No Broadband for Two Months at New Social Flats in Hastings

Residents at a new block of flats on the Bohemy Fields development in Hastings (East Sussex, UK) have become deeply despondent after finding that their homes, which began being occupied during May 2018, have yet to even be connected to Openreach’s (BT) national broadband ISP network.

The property developer, Optivo (note: the actual build was done by Trinity Homes), describes Bohemy Fields as offering “a selection of 16 contemporary homes through shared ownership: 10 three-bedroom houses, and 6 two-bed apartments situated near to the sea front in lovely St Leonards-on-Sea.” Sounds nice but what they don’t tell you is that nobody has bothered to connect the block of flats up for broadband before tenants moved in.

Apparently the flats on this development already have all of the internal cables and infrastructure necessary to connect into Openreach’s “fibre” network (it’s unclear if this means FTTC or FTTP). A spokesperson for Optivo told the Hastings Observer that, “We left all homes ready for BT fibre internet, meaning all residents had to do was contact BT to get their lines up and running.”

Sadly this has proven not to be the case because no ISPs have been able to connect residents, which is largely because of an unspecified delay with connecting the building into Openreach’s network.

A Spokesperson for Openreach said:

“We’re really sorry for the delay in connecting up the properties at Bohemia Road. Our engineers have carried (out) some work already, and will be returning to complete the job as soon as possible. We’re treating this as a priority and will be getting people connected at the earliest opportunity.”

Residents have also been complaining that nobody can recognise their address, which is a common problem. One of the most notorious issues with buying a new home is the fact that the address you receive is so new that it isn’t widely recognised (i.e. has yet to propagate to various databases). Problems like this usually fix themselves, but it can often take several months and meanwhile getting any new services ordered will require extra effort.

In these cases it’s often best to call a provider and speak with somebody directly because the ISP’s online ordering systems may struggle if they can’t identify your address. Similarly you may have trouble confirming whether or not your property can even get a connection, which adds an extra layer of difficulty.

As a rule it’s always wise to discuss these things with the property developer BEFORE you buy and if they do promise a “fibre” based service then try to get it confirmed in writing. We’d also recommend confirming which services will be available and how long they may take to install. Some developments may also have their own unique fibre optic (FTTH/P) solution, which won’t show up in any checkers.

Generally speaking it’s the property developer’s responsibility to ensure that a building is completely ready on the day you move in, although in this case it appears as if the delay may be stemming more from Openreach’s side of the fence.

In any case the current rules don’t strictly require developers to deliver the service itself, only that they cater for the necessary infrastructure (cable ducts etc.). The government’s new proposals under their Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR) may soon improve things (here).