Sarah Lands Estate - Keysborough

Final update it would appear ...

Smart Communities have got back to me from Telstra and have categorically stated that the estate will be Copper and not fibre. Even though we are surrounded by fibre, we will be copper. End of story.

I was told to put in an order for a phone line and this would trigger an install of the infrastructure ... which I did ... whichTelstra then cancelled as a result of NOT finding infrastructure!!! The guy at Smart Communities said that was stupid and I need to go back and tell them to place the order again and get the Network Planning Team to trigger the install request ...

Left hand and right hand not working together.

I asked about whether the estate would ever get fibre and he stated that it was down to NBN to install whenever they wanted to. But that "Sarah Lands was a bit of a mess" and that he "cringes every time someone mentions anything about Keysborough".

I think I'm pretty exhausted now both mentally and in terms of where to go. He has stated that the phone line will support ADSL when it's installed which is better than nothing I suppose.

If anyone else has any ideas ... let me know ... otherwise I'll spend more time speaking with Telstra to try and get them to finally install the copper infrastructure. But Smart Communities have also stated that it might take a "number of orders to be placed to get some action due to the newness of the estate and Tesltra not wanting to find their copper being ripped up and sold by opportunist thieves".

Sorry guys. I tried!

Hi folks!

Just updating you, I have placed an order for Telstra home phone last week. I got a ring this evening from my case officer saying that there will be a delay in cabling from exchange to us and he's unable to give any details for the delay. Further, network team is working on it and he will get back to me in 10 days with an update.
If anyone else is interested I suppose you don't need to wait until you move in. The best thing is to place an order so that we can push Telstra to take a decision.

Thanks APR.

It's good to read that more people are getting onto Telstra. Great also that you heard back from your case manager. Mine seems to have put her phone onto permanent answer phone and seems to be AWOL.

I can't believe that the network planning team can't tell us what's going on. I live in hope that they are trying to work on how to get us fibre as I still stand by that there is an email floating around Telstra saying that it's not possible to lay copper. We might be lucky. But either way it shouldn't take this long to provide a phone line. I thought they had a legal requirement to get us connected.

I've written a letter to all new residents about the struggles but can't print it at the moment. Will keep trying and rally the troops as more and more people move in. It looks like lots of houses are now nearing completion and so it won't be so lonely here on the loop!!

When we do all catch up ... The stories we can share lol!!!

Hi guys!
Sorry I have been silent - had issues every where and just couldn't take another thing on.
I have been in contact with the planning department of Telstra today and he says that Denmark Rd has copper and he doesn't see why we shouldn't get it. He says that we are not in a black spot. He has lodged a request with the girl in charge of our area and will get back to me on Monday. He says that we should get some form of infrastructure and it doesn't make sense for them to put copper in when they currently have fibre running around us. He says to leave it with him and he will fight for us.
I will let you know when I find out more.
He has our street and our house on their system and could tell me exactly where are block etc is.
Will post when I hear more.

Ok! I have just heard back from Telstra and they have said that copper will be installed - looks like June. They are emailing me a contact number to call to try and find out more info as to why it is copper and not fibre. The guy said that are far as he can tell it has been at developers request.
I have also spoken to Peter (Manager at KR Peters!) and he is looking into this and will contact developer to find out why they have requested copper not fibre. I said that this is not one as part of the land specifics we had to have fibre connections into our houses - why did they make us pay to put fibre connections in when they have only asked for copper.
He is going to look at it all and get back to me. Apparently he has land in our estate as well. He said he will have to relook at the land contracts etc to see what they state and get a reply from the developer.
Will let you know when I have more.

Hi Suzier. Thanks for the updates.

Seems to confirm the many things I've found out and placed on the forum earlier.

Telstra told me copper will be installed. Then in another phone call said copper wouldn't be cost effective for the estate. Hence we are in this circle of waiting for someone to make a decision.

The Telstra Velocity Team told me that if all residents of the estate phone and ask for Velocity (fibre) Telstra will sit up and listen. But this means everyone contacting the department and keeping asking for the install.

The guy from KR Peters can check the land contract but he's signed away his rights to any infrastructure (as detailed in a previous post on this forum).

The structural engineer stated that there was no requirement for the developers to provide any telecoms as per the building permit issued for the development of the land so they haven't installed any telecoms or stated a preference. So there is conflicting information there. I believe Telstra is the provider for developments of less than 100 homes.

One of the other residents is an NBN engineer who has looked at the telecoms pit and he said it's a fibre pit. Not copper. I can't confirm this by looking in the pit as I don't know what I'm looking for.

There is a LOT of conflicting information and the only people who can sort this are Telstra as they can only provide the infrastructure.

I'd be fascinated to see what Janine can do. She's been as much use as a chocolate tea pot for us. Less helpful in fact as at least I could eat the chocolate.

As for the crossover. We were told by our builder that the crossover had changed and we requested it to change back. We heard nothing from Janine or the developers. We counted ourselves pretty lucky that the builder picked up on the changeover. When we challenged Janine about this, she stated "the plans were provisional and you should not have tried to speak with builders until they were final". Our point was, that the builder provided us with the final plans and not Janine.

Keep fighting! I've gone as far as I can now with Telstra.

Hi again.

I already spoke with Smart Communities. I have the guys name and employee number somewhere. He was categoric in stating we would be copper. End of story.

I will be fascinated if you get told something else.

I did list the conversation I had with the guy in an earlier post. He stated that "Keysborough is a bit of a mess and he cringes each time someone calls".

So good luck!

Should we get the Journal Newspaper involved? They might be interested. They seem to like small community vs big corporation stories.
It is this to pushy?

Hi guys!
Thanks for your updates. Suzier! Please add me to your list as well. I am sure a few of the residents that I know will join us too.
It's also good to get the involvement of media
Just a suggestion - can't we lodge a case for telecommunications ombudsmen? It might help.