Openreach UK Leave Rural Wales Villagers Cut-off from Broadband for 6 Weeks

A couple of homes in a remote rural area near the village of Llanelidan in Denbighshire (Wales) have been left without access to broadband and internet-connected TV services for nearly six long weeks. The situation began after some nearby overhead lines (poles) were damaged in an unspecified event on 6th December 2025.

One of the residents, Howard (78), has heart issues and remains concerned that he might be unable to contact the emergency services in the event of a heart attack. The local area does receive a 4G mobile signal, although it’s described as being of a poor quality.

However, most of the complaints have been reserved for Openreach, which Howard’s neighbour, Christine Conway, said had failed to provide much information and “just keep saying ‘oh, it’ll be next week’ … It would be helpful if they could keep in touch with us, and say exactly what they’re planning on doing – and when.”

In fairness, Openreach are the underlying network provider, but it’s actually the retail broadband ISP that holds responsibility for keeping customers informed. Sadly, the article on the BBC News makes no mention of which ISPs are involved. The catch is that ISPs sometimes also complain that Openreach doesn’t always provide them with enough information, either.

A spokesperson for Openreach said:

“Part of our overhead network is damaged. However, because of the pole’s location, it requires some extra work. This was delayed while we got permission from the landowner to carry this out. We understand how disruptive it is not having access to broadband, and we’re doing all we can to get people reconnected as soon as possible.”

Openreach has previously informed ISPreview that it can take around 20 days to fix damaged poles, such as after a major storm (it’s unclear if this incident was caused by a storm). But over the years we’ve seen examples where, in rare cases of extreme damage, rural areas have been left to wait for several months before repairs (here, here and here). In urban areas, such issues are more likely to be resolved within hours, rather than days, weeks or even months.

Such long waits can stem from a variety of issues, such as with the need to seek prior permission for tedious traffic management, land access (as above), safety considerations, police investigations, the possible involvement of a power supply company and limited local resources etc. But provided the local homeowners are with a retail ISP that supports Ofcom’s Automatic Compensation scheme, then they could now be in line for a significant payout (full summary); although ISPs sometimes need to be nudged about this.

In the meantime, Openreach said they intend to carry out the repairs tomorrow (14th Jan 2026).