Openreach Deploy Low Level Error Correction on New FTTC Lines

After last year’s Proof of Concept (PoC) test Openreach has now decided to start applying “low level error correction” on all new UK Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) superfast broadband lines, which they hope will result in fewer fault reports being made by customers during the initial provision phase.

At present the Dynamic Line Management (DLM) system is used to control the speed and stability of related lines, although after first provision (new installation) it usually takes about 48 hours before this is introduced (your speed may go up or down depending upon how stable DLM thinks the line is); the error correction involved at later stages, if enabled, may also increase the line’s latency (may be different for low level correction).

In other words, all new FTTC lines are initially provided on a line profile with their speed capped at the product rate and no error protection. “This can lead to customers raising faults before DLM starts working due to excessive data errors which impact their broadband service. Following the successful proof of concept we will be applying low level error correction on all new lines,” said Openreach.

We did ask Openreach for a little extra background on this last year but had no response. Sadly the public briefing doesn’t shed much light on their approach, although ISPs do have access to a more detailed private briefing (here). As above, this change is only a temporary tweak for the initial provision phase pre-DLM.