Openreach Tweaks Fixed Fee for Excess Construction Charges on EAD UPDATE
Network operator Openreach (BT) has informed providers of high-speed Ethernet connections that, effective from 1st October 2025, the one-off Fixed Fee for Excess Construction Charges (ECC) on new Ethernet Access Direct (EAD) lines will increase from £638 to £708 excluding VAT (an increase of 10.97%). But in reality, customers won’t pay any extra.
Sadly, not all new installations are easy and some builds can attract ECCs, particularly those that require the installation of a dedicated Ethernet Access Direct (EAD) line that may require extra work to provide you with a service (e.g. running the fibre over a much longer distance than usual).
Openreach typically charges a Fixed Fee for these to help fund an ECC exemption of £2,800. ECCs above the £2,800 exemption will typically be notified to customers during the order fulfilment process and billed (e.g. if the total bespoke ECC price is £3,000, after the £2,800 exemption an ECC charge of £200 will be raised). All orders, regardless of the value of bespoke ECCs, will have the ECC Fixed Fee applied and billed within the total connection price.
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UPDATE 4:28pm
Openreach has informed ISPreview that, while the new (ECC) Fixed Fee has increased by £70, they’re not changing the chargeable connection charge (Headline Connection Price) to providers. In other words, they’re absorbing this increase by reducing the EAD Underlying Connection Charge (in the charge controlled basket) by £70. The Headline Connection Charges (i.e. the Underlying Connection Charge + ECC Fixed Fee) therefore remains flat.
“Ultimately, ECC fixed fee is not billed, it is a regulated component of the list price connection charge and there has been no change to our connection charges – we have just offset the increase with a reduction in the underlying connection charge (in the charge-controlled basket),” clarified their spokesperson.
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, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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I’ve never quite understood this – if the actual install charge remains the same, what difference does it make to CPs if the ECC element is £638 or £708?
Wait for the pat-ourselves-on-the-back ‘news’ in 12 months that Openreach have ‘reduced EAD install costs for our customers by x% in the last 12 months’ aren’t we great. When in reality the costs remain the same. Just a guess.
It does make a difference when an ECC is actually charged because the variable amount remains the same. It means that some ECC work that previously wouldn’t have crossed the charge threshold now will.
I suppose the BT brigade on here are trying to think of reasons how they can blame the ALTNETS for yet another BT price increase!
Hopefully those ALTNETS deploying faster, forward thinking tech, can start to decimate expensive Ethernet lines at some point…….