Openreach Prepares UK Engineers for the Cold Winter Bite

Openreach’s fibre broadband and phone engineers often have to work in difficult conditions, which as Winter approaches tends to be exasperated by the additional hazards of snow and ice. Inevitably this can delay repairs and slow the roll-out of new “full fibre” (FTTP) networks, although they claim to be well prepared for 2019/20.

As part of this preparation the operator says they’ve this year “invested in huge amounts of winter weather equipment so [our] engineers can remain on the road“, which among other things includes 62,000 kilos of rock salt; 1,700 snow shovels; 3,400 ice and snow grips for footwear; 3,500 sets of snow socks for van tyres; 20,000 litres of screenwash; and 20,000 de-icer sprays.

As well as stocking up on supplies, Openreach has given a strong focus and investment toward locations which have in the past “proved susceptible to storms and wild weather in recent winters“. A fleet of 4×4 vehicles is now said to be “strategically placed” around the UK to reach isolated and extremely rural communities quickly.

A Spokesperson for Openreach said:

“It’s impossible to predict what kind of winter we’re going to have, but we’re doing everything we can to prepare for the worst it can offer. Our engineers are out and about in all conditions, whether that’s fixing and maintaining the network, or working on some of our latest full fibre builds.

Making sure they have access to the latest winter weather kit is not only important to help them do their job, but also essential to make sure they can stay safe, particularly in snow and ice. Our network covers some of the most remote places in the region so this is something that’s really important to us.”

Just as a fun point of comparison, this is what supplies Openreach had in-stock at this time last year (winter of 2018/19): 78,000 kilos of rock salt; 1,500 snow shovels; 6,300 ice and snow grips for footwear; 2,050 sets of snow socks for van tyres; 27,800 litres of screenwash; 29,700 half litre de-icer sprays; and 3,550 kilos of salt solution for de-icing frozen manholes.