BT Openreach UK Warns Broadband Engineer Delays to Last for Months

BTOpenreach, which is responsible for managing access to BT’s UK telecoms network, has responded to our recent concerns about the delays affecting installation of new broadband and phone services. The operator asks customers to “bear with us” and warns that lead times are expected to remain higher “for some months to come“.

Today’s statement follows on from Tuesday’s report (here), which revealed that some customers were being left to wait for two months before being able to have their service installed. A separate report from the Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator (OTA2) similarly confirmed that the average weekly fault rate was 14% higher in July 2012 than July 2011 as Openreach moved to give repair work a higher priority than new service provision.

At the time we attempted to gain an official response from Openreach but this was initially also delayed while the operator mused over its wording.

BTOpenreachs Spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk:

“The UK has seen the worst summer weather for more than 100 years. There have been more than 170 flood warnings, more than double the amount of average rainfall, and in some places a month’s worth of rain falling in one day. These unprecedented conditions have caused inevitable issues in our access network with many manholes having to be pumped out before we can even begin work.

Although the weather is not as bad as it was back in June and July, it’s still being temperamental – which means our fault intake continues to be above seasonal volumes for this time of year.

The increase in fault volumes, combined with the fact that a higher proportion are taking longer to fix, has impacted the time it takes Openreach to provide service in the worst-affected areas – meaning longer lead times than we would usually expect. Our engineers are working exceptionally hard to bring these timescales down, and we have dramatically increased the number of engineers we have working on the front-line.

We recently announced the recruitment of another 400 ex-services personnel, but in addition we’re moving people back into front-line roles and using additional agency resource to get more boots on the ground. This is having a positive impact in terms of the numbers of faults cleared, but we do expect lead times to remain higher than usual for some months to come, and would ask people to bear with us.”

It’s important to mention that the current problems and lead times vary depending upon where you are in the country, with some areas suffering longer delays than others. At the same time we’ve received reports from right across the country, which suggests that the issue is still somewhat widespread.

1. DTMark

   September 6, 2012 at 11:51 am

   There’s a concept in IT called “TCO” or “total cost of ownership”. Which tends to go up as kit becomes old and is not fault tolerant.

   Still, people can always vote with their wallet and go elsewhere… oh, no, they can’t can they.

   Based on some comments I read, the engineers are indeed working exceptionally hard. It just appears there aren’t enough of them with the requisite skills.
2. Michael

   September 6, 2012 at 2:02 pm

   Another good reason for wanting fibre all the way to the premise. Less copper and electronics that can be affected by water would eventually lower the TCO mentioned, and improve overall services for customers.

   The industry has learnt over the past 30 years that having active electronics in roadside plant, and persisting with copper is always expensive, but it never seems to make it into the business cases for deploying FTTP.
3. wirelesspacman

   September 6, 2012 at 3:02 pm

   I do have sympathy with BT over this. As DTMark states, TCO rises as the network ages. However, the amount of rental that BT is able to charge for the local loop is pitiful and will certainly not have encouraged/allowed BT to retain sufficient staff to maintain the copper network. If Ofcom would stop its ridiculous stance of trying to make LLU free with a packet of cornflakes then BT would be able to invest more in keeping the copper network functioning properly and/or pushing out more fibre.
4. Deduction

   September 6, 2012 at 4:29 pm

   I do not see how flooding issues when service is often fixed/resumed within 48 hours ends up equalling a 2 month wait for people to get a service installed, even more so as wait times are up to a month plus in parts of the country (like where i live) where there has been NO flooding.

   Quite obviously BT now have become like the railways the mere site of a drop of the “wrong type” of rain and its an automatic excuse for everything to grind to a halt.
5. bob

   September 6, 2012 at 4:33 pm

   A lot of spin by BT there. A 150 flood warnings eh? How many resulted in floods though? Not very many.

   BT’s problems come down to to few staff, A very old copper network that they are not investing in& distributing electronics into cabinet around the streets, This means much higher maintainance costs and much higher failure rates.

   Given the very high population densiity in much of the UK the more logical approach would have been FTTP but as usual BT take the short term approach and it is not coming back to bite them.
6. SB

   September 7, 2012 at 3:37 pm

   I’ve certainly been a victim of these delays and I find it difficult to be sympathetic. I have had 2 engineer visits scheduled, the first was cancelled at very short notice, the second wasn’t cancelled, just the engineer never showed up, no warning given. I had booked holidays in both cases, as a lot of people have to do. I think it’s a disgrace that open reach can’t be bothered to even inform you that they are not coming. This is not being overloaded with work, it’s just bad management.
7. William Kirby

   September 13, 2012 at 10:34 am

   I have just had to accept a gap in phone and broadband service of a whole month because I am moving house to a property that does not have an active or “stopped” line and the earliest available engineer visit from Openreach was 6 weeks away. This is Totally Unacceptable and someone at Openreach should be taken out and shot for this.
8. Flick

   September 17, 2012 at 7:44 pm

   Can anyone give an idea of location vs delay? A colleague of mine had hers up and running within two weeks. I just put in an order up north in Stockton through TalkTalk and am having to wait until October 22nd (or even November 2nd) for an engineer (BT Openreach I’m told)

   Had I known about the delay sooner, I would have put in an earlier order; but thinking that my colleague’s experience was the norm, I left it till today for what I thought might be an early October date.

   Going by the posts above: I am now worrying about whether the engineer will even show up.

   Does anyone know if Sky or other providers might be able to provide earlier dates?
   • Roy Thomson

     December 5, 2012 at 4:46 pm

     Unfortunately you will still be at the mercy of BT Openreach if you have a copper wired connection to your property. This is the problem with the BT monopoly and it will continue until it is broken somehow.
9. John

   September 29, 2012 at 8:24 pm

   I placed an order with Sky on 28/09/2012 for phone and broadband services at my new address. I have been told that the engineer will call on 29/11/2012 – a wait of 9 weeks. This is even though there is an active line at my new address, and all that is required is a change in the name of subscriber. I often work from home and I will be restricted to a mobile dongle and a 2GB data limit for two months. Is it any surprise that the UK is so far behind other countries w it comes to Internet service and coverage?
10. Alessandro

    October 17, 2012 at 4:38 pm

    I have been waiting on a new line installation since the 31st of August. 3 Engineer appointments have gone by, 2 didn’t have the right gear, the last didn’t even show up. In all 3 cases I had taken time off work to wait for them. My next appointment is on the 22nd of November and I live in Fulham. Not only there is a monopoly regime in place such that only Openreach can do the necessary installation, but Openreach cannot even be contacted directly for some baffling reason and customers are treated in a shocking manner, left waiting for entire months by some careless and/or incompetent people. This is a third world country service not in line with the status claimed by London and the UK. I will certainly be suing Openreach for all the money and time they have cost me and my solicitor has advised me I will most likely be entitled to compensation. I invite everyone in my same conditions to do the same.
    • Bobpenarth

      December 21, 2012 at 5:31 pm

      OpenReach are practically accountable to no one. The Office of the Ombudsman advised me they would only deal with complaints about my service provider ie BT Retail. they also advised me to contact Ofcom which I have have done but do not expect results. Why? because I have no contract with OpenReach. My contract is with BT Retail and it is only thro them that I can try and put pressure on OpenReach ergo OpenReach become unaccountable. I have written to my MP who has passed my issue on to BT ad that is probably the best way to change the unaccountable nature of the beast.
      Openreach say they have a complaints system but it is only about their employees and had no facility for complaints about BT OpenReaches organisation, moreover it is only available on the web! So tough luck webless granny et al. BT Retails complaints system is written only, snailmail (post) no email text or TELEPHONES!!! So that is what you are up against and how they BT maintain their unaccountability.

      Don’t spend hours going round the BT complaints loop, just contact your local MP and hope he has some clout.

      Good Luck you will need it!!!
11. Simon

    October 19, 2012 at 8:03 am

    I’m also a victim of OpenReach’s monopoly. This should be big news, it’s absolutely outrageous. The unemployment is so high with many people looking for jobs yet we cannot get basic services because of a lack of manpower!
    • Bobpenarth

      December 21, 2012 at 5:36 pm

      Try your local MP, BT dont have a complaints system that either works or is meant to work. Have been fightingthem for the last 5 monthswith no results. Finally went the local MP route and will report back later.
12. Ian

    October 23, 2012 at 7:35 am

    like many here I have waited 4 weeks to get an engineer to simply make a line active again. Yesterday I spent 6 hours in the office waiting for the engineer to turn up and he just didnt arrive. No call to explain. When I finally got through to business mover section they said that he had been delayed on another job. THis lazy couldnt care less attitude has been endemic in BT since it started. Engineers dont turn up because they are already at home with their feet up. If this company had any serious competition they would be out of business within 6 months. A total disgrace
13. Lorraine

    November 12, 2012 at 7:01 pm

    Moved house 7 weeks ago and and have waited all this time for an engineer to visit and guess what? couldn’t complete the job! So still no phone or broadband – absolutely outrageous that Openreach have a monopoly on this and nothing can be done about it!
    • Bobpenarth

      December 21, 2012 at 5:40 pm

      Best to try your local MP, BTs complaints system is designed to work NOT. Have been pursuing my issue for 5 months and am now waiting to see if my MP. Can make a difference, try yours or the Guardian/Observer newspaper complaints section.
14. Jon Crimes

    November 13, 2012 at 8:11 pm

    I’m living in North Wales.

    We organised a home move with Sky last week and got given 14th Jan as a date to ‘switch on’ the phone line!

    Totally unacceptable but what choice do we have?

    Jim
15. Roy Thomson

    December 5, 2012 at 4:40 pm

    I left BT some years ago because of their appalling service, high cost and bureaucracy. Now with Talk Talk, who are cheap but also give poor service, I have still run into the old BT problems whilst trying to upgrade to fibre. This is because BT Openreach have the monopoly of installing the fibre modem and the last link to my home. I have had four BT Openreach engineer appointments to date and nobody has turned up or even phoned! My complaints to BT were just dismissed and Talk Talk are unable to help. The sooner BT’s monopoly is broken on the final link to every house, the better, in my view.
16. Keith Rigby

    December 6, 2012 at 2:27 pm

    My wife is a carer for a man severely disabled with multiple sclerosis. At his former home he was provided with an emergency carephone, from which he could summon assistance in an emergency. This was connected to his land line (fibre, Virgin, at that address.)

    Unfortunately at his new purposely built flat, fibre is not available, and he has had to make an application to BT for a phone line. He has been given a date over six weeks away. In the meantime he has no means of summoning assistance. I have repeatedly contacted BT to impress upon them the urgency of the situation, and have usually been kept on hold (50 minutes the first time) eventually I resorted to a written complaint, delivered by recorded delivery, a copy being sent by email. Today I received a call on my mobile from BT, saying they were ‘In the hands of Openreach’ (a BT company)but he’d do what he could. He transferred me to an Asian gentleman (same one, by the sound of things, that promised to call me earlier this week, and didn’t,) who put me on hold. After waiting on hold over twenty minutes, the line went dead. I have received no further call, and I have no way of directly contacting the man who spoke to me (all I get is a recorded message, when I try to return the call.)

    BT still carry on just as they did in the 70’s. It is the most disorganised, shambolic and inefficient organisation in the UK today. Their ‘customer service’ is a poor joke. This man could DIE, if he is unable to summon assistance. If the worst happens, or he suffers any permanent injury as a result of this – I will never let BT hear the end of it. BT – here is the order number [AGTEA4561862] You have my number [Just in case anyone at BT actually reads these posts.]
    • Bobpenarth

      December 21, 2012 at 5:43 pm

      I thoroughly sympathise since I have had a similarcexperience and am now trying to get action via my local MP, I’d suggest you do the same since the BT complaints system is designed NOT to work.
17. Rob

    December 6, 2012 at 3:51 pm

    Moved house at end of Sep, they were due out end of October, didn’t show up, despite the fact that the house next door was connected that day the bloke refused to do mine and said someone would be round later – never happened and they claimed they tried to enter the property which was a lie. Now have to wait until Jan 14th a absoloute joke, Sky are hopeless and getting things sorted out and OFCOM don’t want to know – my wife is pregnant and we can’t get a phone line for at least 3.5 months – who knows if they will even turn up then.
18. Steve

    January 31, 2013 at 10:44 am

    I’m sorry i thought it was 2013 not 500AD… I’m sick to death of waiting for these idiots so ive CANCELED, i advise you all to do the same

Comments RSS Feed