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Openreach showing FTTP available but I'm not convinced?

Jetox

Member
Hello everyone.

I live in a cul-de-sac in Greater London and a few months ago I spoke to Openreach about getting FTTP for the 60 houses here. We had dropped off the plans as previously it had shown FTTP due in 2023 but then 2026. Openreach advisor then told me they had spoken to the project manager for the area and we were not off the plans and were expected to have FTTP by July 2024.

About a month later I saw Community Fibre vans cabling the main road to the cul-de-sac. I have not seen any workers other than those on the main road since.

A week or two ago the Openreach website showed that FTTP was now available and is "1 stage" installation. Our cabling is underground here and it shows the same on the website. Strangely it has allowed me to order FTTP from several providers and I've got a date for installation in early November.

I'm a bit confused on how this is going to work as I haven't seen anyone from Openreach cabling on our road. I believe our house's cabling is actually served from a duct joint box on our neighbour's front garden and he hasn't mentioned anyone opening that up for work.

What's the likelihood that they turn up for installation and say "sorry, cabling hasn't been run yet and it's a mistake on the websites"? Or can I trust that at some point they have done the work and somehow no one has noticed?
 
What's the likelihood that they turn up for installation and say "sorry, cabling hasn't been run yet and it's a mistake on the websites"? Or can I trust that at some point they have done the work and somehow no one has noticed?
That’s always a risk, but worth persevering with the order.
 
Hello everyone.

I live in a cul-de-sac in Greater London and a few months ago I spoke to Openreach about getting FTTP for the 60 houses here. We had dropped off the plans as previously it had shown FTTP due in 2023 but then 2026. Openreach advisor then told me they had spoken to the project manager for the area and we were not off the plans and were expected to have FTTP by July 2024.

About a month later I saw Community Fibre vans cabling the main road to the cul-de-sac. I have not seen any workers other than those on the main road since.

A week or two ago the Openreach website showed that FTTP was now available and is "1 stage" installation. Our cabling is underground here and it shows the same on the website. Strangely it has allowed me to order FTTP from several providers and I've got a date for installation in early November.

I'm a bit confused on how this is going to work as I haven't seen anyone from Openreach cabling on our road. I believe our house's cabling is actually served from a duct joint box on our neighbour's front garden and he hasn't mentioned anyone opening that up for work.

What's the likelihood that they turn up for installation and say "sorry, cabling hasn't been run yet and it's a mistake on the websites"? Or can I trust that at some point they have done the work and somehow no one has noticed?
Probably wont know much till you order. I was in a similar situation where I thought its not possible i can get fttp, yet 4 months later I’m going to be connected on monday.
 
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My Sisters street is the same. Hers is the one street in my whole area with underground ducting supplying the street. I check the three major street planners once a day every day. And there has been no work in her street whatsoever. Suddenly out of the blue, it says it can be ordered there.

A good way to tell if ifs real is if the adjoing streets that may have overhead are saying it is available for them too.
 
My Sisters street is the same. Hers is the one street in my whole area with underground ducting supplying the street. I check the three major street planners once a day every day. And there has been no work in her street whatsoever. Suddenly out of the blue, it says it can be ordered there.

A good way to tell if ifs real is if the adjoing streets that may have overhead are saying it is available for them too.
I've already ordered so I'm past that point. Both the Openreach and BT wholesale checkers show that it's available for every house in the cul-de-sac so I don't know. Just strange that I haven't seen any work being done unless it was done very quickly and required no digging.
 
You haven't said who you have ordered the FTTP service from. If it is an ISP utilising OR FTTP then all should be well.

Even if the first fibre and the CBT have not been installed if the duct work is OK this can be addressed quickly prior to the actual ONT install. Dependant on the area OR have an initial survey stage where external access is confirmed and any civils/cabling required before the internal install.

As always there is always the possibility of database errors or unforeseen technical issues which may put the date back. But it appears positive.

Any Community Fibre activity is independent of any Openreach activity other than CF using OR ducts.
 
You haven't said who you have ordered the FTTP service from. If it is an ISP utilising OR FTTP then all should be well.

Even if the first fibre and the CBT have not been installed if the duct work is OK this can be addressed quickly prior to the actual ONT install. Dependant on the area OR have an initial survey stage where external access is confirmed and any civils/cabling required before the internal install.

As always there is always the possibility of database errors or unforeseen technical issues which may put the date back. But it appears positive.

Any Community Fibre activity is independent of any Openreach activity other than CF using OR ducts.
I ordered with Plusnet initially and then cancelled because Vodafone gave a better offer for their 900Mbps package. Sky and I believe BT were also more expensive options that were available.

It's a good 50 metres from the main road up to the first house so hopefully they have already done work on that side as I highly doubt they're going to be able to do that on the day. I heard about the initial survey but I haven't been told about anything.

I'm just expecting someone to pull the fibre through the existing duct to the house on the day because there aren't any access issues that I can foresee, but maybe they will do preliminary work without notifying me.

The Community Fibre vans were laying cabling so not really sure to be honest - the rest of the area has Openreach FTTP already so I don't know why they would be doubling up on the FTTP offerings.
 
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@Jetox

Worth a try with an Openreach order. They are more likely to serve you with an underground connection than Community Fibre who seem to have a strong preference for overhead.

I've had a number of Openreach yes/no/yes emails but I'm expecting service availability "soonish" as I can see Openreach's connectorised block at the top of the pole in the street.

Going with someone other than your current supplier may also ease any issues with the migration from copper to fibre.
 
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