Coaxial cable lifespan

[Cardiffman282]

Does anyone know what the anticipated lifespan is of VM's buried coaxial cabling?

I am aware that a long term project has begun to upgrade the cabling by 2028 but some of the legacy cabling will already be decades old. For example the relevant manholes in my street still say Cabletel (and the BT ones Post Office - but that's another issue).

Basic online searches suggest anything between 20-30 years... which is very much coming up where I am.

Will 2028 be fast enough? 

[Tudor]

Basically with this type of thing, they last as long as they last. I’m sure there are lots of external factors like temperature, humidity and how often the cable has been disturbed. 

[goslow]

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@Cardiffman282 wrote:

Does anyone know what the anticipated lifespan is of VM's buried coaxial cabling?

<snip>

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If the cable is the proper external grade stuff (designed for direct burial, UV resistant etc. etc.) it will last a very long time. If it is buried correctly, and left undisturbed, the cable would be in a relatively 'stable' environment.

During the summer I removed some external grade VM cable (installed by NTL in 2001) from the front wall of my house. The cable itself was pretty much in perfect condition with no sign of any damage or deterioration.

The connectors and splitters in the omnibox, however, were heavily corroded after 22 years outside (even in the omnibox) and would certainly need replacing if the cable from the street was ever to be used again.

[nodrogd]

I have been using the same drop from the cabinet that was installed by County Cable in 1993. External splitter has been replaced once. I've also had one isolator replaced. Everything else is original.

[Cardiffman282]

Well blow me down. I just looked at One Network and overnight a huge rash of little phones have suddenly appeared for my wider neighbourhood in Cardiff. It is literally like something out of Dr Who seeing all of them suddenly appear. They are all for Virgin Media, are all for next Monday through Wednesday, and all state:

"BUILD NEW CABINET AND CORE DRILL".

The area is a very mature ex Cabletel VM area. 

What to make of it? 

[nodrogd]

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@Cardiffman282 wrote:

Well blow me down. I just looked at One Network and overnight a huge rash of little phones have suddenly appeared for my wider neighbourhood in Cardiff. It is literally like something out of Dr Who seeing all of them suddenly appear. They are all for Virgin Media, are all for next Monday through Wednesday, and all state:

"BUILD NEW CABINET AND CORE DRILL".

The area is a very mature ex Cabletel VM area. 

What to make of it? 

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XGS-PON fibre prep more than likely. These will be installed alongside the existing HFC cabinets in most locations, with the exception of the L2.5 powered boxes which are huge & require a large pit in front.

[Cardiffman282]

Thanks very much. A lot sooner than I expected. 

[Adduxi]

Our area has had several of those L4 cabinets installed about a year ago.  Nothing else has progressed however.  Any cable users I know in the area have had no contact regarding fibre upgrades. 

[goslow]

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@Adduxi wrote:

Our area has had several of those L4 cabinets installed about a year ago.  Nothing else has progressed however.  Any cable users I know in the area have had no contact regarding fibre upgrades. 

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Same in my area (formerly NTL, 20+ years old infrastructure). Plenty of new cabinet building alongside existing cabinet locations within the last year but not much sign of any other activity.

[Roger_Gooner]

Most of the coaxial cables are in ducts, so not direct-buried. Some of these cables are over 30 years old and I'm sure that the cables between the nodal and distribution cabinets in my area were installed at least 25 years ago.  As my broadband and TV are rock solid, I have no concerns about them.

VM is doing project Mustang to migrate from DOCSIS to IP by using XGS-PON, and the major part of this is getting fibre to a new set of cabinets by the end of 2028. You'll find these cabinets installed next to existing ones as all the new fibre has been wriggled through existing ducts.