Home
 » ISP News, Key Developments » 
Sponsored Links

COVID-19 – Openreach Limit UK Broadband ISP and Phone Work UPDATE

Tuesday, Mar 24th, 2020 (2:51 pm) - Score 46,134
2019 openreach telegraph pole

In a significant development Openreach (BT) has issued a status of Matters Beyond Our Reasonable Control (MBORC) across a variety of popular products, which from 23:59 tonight will effectively stop, limit or delay many new broadband and phone provisions (installs), repair jobs and engineer appointments on a “national basis.”

The move is surprising since the Government, and consumers alike, generally consider broadband and telephone services, as well as leased lines for businesses, to be absolutely essential. Nevertheless the current situation is truly unprecedented and Openreach will still aim to maintain as many of their normal operations as possible in order to support consumers, particularly with so many people now needing to work from home.

In MBORC areas the operator’s resources are normally refocused toward repairs, such as following major storm damage, but today’s announcement also covers repairs. Meanwhile the CTO of UK ISP M12 Solutions (Giganet), Matthew Skipsey, informed us: “This means no new provides unless it’s an un-appointed job (migration or upgrade to FTTC). No indoor customer premises visits. CNI and vulnerable customers exempted in areas.”

Advertisement

A number of other providers had told us this morning that they were also having trouble with number ports because Openreach had “closed their offices,” although this was a reference to their centre in India, which deals with certain issues, and not the UK where they remain open. Otherwise the key changes can be found below.

NOTE: SD = Service Delivery,  SAM = Senior Area Manager and FND = Fibre and Network Delivery.

openreach_national_mborc

In a statement to UK ISPs the network access provider said, “We will now prioritise only the essential work and absolutely minimise work that requires our engineers to enter end customer premises.”

An Openreach spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk:

“Our number one priority is to keep people connected, and we’ve been working closely with our Communications Provider customers to minimise the impact that the Government’s new restrictions have on the services we can provide.

We know that what Openreach does is critical, and connecting people has never been more important. That’s why many of our roles have been given ‘key worker’ status.

That said, the safety of our people and the public is come first and, based on the new guidance, we’re now prioritising essential work.

That means we’re focussing on the repair and maintenance of connections that support critical national infrastructure, essential public services, vulnerable customers and those without service. And our CP customers are helping us to identify and prioritise these groups.

We’ve also advised our engineers to avoid entering customer premises. A large amount of our work we do can be completed outside, and we can often fix problems without entering a customer’s property – so we’re advising them not to complete any work inside a property unless it would leave a vulnerable customer with no form of connection, and it’s not possible to provide one by any other means.”

Just to help give some extra context, we’ve posted the detail of what Openreach has been telling ISPs below. The exception for “self-install activities” should mean that ADSL and Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) broadband and phone services aren’t too heavily impacted as they rarely require an engineer to enter your home, although it’s a different story with “full fibre” (FTTP) and G.fast that will now see installation delays.

Advertisement

Key Changes and Exceptions

Provision work carried out by Service Delivery and Fibre and Network Delivery will be limited to:

• Self-install activities (i.e. where there is no engineering visit to the end customer premises).

• Service to vulnerable end customers (in-home and carried out safely, only where essential).

• Those end customers who have no other form of broadband or telephony available – and we will look to deal with these via escalation channels jointly with the CP to find a solution that doesn’t require a home visit.

• On-premises work for critical national infrastructure customers (NHS, pharmacies, utilities, emergency services, retail and wholesale food distribution outlets, financial services businesses and other categories defined by the Government).

Repair work for both volume and business products will continue to be focused on restoring service with safe working practices, and with revised processes to further reduce social interaction wherever possible.

With immediate effect:

• Appointment books will be closed for new appointed provision with books moved out to 1 June 2020.

• We will attempt to complete appointed inflight orders outside of the premises.

• Non appointed orders will continue to go ahead where no visit is required to go to the premises (transfers, upgrades to Fibre to the Cabinet).

• Repair books will remain open at this time- we are reviewing non urgent repair.

• Engineers will be asked NOT to enter the end customer premises and to enable/restore service where possible from outside of the premises.

• We will ask CPs to help us identify Critical Network Infrastructure and vulnerable end customer tasks in order to prioritise these.

Our priority is to ensure that end customers remain connected at this time. We will be asking our CPs to work with their end customers to understand alternative means of connectivity and to limit the movements of end customers between networks, due to the likelihood of an in-home visit being required.

It is our expectation that we will shortly announce national MBORC. This will be subject to separate communications that will be provided later today.

We will be sharing more detail as it is available, and we will be reaching out to the operational teams to work this through.

The hope is that Openreach will be able to start returning to normal after 1st June 2020, although this is very much a provisional date as the COVID-19 situation continues to unfold. In short, don’t be surprised if you book some new installs or upgrades and find that they won’t occur until later in the Spring or Summer time.

UPDATE 4:58pm

Some people with FTTP installs due soon, such as those in the process of a house move, had asked what might happen to them. Openreach informs us that they will be trying to complete all orders where an appointment has already been booked.

The operator added that those customers who have no other form of broadband or telephony available will probably be dealt with via escalation channels jointly with their ISP to find a solution, preferably one that doesn’t require a home visit.

Advertisement

UPDATE 27th March 2020

Openreach has also issued a response to some concerns that were raised about number porting on another website.

Katie Milligan, OR MD for Customer Commercial and Propositions, said:

“We were really disappointed to see comments accusing Openreach of blocking porting and ceasing operations. That’s simply not true at all.

The lockdown situation in India did mean we had to quickly move our number porting team from being office based to working from home.

We’re continuing to work with our colleagues in India to make sure they have the tools they need to bring the service back to its usual standard whilst they’re in lockdown and we’re training more colleagues to help lighten the load. In the meantime, we have not stopped porting. We’ll ensure that all of our customers can continue to have their number porting requests dealt with quickly and seamlessly.

As this situation unfolded, we acted as quickly as we could and kept our customers informed throughout.

Like any business, Covid-19 has had a huge impact on the way we’ve been able to operate during the last couple of weeks, and we continue to work tirelessly to keep as many customers as connected as possible and so far I think we’ve done a brilliant job across the business to keep services as normal as possible. I have to say thank you to those in the wider Industry for pulling together in the interests of customers.”

Share with Twitter
Share with Linkedin
Share with Facebook
Share with Reddit
Share with Pinterest
Tags: ,
Mark-Jackson
By Mark Jackson
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and .
Search ISP News
Search ISP Listings
Search ISP Reviews
Comments
78 Responses

Advertisement

  1. Avatar photo boggits says:

    The “closing of offices” is happening in India where they have no existing facilities for home/remote working. OR/BT offices in the UK are remaining open but with those who can remote work doing so

    1. Mark-Jackson Mark Jackson says:

      Thanks J, helps to confirm what somebody else just told me.

    2. Avatar photo Icaras says:

      Who has told you that there’s no existing facilities for home working in India? Like all employees of companies owned by BT Group in India they are able to connect from home via the VPN. From what I’ve heard Openreach employees in India will be expected to work from home but there will be a delay and some hiccups there as many have never tried before.

    3. Avatar photo susan chadwick says:

      Hi
      Can I ask what is happening as I was due to have my broadband switched from Sky on the 24th March, the Sky broadband was switched off , yet my BT service was not turned on. BT are saying its down to Openreach and that with the office been closed in india that they can’t do anything.
      I need my broadband asap, nit to watch tv but to do my job, which is for the NHS and right now it is so stressing that I can do my work, which is needed asap.
      Can someone explain way my service was stopped but than not started with the new service

  2. Avatar photo Ed says:

    So, an engineer’s health is less important than someone’s ability to watch Netflix?

    1. Avatar photo Ben_50 says:

      How about an engineer’s health being just as important as those who work in the police, NHS, army, electricity / water supply, banking.. Every life is important but some do have to work for the greater good or society crumbles. Communication is vital in such times.

    2. Avatar photo Ed says:

      As the article states, Openreach will “minimize” time in premises. This suggests that maintaining service, however accessing someone’s home as their broadband is usable but “slow” seems, to me, to be risking the health of the customer and engineer unnecessarily. Neither party may know whether they are carrying the virus.

    3. Avatar photo Ivor says:

      Presumably “it’s a bit slow” would fall into the type of “non urgent repair” that Openreach are putting under review

    4. Avatar photo Icaras says:

      Most faults don’t require access to the house. Source-I did the job for years! Most of the time when we went into a house it was because “my broadband is a bit slow” rather than the broadband being off.

  3. Avatar photo jet14 says:

    My internet has become considerabally slower, i’m on superfast connectiing at 79999/20000 but the throughput is noticeable and slower, i think the isps are using traffice management and congestion is prevalent at nearly all times even before this new situation arose.
    All isps should provide the service they provide and charge for and not guaranteed upto 59mb on 80mb service and then falling far short.

    I hope all isps will take notice and provide better service and increase speeds to full and reduce congestion and increase bandwidth.

    1. Avatar photo dave says:

      Which ISP?

    2. Avatar photo The Facts says:

      Yes, sort you out instead of working on essential customers.

    3. Avatar photo SD says:

      Get a grip!
      Worse things bounce on in life
      C’mon You Know

    4. Avatar photo bob says:

      Youtube are letting some 4K though I noticed today on new videos. I am housebound and 75 and my phone line went faulty yesterday,
      I guess I won’t be talking to anyone soon then.. making self isolation that little bit worse!

  4. Avatar photo Gigabyter says:

    Does this mean a leased line install that was in the test and sign-off phase will be delayed?

    If so, argh its already been 90 working days.

    1. Avatar photo Guy Cashmore says:

      Our BT FTTPoD order took 494 working days..

    2. Avatar photo Phil says:

      The industry update call by Openreach on 23rd suggested EAD orders were not planned to be materially affected as the engineer capacity for those services still exceeded orders in flight – most of the planned changes to ordering, engineers no longer going in where possible etc, applied to “volume services” such as PSTN – EAD customers were expected to be taking the proper steps themselves to close their office if necessary and notify their CP if their EAD order could not proceed due to sickness affecting the workplace for example, inability to access common areas in building, etc, however the MBoRC announced since then suggests all bets are off in regards to them actually hitting any promise dates.

    3. Avatar photo Phil says:

      That said, reading your comment more closely, if it’s in test and sign-off though, I’d expect it to complete if the install is ok unless this depends on the closed Indian offices.

      If the CP is just waiting for OR to tell them it is ready and your CP is flexible it might be worth asking CP if the line is in fact still in test mode or if it is actually working (obviously there’d likely be no way to reports fault on them if they went wrong – but we have had lines be usable in excess of 2 weeks before OR actually bothered to hand over)

    4. Avatar photo Gigabyter says:

      Thanks Phil

      I was in luck they did hand over today, Working day 93 since ordering.

      Sky have promised a 5 working day handover and requires an engineer to go into the telephone exchange apparently to hook it up? Fingers crossed 🙂

  5. Avatar photo Adrian Bardsley says:

    And just after introduction of the Broadband Universal Service Obligation too. Coincidence?

    1. Avatar photo dave says:

      I’m starting to think negative IQ’s might be possible.

    2. Avatar photo The Facts says:

      Seriously? Have you not noticed what is happening?

    3. Avatar photo Fastman says:

      really — unbelievable comment

  6. Avatar photo jet14 says:

    I’m on Sky ultrafast now but have been on their basic adsl upto 11mb service for 10 years, and i recently decided to get faster speeds and jumped to superfast service, but the download speeds seem the same as when i was on the basic service, I understand the wifi speeds are less than optimal than using ethernet, but we have 7 laptops and ipads and phones, so i expected an improvement in speeds and have done all the usual checks, put new filter on tidied up wires at back of equipment, changed wireless channels so they dont interfere with neighbours. I’m going to change the router as a test as well. I’ve phoned customer support and told my connection everything is fine. but there is something not quite right somewhere, i have router next to bt master socket and only 1 phone connected.

    1. Avatar photo stewart says:

      Sounds to me like a possible wifi issue impossible to tell without access to the line check. What does it tell you if you go to sky.com/mybroadband and run a line check?

    2. Avatar photo Icaras says:

      Also doesn’t sound like you’re on “Sky Ultrafast”

    3. Avatar photo Anon says:

      Good luck ‘changing the router’ with sky

  7. Avatar photo Big Dosser says:

    Wellit

  8. Avatar photo Paul says:

    What about fibre City projects are they affected as I’m sub contracted to install new fibre cables for bt

    1. Avatar photo Icaras says:

      I believe not, no.

  9. Avatar photo Lawrence says:

    Openreach don’t mention adsl services in their statement what will happen to faults on these services?

    1. Avatar photo Alec says:

      That is covered under LLU MPF and LLU SMPF

  10. Avatar photo jet14 says:

    I’ve run the sky problems page and done the checks, all passed speed to hub is 80mb, should be getting upto 74mb but average connection download by sky 63mb in last 7 days.

    Broadband Link Downstream Upstream
    Connection Speed (Kbps) 79999 20000
    Line Attenuation (dB) DS1:4.7 DS2:9.2 DS3:13.2 US0:1.6 US1:6.5 US2:8.6
    Noise Margin (dB) DS1:12.6 DS2:12.6 DS3:12.6 US0:0.0 US1:13.0 US2:13.1

    i do have some old laptops on wirless 54g and wireless n and some old and new ipads and android phones, and we are all on wifi so maybe a combination of all those things giving showing slow performance.
    anyhow ill see if things improve further along and then look to do something further. thanks .

    1. Avatar photo Just says:

      You should try and use a third party router and should notice the speeds increased. Alot of times the hubs from ISPs just don’t give out the speed going through the line and interference / hub position can have a negative impact on it. WiFi will naturally not be as strong as ethernet. As long as there is no fault on the line, a third party hub & modem is your best bet for a better range and more reliability.

    2. Avatar photo Icaras says:

      Could be congestion in Sky’s core network.

  11. Avatar photo Adam says:

    I see guys pulling cable in streets for BT today.. absolute disgrace to have them out working.. they are providing a new service of fibre broadband they said.. hardly critical as probably wouldn’t go live for month or so..suspend this area of work

    1. Avatar photo Adam says:

      Theyre outside hopefully maintaining distance between each other. There’s no danger there and it is important work. They could either be installing new cable or replacing old but as long as they’re not interacting with anyone else its not a problem.

    2. Avatar photo Peter Walker says:

      Actually it Is critical, with circa 60 million people at home using the BB there is increased strain on a network that simply can not sustain that requirement. I am working on this project and we wear masks, gloves and in some cases disposable chemical suits. Believe me we are taking every precaution, and even exceeding the government guidelines.

  12. Avatar photo Snoopy says:

    Have recently moved to a new property and been waiting for the engineer to install a line.. this is scheduled for Thursday. Remote working for two people on mobile data is going to get pricey!!

    1. Avatar photo Tam says:

      An engineer coming to your property and either potentially giving you a life threatening disease or them catching the virus is a lesser price to pay than mobile data charges. People really need to look at the bigger pitcher and grow up. Really p*sses me of how you can’t see that.

    2. Avatar photo Chris says:

      If there is already an appointment booked and an existing socket in your premises they will get you up and running without entering

    3. Avatar photo Icars says:

      This is a big “it depends”. Is there an existing cable to the house terminating in a master socket? If there is it depends if Openreach can see it when they test what they think is that line. I’m thinking not, or there’s a disconnection somewhere or they wouldn’t be sending an engineer. If they test what they think is your line when you order and it tests “Line Test OK” then they would remotely enable it, no engineer required.

      So, not looking good.

    4. Avatar photo Snoopy says:

      @Tam “Really p*sses me of how you can’t see that.” Not sure why you are getting p*ssed off.. I said it was going to get pricey, not that I can’t see the priorities/basis of the decision. Seems like you need to take some of your chill out pills.

    5. Avatar photo bob says:

      You can get unlimited 4G for £11 a month these days.

      Come out the 90s maybe?

    6. Avatar photo Snoopy says:

      @Bob “Come out the 90s maybe?” I am aware of Three offering unlimited for £26/month. If you are aware of a better deal it would genuinly be helpful to share that info rather than being condescending.

    7. Avatar photo Snoopy says:

      @Bob just saw Three do it for £11.. on a 24 month contract… so not only condescending, but a BS suggestion. Thanks for nothing buddy :o*

  13. Avatar photo Andrew says:

    I assume a FTTP/Line installation will be postponed and pushed back then? I placed the order 13th of March and have an engineer appointment booked for installation on 30th of March. Not very clear if this will go ahead to be honest. I am a key worker who is working from home for a major telecommunications company and ordered a designated line and broadband installation for the purpose of completing my duties without hiccup as current set up is standard ADSL. Can someone provide some clarity?

    1. Avatar photo Gerard says:

      Hi, we were in the same boat, FTTP ONT internal install and switch on scheduled for the 30th. Outside work has been done, and router has been posted. Got call from BT today to tell me they are cancelling my order, that’s it. I can reapply later (after June, who knows?) if I like. Very cavalier attitude to a newly acquired customer, I must say. Another credit check, yes please! Whilst I understand Openreach’s motivation, perhaps proceeding with caution (2m distance, gloves etc) for currently booked jobs whilst not accepting any new orders would have been a better approach. Hopefully CityFibre will have got to my part of south Leeds by the time Openreach have started working again so that I have another option.

  14. Avatar photo Stan says:

    It’s a best effort scenario. If there is a fault outside and it can be repaired without access it will be repaired if possible. If the fault is in the premises an engineer will not enter the property but if it gives service they could throw a wiped and cleaned, coil and socket in the window! This could then be repaired properly after this is over. Its really not that difficult to understand, but it could save lives! If your appointment requires access it will be postponed. If your broadband’s just ‘running a bit slow’ , get a life and stop checking the speed every 5 minutes.

  15. Avatar photo George Prins says:

    My wife & I are in our 70’s. I am diabetic, high blood pressure and have had heart surgery. Openreach were unable to complete my broadband & but it would be done in 24/48 hrs that was on 08March. I now have been no broadband. Where do I stand now?

    1. Avatar photo Stan says:

      You should contact your service provider as usual and they will be able to advise you. If it was due on 8th March and supposed to be done in 24/48 hours you should already have done so!

  16. Avatar photo G m says:

    Hundreds dead thousands infected and self centred people worrying about speeds and connectivity of broadband grow up all you low inelegant people.

    1. Avatar photo dave says:

      I quite agree!

      These people have the same mentality as those who strip supermarkets bare and couldn’t follow simple instructions re socialising. It’s all “me me me me me”.

    2. Avatar photo bob says:

      I tried to get some flour today to make bread – nothing, I went to 4 different supermarkets – nada. I’ve not done any panic buying there is plenty to go round when they bother to stock the shelves – anyway went to a local green grocer who had 1KG bags of bread mix for £2 – He sold me the lot so now I am sorted for weeks. He’s got more out the back so no one is deprived, not that many people know he sells bread mix apparently!

  17. Avatar photo jet14 says:

    I was merelu highlighting an issue, whereby i was on the upto 11mb basic service for nearly 10 years with sky and only last week upgraded to their superfast service but the speeds i’m getting are not as advertised, and in response to the articles it says isps are coping and have great bandwidth yet they are not sharing and allowing us to fully utilise that bandwidth yet we are paying more to get a better service/speeds.
    I understand this is a first world issue and doesnt seem appropriate with whats going on at present if u read my info i have simply stated facts and not overly complaining.

  18. Avatar photo jet14 says:

    With everyone being housbound, our only communication methods are internet etc, I dont watch T.V, radio, newspapers, pubs, clubs, etc I use the internet for all my info, so if we pay for any service it needs to be proper, if u see many web pages and forums many topics revolve around these internet broadband issues. we r all stuck at home and everyone is on phones, ipads laptops etc!!!

  19. Avatar photo Marty says:

    Wow when you look at it in times like this you finally understand how small minded self righteous people truly are. Especially to people they don’t they care about or don’t know who they are when those indiviual’s are providing a service. Pathetic

  20. Avatar photo jet14 says:

    Why is BT and other isps bragging they got plenty bandwidth and can cope with demand, yet they take the money and providing lousy service. How can one work from home or do anything if service is not upto par. If your phone line or other utilities fail would u be happy with that and cope? i am housebound all the time and my only option is use of internet. As i said i was happy with basic upto 11mb service and just upgraded because of ips info/rules requiring moving from legacy package.

    1. Avatar photo Icaras says:

      I don’t understand your point. BT’s broadband core network seems to be coping fine.

    2. Avatar photo Roger_Gooner says:

      If you have a “lousy” service you contact your ISP for a resolution. Your problem is unlikely to be related to coronavirus.

  21. Avatar photo Andrew Lee says:

    I serious cannot believe the selfishness and sheer lack of any care for others showing here. Complaining about speeds ul or dl that are way above average, when this entire country is under attack from and invisible enemy.. the like of which has not been seen since 1918.

    Stop this selfishness and think how lucky you are to have any connection at all.

    By all means complain about very poor service.. cost.. not getting what you pay for.. but only once this virus is resigned to the history books and people can finally return to something resembling normal.

    This isn’t a game..the restrictions imposed by government are no longer a choice to act or not to act. No human life is worth risking for anyone asking for a bit more speed.

    If you can connect.. download.. upload and get whatever you need to do done.. then you are one of the lucky ones. So suck it up and stop complaining.

    If you have no connection to the outside world and having one is critical to keeping this country running.. protecting and saving lives you have a right to ask if you will be dealt with

    Had a neighbour just down the road, who called me couple of days ago. She had just had broadband installed but had no clue how to use it.. My reply was you should ask your provider.. I am working from home.. following government guidelines and since I live with my mother who is 84 I will not be risking her life or mine, demonstrating how you use something you should have had explained to you by the engineer or over the phone by your provider.

    People need to take a deep breath and think long and hard about how important their life, their families lives, their friends lives are, compared to how important getting a few extra Mb in speed is… if they choose extra speed over life. Then they don’t deserve to have a connection at all

    1. Avatar photo bob says:

      Actually friend the last comparable scenario is 1666 for the great plague.

  22. Avatar photo Joy says:

    My husband is a technician with Virgin Media and it’s business as usual! Going into customers houses and doing new installs. Their technicians haven’t even been given hand sanitiser. It shows a complete disregard for their and their customers safety.

    1. Avatar photo David O'Donoghue says:

      That is a disgrace, one which I am painfully aware of as my son is one such engineer and he lives with me. I am 67 years old and have Asthma, Emphysema and a touch of C.O.P.D, I also have heart failure.

      So my questions to everyone looking at this forum are:-

      Is this acceptable?
      Would you want an engineer to visit your home after having been in multiple other homes that day where that engineer cannot guarantee that there were no carriers present at any location and that he has not been infected himself?

  23. Avatar photo jet14 says:

    I would like to express my sorry if my conversation offended it was not meant as any greedy self centered point of view as u dont know my personal situation and from which viewpoint i was explainingn from, all i was trying to say is companies are saying they are providing fast full internet, yet it is being slowed down by the companies and we still have to pay for shoddy service which is not as advertised, they should at least provide for what they claim.
    I was happy on basic 11mb and didnt complain for 10 years, its just now that at this time it has gone down.

    Hope everyone stays healthy and strong and God allievates this pandemic and make us all the wiser for future.

    1. Avatar photo CarlT says:

      ISPs aren’t slowing Internet down and they aren’t responsible for what content providers do?

      Outages happen sadly. We are quite well regulated in the UK as far as performance goes. Frustrating as outages are there’s not a lot that can be done to prevent all of them.

  24. Avatar photo scrappy says:

    I have just spoken to virgin customer support and they are carrying on as normal.

    as far as i am aware some virgin installers are sub contractors working for Kelly communications? so wouldn’t it be down to kelly communications to halt installs (if so fat chance)

    where as openreach engineers are employed by BT.

  25. Avatar photo scrappy says:

    Also to add:

    ISP’s (generally) do not slow down peoples internet (most scrapped bandwidth shaping years ago although some do limit file sharing speeds at peak times)

    speed decreases could be caused by a number of things including:

    1.Network congestion due to the vast number of people now working from home which puts extra strain on the internet backbone.

    2. line/exchange faults which can only be fixed by an engineer

    3. weather conditions hot weather can cause poor connections on metal joints in cabinets due to expansion.

    if you are experiencing issues I would recommend turning your router off and waiting 5 minutes then turning it back on to see if that fixes the issue if not contact your isp and ask them to investigate the fault.

    as you are aware if the fault lies within your home and you are with BT they will not visit your house but you can ask them to investigate and see if the issue is with equipment on BT’s network within the cabinets/exchange.

  26. Avatar photo EDC19 says:

    Rather concerned about those of us with FTTP installations due to be financed using the Rural Gigabit Voucher Scheme which must be complete within 12 month of the voucher date. Our installation is almost complete bar the in house ONT but the vouchers will expire before those can be installed. Is the 12 month period on the scheme likely to be extended

    1. Avatar photo joe says:

      Good q. best contact the installer to try to find out…

    2. Avatar photo DL says:

      FYI: (this from an email from Cerberus)

      What does this mean for the validity of existing Gigabit Vouchers?

      DCMS have confirmed that they have suspended clause 10.2 of Part B of the Gigabit Voucher Scheme that many of our customers use to fund FoD & Ethernet installations. This means that vouchers for orders not delivered after 12 months will not be cancelled from 25th March until further notice. Site inspections are also suspended but have been temporarily replaced by additional auditing and compliance checks, including telephone-based contact, and missed inspections may be made in the future.

  27. Avatar photo Janie says:

    If bt have suspended non essential works will this directive be passed down the line to its contractors?.my husband works for fns in leeds pulling new cables to upgrade peoples broadband.if the customer4are already connected surely this work is non essential. All the workforce are very worried about falling sick and passing coronavirus on to thier loved ones and the public.can someone please clarify our situation please.

  28. Avatar photo S says:

    What if there is an existing order open, installation due 24th March that was cancelled due to the PM’s announcement the night before?

    I’ve been trying since then to get an answer out of BT as the line is sitting right outside the window, and it puts me completely out of work without that bandwidth. Is there any way an engineer could prep the line outside the home to be pulled in and installed by me?

    1. Avatar photo Daniel says:

      I’m in the same situation as you.

      Outside work completed and rope inside my house but now they won’t install my FTTP just after we moved to our new home. My activation date is tomorrow, 1 April with BT for Landline and BT TV. FTTP has been pushed to July unless government advice changes or Openreach change their policy regarding this matter.

      They’ve said they can’t do the part install from the outside (put the cable through) and I install the ONT myself.

      After speaking with BT for a solution last week, I asked for a 4G stick but they said they’d activate my copper line (FTTC) free of charge until they’re able to complete the FTTP install. I’m due an update on 2 April. If you have a master socket in your property this might be a good alternative for you too.

  29. Avatar photo Beth says:

    We have zzoomm working in our town doing works. There is no social distancing, they close roads and leave one pavement so no social distancing for the public. People are having this installed in there house also. Majority of them wearing no masks or gloves.

  30. Avatar photo Katie Smith says:

    Ihad an order for connection of telephone and broadband on the 24th March by BT. I am told that Open Reach in India need to do something to connect me!!! Still no idea when I will get broadband which as a Primary Teacher I need to upload to my school website. Open reach and BT just say they cannot help. Why did they accept and process my order they must have known that it was not possible to connect me.

  31. Avatar photo Chris says:

    Not happy with Openreach, ordered FTTP from BT to work from home and despite supporting a 999 system Openreach have delayed my order from 28th April to the 21st July.

    Sent them letters from BT and the emergency service I work for confirming I work on CNI but they are not cooperating at all.

    Ironically part of my current work is planning the replacement of the 999 ISDN trunks with BT

    Does anyone have a senior contact in Openreach I can send a snotagram to?

  32. Avatar photo Phone and Data Cabling says:

    OSA Communications, with more than 35 years of experience in the Communication Industry, is equipped with a vast resource of expertise and knowledge of the industry. Our Technicians are highly skilled, providing quality service and expert advice.

Comments are closed

Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
NOW UK ISP Logo
NOW £25.00
100Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £25.00
132Mbps
Gift: None
Vodafone UK ISP Logo
Vodafone £26.50 - 27.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
Plusnet UK ISP Logo
Plusnet £27.99
145Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £19.00
300Mbps
Gift: None
Brsk UK ISP Logo
Brsk £19.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
YouFibre UK ISP Logo
YouFibre £22.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
Hey! Broadband UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
The Top 15 Category Tags
  1. FTTP (5900)
  2. BT (3615)
  3. Politics (2673)
  4. Business (2392)
  5. Openreach (2382)
  6. Building Digital UK (2308)
  7. Mobile Broadband (2097)
  8. FTTC (2073)
  9. Statistics (1867)
  10. 4G (1770)
  11. Virgin Media (1720)
  12. Ofcom Regulation (1551)
  13. Fibre Optic (1451)
  14. Wireless Internet (1442)
  15. FTTH (1384)
Promotion
Sponsored

Copyright © 1999 to Present - ISPreview.co.uk - All Rights Reserved - Terms , Privacy and Cookie Policy , Links , Website Rules , Contact
Mastodon