Bolton Community Wins Fight to Stop New Openreach Broadband Poles
The residential community of Bromley Cross, which sits in the leafy northern suburbs of Bolton (Greater Manchester), appear to have succeeded in their campaign against Openreach’s (BT) plan to deploy new wood telecoms poles to support their gigabit full fibre broadband (FTTP) network expansion around Grange Park Road.
The use of poles to run overhead cables (telecoms, electricity etc.) is a common practice in the UK, where millions have been built over the decades. Poles are quick and cost-effective to build (several times cheaper than trenching), can be deployed in areas where there may be no space or access agreement to safely put new underground cables, are less disruptive (avoiding the noise, access restrictions and damage to pavements of trenching) and can be built under Permitted Development (PD) rights; often with only minimal prior notice.
However, many people dislike poles – usually due to their negative visual impact or the lack of effective prior consultation before deployment, which in some cases has occasionally erupted into disruptive protests. The latter is most likely to occur in areas that haven’t previously had poles before (i.e. past cables were underground), as well as areas of outstanding natural beauty or where several gigabit broadband networks may already exist.
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In this case the issue is more about visual appearance (some locals also didn’t feel they needed another broadband service), with the area being somewhat of a green space that is also home to protected trees. As one resident told the Bolton News: “Some of these surrounding trees are listed, two hundred-year-old oaks cover the road and our gardens have tree protection orders. This area is special in that way because it’s green space. It would spoil a lovely place.”
The local councillors appear to have played a key role in galvanising opposition to the development and Openreach have now withdrawn the planned deployment. Cllr Cadden said: “Most people thought that going above ground was not modernisation.”
A Spokesperson for Openreach said:
“We’re investing £8.7 million to bring the UK’s most reliable broadband technology – Full Fibre – to thousands of homes and businesses across Bolton.
Around 14,000 homes and businesses in the Astley Bridge area can already order the new service and, as we expand our network, we’re using existing underground ducts and poles wherever we can. In some locations, new poles are the only safe and practical way to deliver this upgraded service and, in this case, the only way we could proceed.
But, following feedback from the local community, we’re now reviewing our investment decision whilst continuing to deliver better connectivity across other parts of Bolton.”
Openreach will have no doubt wished to be sensitive to the new industry agreed ‘Best Practice Guidance’ for gigabit broadband operators that are building new poles as part of their UK network expansions. The guidance aims to support the Government’s goal of “ending the deployment of unnecessary telegraph poles” (here), not least by requiring providers to engage more closely with communities before they build (details here).
The impact of the new guidance is, however, somewhat tricky to assess since most alternative networks have already stopped or significantly slowed deployments of new fibre optic broadband infrastructure as a result of wider market strains (i.e. rising build costs, competition and high interest rates). But operator’s like Openreach still make heavy use of them.
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Naturally, network operators have a difficult balancing act to perform, which is one that both needs to respect the government’s wishes (inc. local communities), while at the same time trying not to damage the wider roll-out and cost models. Not forgetting that consumers and businesses with access to more than one gigabit broadband network will often still directly benefit from greater choice and lower prices. We also must not forgot those who may have wanted to see the new network being built.
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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So as Openreach cannot go over head for full fibre will the residents availability to said gigabit networks be delayed removed from plans?
The budget was approved for poles with permissions in place, now it’ll need to be re-planned as a UG route. This takes time just to plan and cost, then agree with the local council and landowners when the pavements and roads can be dug up to place new ducts. Then i’ll presume the majority of the area is dorect in ground copper, so gardens will need to be dug on an individual basis. Extremely costly and won’t be considered for at least another year so its on another budget. But the permissions can take forever as well. Sometimes it can take years.
“…we’re now reviewing our investment decision…” – no fibre for you then.
I hope so. Sick to death of people moaning about infrastructure upgrades but then moaning they can’t get the speeds they want.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say. Telegraph poles featured heavily in the artworks of L.S. Lowry. Perhaps Openreach could sex them up with some fake porcelain insulators at the top.
No Full Fibre rollout in that part of Bolton
They will be stuck to 80Mbps a second then
if they have FTTC that is
Shame
It would be lovely if Openreach
could replace all the Copper with Fibre
but they can’t because they still need to use their Phone Lines
So what will happen to them?
According to the YouTube Video with Openreach
they still get moved over but not to Fibre
they will be moved over to Pre-Digital Phone Line
Or Evac without the Broadband and the Bells and Whistles
The best Product at the moment is Fibre
so they should have agreed to that Pole
or persuaded Openreach to use their Underground Network
if they can and it is not full of Copper Cables
We shall need to wait and see what happens here
They will have some sort of broadband at the moment so they will get moved to digital voice and not PDPL. Most of them are probably already on DV.
Telegraph poles are a hideous eyesore. It’s unfortunate that people have become so used to them that they no longer notice how much better a neighbourhood looks without lines and poles cluttering every street.
The only reason we still rely on them is the usual British allergy to forward planning. They are not a charming feature or a sign of sensible infrastructure. They are another visible marker of failure: cheaper, uglier, and easier than doing the job properly.
@ Lycaerix You’re so right. No other country in the world has any overhead infrastructure whatsoever whether it be telecoms, electricity or even railway OLE, just us stupid penny-pinching Brits! My money’s on Putin being behind such fiendish malpractice, I mean what other reason could there possibly be?
Go to places like Greece and Turkiye and large amounts of electricity infrastructure are carried on poles in some cases 11KV and 230/400 volt cables are on the same poles – they’d have a fit over here. The idea that we’re the only country in the world to carry infrastructure on poles is utterly ridiculous.
Idiocy.
It really is outrageous a small group of noisy nimbys can block access to fibre broadband for thousands of people.
Its a small estate of maybe 60 – 100 houses
Its one of those estates that is largely populated by people who had their children in 70s+80s and are now grandparents. There arnt many children riding bikes and playing out, but plenty of Honda Jazzes.
The wants and desires of the estate might look different in 10-15yrs time when I am sure there will be a clamour for FFTP
“What do we want?”
– fast, cheap, reliable broadband.
“When do we want it?”
– yesterday. Ok then.
“No, not like that!”
De-Scoped OR is a business not a charity. People forget there is no obligation for OR to upgrade their network.
De-scoped that’s the word I was trying to think of
No fibre for you then, I’m sure some local councillors will have a good moan about that in a few years.
Well now they forfeit the right to whinge about slow speeds. These same people whinge about rural mobile coverage but then lobby against mobile masts.
Well, in this particular case I’m with the residents (of Grange Park Road, Bromley Cross) as it appears to be a case of OR overbuilding on a Virgin network (Yeh! I know!) that is all duct based.
And a Google Maps drive-by of a number of other areas within Bromley Cross shows a general dearth of telegraph poles even in some of the ‘period properties’ areas (though admittedly not a thorough exploration). Some 80% of the general Bromley Cross area is currently either ultrafast (>300 Mbps) or gigabit. Perhaps if OR were building in the 20% of Bromley Cross that doesn’t have at least ultrafast (perhaps they are as well) there would be no issue with those residents.
Well there is another hole in the system.
Legislators could. have ensured that in return for other operators being able to. access ORs ducts they would have to offer their ducts in return on the same terms.
Best practice guidelines are there for a reason . To protect our home environments from duplicate or triplicate telegraph poles.
it should of been set down in government legislation permitted development that these overbuilds of infrastructure when FFTP exists and there is also competition of suppliers with FFTP that multiplies of telegraph poles would not be considered permitted .
When telecommunications infrastructure first came into being , all was by telegraph poles . We have moved on since then and should not be forced into looking like a third world country
Canada, Japan, United States are now third world huh?
Infrastructure on poles is common throughout the western world. The idea that it marks us out as a third world nation is pathetic. Typical NIMBY attitude.
Funnily enough, Openreach (and therefore PIA) is exactly what protects from duplicate and triplicate poles.
Bromley Cross enjoys a wonderful broad view full of sky, trees, and grassy moors. Also the 132kV line bestrides the middle-distance of chimneys on identikit UPVC houses each with very tall TV antennae, satellite dishes, and street lights festooned with 20 signs (oh well, this isn’t Wales). So not bad as suburbs go.
But it seems some 10-inch wide poles 30 yards down the street by a 12-inch wide birch with its 10 metre canopy will ruin it, rather than protect it from multiple overbuilds.
Quite enjoy that the photo is however from Devon. No idea why when the article is about Bolton…
I have a lovely Telegraph pole opposite my house, I see it from my office window, It is all on its own, supplying my line, the town has been upgraded to FTTP except my pole. Openreach I have FTTP to the left and right of me, why not me?
“My broadband is slow and unusable” – but they object to new telecoms infrastructure
“My mobile phone doesn’t work in this area” – but they object to new/improved mobile masts
“My energy bills are too high” – but they object to new grid infrastructure / power developments
“We need more housing for young people” – but they object to housing development proposals
I want a better world and a better life, but I don’t want anything to change, and I don’t want to pay for any of it.
NIMBYism is one of the biggest factors holding the UK back from infrastructure development and further economic growth. Politicians appease these very loud minorities, and wonder why things are not improving.
It’s pretty clear BT shouldn’t be building new Publicly subsidised FTTP using archaic Copper type, pole infrastructure. It’s seriously ugly in areas that don’t already have poles. And it’s no way to future proof an FTTP network, in the increasingly uncertain times we are living in. With Global warming induced weather events, like storms, heatwaves etc. Skimping out to save a few quid, or using already archaic technology, that should be consigned to the bin, is utter madness. Poles, will require ongoing maintenance forever, it’s a false economy, whatever way you care to look at it…