:01

http://allyours.virginmedia.com/form...ableLeads.html

Fill in that form and Virgin Media will investigate it for you.

moneyballs2 · 06-04-2009, 23:13

Apparently NTL (Now Virgin Media) started off their services on the Isle of Dogs!

I've been waiting for 3 years for them to come back, the BT wiring on the Isle of Dogs sucks. I can see Canary Wharf from my window, and still I can't get a broadband connection that downloads faster than 50kb/s.

Not to mention the poor souls that live on the Eastern side of Manchester Road! They can't get any broadband services full stop the wiring is so bad.

The fact Virgin Media isn't available on the Isle of Dogs is sad, and to rub salt in the wounds every bill board on the Isle of Dogs seems to be displaying adverts for Virgin Media's super fast broadband. A sign of things to come? I bloody hope so!

I've used that form m419 posted (above) and hopefully I'll get a positive result. Not holding my breath though... I emailed them about 2 years ago asking why it wasn't available and they just mirrored what I said in my email saying "Sorry the service is not available in your area."

I was told by a friend that Virgin Media were laying cables along Eastferry Road, contractors were Beach (or Beech) a few months ago, and have seen a lot of road works all laying wires, but I think it's more for the new buildings being built... They had signs saying that they were working on behalf of Virgin Media I believe...

I also think that some people towards the West of the Isle of Dogs are activated, I've tried a few postcodes and did find one once that was activated, I have since forgotten exactly where, but am in the process of trying to find out.

As you can see, from all that I have typed, I've been waiting for this for a long long time and have spies around the Isle of Dogs looking out for it! I am sick of BT connections being dirt slow and getting a broadband connection that only people in the countryside get. I'm in London and can't even get proper broadband.

/rant, much...

weesteev · 06-04-2009, 23:22

Isle of dogs is a tricky area. The previous posts about NTL turning off the network there is "semi correct" to this day. Virgin Media dont take new installs there and have no digital capabilities. IOD was supplied by analogue TV and telephone services (think Southampton, Slough) but was never upgraded but written off. Its very unlikely that Virgin will ever upgrade that area but no doubt let people slowly make the switch to other providers then eventually switch it off completely.

The wiring issue on IOD is similair to the issue in Hull (from what i remember). Lots of aluminium cables fitted by BT which make them totally unsuitable for broadband, the bigger problem being there is no HFC network suitable for broadband either (at least Hull had Kingston to make up for the lack of decent BT service).

Basically, your stuffed. Not a great position to be in 2009 in the centre of London, but this has been a bone of contention for some time now. As soon as there is any change to Virgins "new build" policy then it will be up on this forum so worth while staying tuned (albeit on the edge of your seat).

Keep us posted on your progress though, always interesting to see how these pan out.

JonathanCassar · 10-06-2009, 09:29

I just don't get why in an area on very high density population of fairly affluent people there is no cable - its not just broadband but TV where Virgin would gain income

Also the IOD is a peninsular so surely you could lay cable on the Thames bank enabling all the riverside developments to be wired up

My development alone has over a 1000 people and many I know would sign up on virgin just to get away from 2MB/s

So multiply that up and there's definitely a market.

Also my building is prewired for cable! (There's a coax type cable with phone cable attached in my wall) so they would only have to wire to the building.

I realise this riverside idea would only help some people on the IOD but it seems a start to build from at least.

Just my $0.02

m419 · 10-06-2009, 16:22

The network exists around Canaray Wharf,However,NTL pulled out of residential services and the housing estates for some reason. Apparently the cost of upgrading the network for Digital TV would be costly.

I know for a fact that Virgin/NTL Telewest Business phone is still active in that area,perhaps its for the existing businesses.

What I suggest you do, is write to Virgin Media together with a sort of petition of all the residents and also businesses that want Virgin Media services, Virgin Media will be particularly interested in those taking all 3 services.

With regards to your property already having coax cable fitted,that is probably for a communal satellite dish or aerial. However it doesn't cost much to cable a building,it's expensive when they have to dig up and lay cable.

So what I suggest you do now, is write to Virgin Media with your ideas and don't forget to include a list of all those wanting Virgin Media.

JonathanCassar · 10-06-2009, 16:39

They dont seem to be seeking new business though

My friends address that has a disused cable point at his front door comes up as unavailable!!

We have seperate cabling for SAT/aerial this is definately cable cable (its coax +twised pair in one)

Just curious how many yes's would be viable? 100's or thousands??

m419 · 10-06-2009, 18:50

Well the best you can do is just have a go also inform them how poor BT Broadband and how poor BT's cabling is in this area.