Fire Cuts Openreach Broadband for 7400 Premises in Kent UPDATE3

The details remain unclear, but a “suspected” arson attack against Openreach’s (BT) network infrastructure in Staplehurst (Kent, England), which we believe occurred around mid-morning yesterday, has resulted in a loss of broadband and phone connectivity for 7,400 homes and businesses in the area.

At this stage it’s not known why the critical telecoms infrastructure was attacked, if indeed it was attacked at all, but over the past couple of years we have seen a number of such incidents being caused by the loony brigade of COVID-19 conspiracy theorists (i.e. those who seriously believe it’s possible for a 5G mobile signal to help create or directly transmit the virus). Both ideas are as preposterous as they are lacking in any credible scientific foundation (fact check).

In the past, such individuals or groups have also ended up attacking consumer fixed line broadband and phone infrastructure (e.g. PCP or FTTC street cabinets) in the mistaken belief that they’re used for supplying mobile masts, even though those are usually fed by dedicated lines.

The details are currently limited and, at the time of writing, we couldn’t find any reports from the local fire or police service. But as we understand it, the suspected arson attack appears to have been committed near to the operator’s exchange.

Pete Stewart, UK Operations Director for Openreach, said:

“There was a suspected arson attack on our network in Staplehurst late on Tuesday evening, leaving around 7,400 without phone and broadband services. Engineers are working hard to resolve the situation, but it is a complex fix and may take several days.

Attacks on our equipment are deeply concerning, especially considering that so many people rely on their broadband for work, study, to get medical support and stay connected with loved ones. We know how frustrating this must be for those affected and we’ll be doing what we can to prioritise fixes for vulnerable customers and key local services. We’d ask that anyone experiencing any disruption to report it to their service provider who will then inform us.

Our Security team is working with the relevant authorities to make sure that this incident is fully investigated and those responsible are held to account.”

A quick check this morning indicated that a lot of connections have already been restored, and we await a more detailed update from Openreach.

UPDATE 9:07am

Openreach informs that around three quarters of those affected by the outage are now back online. We hope to have some pictures soon.

UPDATE 12:20pm

The first picture from the incident looks more like an electrical fault in the cable duct, but we’re awaiting some solid details.

UPDATE 2:55pm

Openreach states that the damaged occurred at Sutton Valance on Tuesday night and 90% of the premises affected are now back online, while everyone else should be reconnected this afternoon.

The incident affected properties in Headcorn, Sutton Valance, Marden, Staplehurst and Goudhurst.