OpenReach upgraded my local cabinet to FTTP ground works etc missed my street stuck in the dark ages!

[SXD93]

Hey

so i'm wondering if anyone could give me any advice i've been attempting to figure if there is anything that can be done or who to even get in touch with regarding this 2 year long standing issue,

so around 2 years ago i was on openreaches website and i input my postal code and searched regarding the availability of FTTP and it said great news we're building in your area and we expect the work to take a couple of months etc, Great i thought my contract with VM is coming to a end (thank god) and i'll switch over to another provider, anywho a little while later after the work vans had all been in the local area and pretty much packed up shop and had left, i rechecked on the checker and it just stated that "there was no build plan in my area" so i contacted openreach who confirmed that there was no plans whatsoever to build on my street despite the fact every other street has access to FTTP in my area with absolutely no explanation given,

checking more recently and it just says FTTP "not yet available" trying to get openreach to understand my concerns have fallen on deaf ears a multitude of times, one advisor stated supposedly they're going to build in jan 2029 although i dont neccesarily feel this to be accurate rather that they couldn't really be bothered to continue investigating this,

the annoying irony regarding all of this is, prior to anyone getting access to FTTP, G-Fast fiber broadband has been available to many people in the area for a number of years, however yet again my entire street was missed out on all of that too!

my street literally only has access to up to 15mbps maximum according to the broadband checker yet most providers dont even state they can be as fast i will upload a photo showing the availability here,


is there anything that can actually be done about this or will just forever just be stuck in the dark ages, within the grips of virgin media?

any advice is greatly appreciated
thank you

 

[Starwar]

email Openreach CEO and explain why FTTP not available to your address?

 

[TBM]

I have a similar situation and have tried the email to the CEO. Long story short for here is there are no poles or ducting, the money that was set aside for areas such as this (more expensive to install) was used elsewhere and the road was dropped from plan.
Are you also in a Direct In Ground situation ? It is available at the end of this road and has been for a couple of years as there are poles there. Most annoying.

 

[SXD93]

Hey thank you for the response honestly I'm not too sure but I'm guessing I might be as there doesn't appear to be any telephone poles as such nearby, I know whatever the reason be it's incredibly annoying, where I live its pretty much like a big couple of streets of upstairs and downstairs flats, having said that though the street next to mine they missed out the majority of them but 5 lucky households got FTTP and We're all running off of the same cabinet, other then virgin media here there is no other options as were stuck on the old school internet speeds :-( messaging openreach feels incredibly tedeous with very snappy lackluster responses I think to know for certain I'd be best emailing the CEO of openreach too, I don't suppose you could forward me there email address please?

 

[Starwar]

I'd be best emailing the CEO of openreach too, I don't suppose you could forward me there email address please?

clive.selley@openreach.co.uk

 

[Brumski]

Edit - typos.. I'll respond properly later (running out the door)

 

[jpm]

Is there anything different with your street compared to the ones nearby that have been enabled for FTTP? Things like the age of the street, ownership of the road are all relevant.

 

[SXD93]

Hey funnily enough around 10 minutes after posting my last reply on here the phone rings, this time I've been granted with a phone call directly from openreach, compared to my previous enquiry experiences I feel somewhat honoured

After explaining the situation all over again to the representative, the fact I've been left in the dark ages, considering we never even got FTTC /G-Fast well pretty much because of the FTTP rollout they're not going to waste time establishing FTTC etc, she said unfortunately there's nothing they can do, they're saying a guideline time of Jan 2029 now it could potentially be done before then, however in the same sense it might also not have be done by then if ever at all, as there's no plans to do any work here, she would imagine it will eventually be done but they cannot make any gaurentees to this, she said it's really strange why my street was even removed from the plan, "but it's simply one of those things" she looked on the system to see if there were excessive costs with things like the underground cabling ducts etc being required and there weren't any, she confirmed they can connect this area up with a poll,

so I guess they simply just decided not to do it In the end

Well i guess this 2 year saga comes to a abrupt end and back to the death claws of Virgin media I go for the next few years and re-evaluate the situation again

I wish you all the best of luck with Openreach and attaining FTTP @TBM and anyone else still waiting

thanks everyone for all the responses I really appreciate it

 

[insertfloppydiskhere]

Hey

so i'm wondering if anyone could give me any advice i've been attempting to figure if there is anything that can be done or who to even get in touch with regarding this 2 year long standing issue,

so around 2 years ago i was on openreaches website and i input my postal code and searched regarding the availability of FTTP and it said great news we're building in your area and we expect the work to take a couple of months etc, Great i thought my contract with VM is coming to a end (thank god) and i'll switch over to another provider, anywho a little while later after the work vans had all been in the local area and pretty much packed up shop and had left, i rechecked on the checker and it just stated that "there was no build plan in my area" so i contacted openreach who confirmed that there was no plans whatsoever to build on my street despite the fact every other street has access to FTTP in my area with absolutely no explanation given,

checking more recently and it just says FTTP "not yet available" trying to get openreach to understand my concerns have fallen on deaf ears a multitude of times, one advisor stated supposedly they're going to build in jan 2029 although i dont neccesarily feel this to be accurate rather that they couldn't really be bothered to continue investigating this,

the annoying irony regarding all of this is, prior to anyone getting access to FTTP, G-Fast fiber broadband has been available to many people in the area for a number of years, however yet again my entire street was missed out on all of that too!

my street literally only has access to up to 15mbps maximum according to the broadband checker yet most providers dont even state they can be as fast i will upload a photo showing the availability here,


is there anything that can actually be done about this or will just forever just be stuck in the dark ages, within the grips of virgin media?

any advice is greatly appreciated
thank you

Half of my street has FTTC and we're stuck with ADSL which sucks (if we were with Openreach that is). I wish they'd actually improve their infrastructure more.

Either way, good luck

 

[GreenLantern22]

I think you got more chance of seeing VM FTTP than Openreach FTTP. I think eventually Openreach will get there, since once the simpler/cheaper areas are done they will start to look at what's left. In any case I wouldn't waste time with customer services as they are far detached from reality. Emailing the CEO is the only thing you can do aside from waiting.

 

[TBM]

I think you got more chance of seeing VM FTTP than Openreach FTTP. I think eventually Openreach will get there, since once the simpler/cheaper areas are done they will start to look at what's left. In any case I wouldn't waste time with customer services as they are far detached from reality. Emailing the CEO is the only thing you can do aside from waiting.

To make my previous short story a little longer - when I first emailed the CEO about the road where I live being missed out it was still in plan and I got an install date. When that went by and no install happened I emailed again and was told the story of the funds being used elsewhere how very sorry they were and that we are now out of plan and the web page was duly updated to reflect this. So even a positive outcome from the email is liable to be rescinded. Gigaclear claim to be installing here (still) but when emailed that is an error, no Virgin or any other Altnet here but at least we have mediocre FTTC - although a pole supplying the FTTP goodness is in sight from an upstairs window

 

[Brumski]

To make my previous short story a little longer - when I first emailed the CEO about the road where I live being missed out it was still in plan and I got an install date. When that went by and no install happened I emailed again and was told the story of the funds being used elsewhere how very sorry they were and that we are now out of plan and the web page was duly updated to reflect this. So even a positive outcome from the email is liable to be rescinded.

Couldn't agree more. I was tempted to reply to this thread by saying that as much.

Our situation is much like the above. Lots of assurances and dates, which came and went, before we got the "funding isn't available anymore" email.

We have infrastructure in the ground (fibre and CBTs) and residents on the same road 50 yards away can order FTTP but we've been told the project has been cancelled. I even obtained an FTTPoD quote - £100k (that's not a typo) to get something a neighbour I can wave at can get for £30 a month.

 

[TBM]

Curse that low hanging fruit, but once it has all been harvested........................

Maybe ?

 

[Brumski]

Well I never.. Talk about timing. This just landed a few seconds ago.

 

[TBM]

Good for you (typing with severely gritted teeth)
Please don't post that you don't want it for whatever reason !

 

[MissTuned]

Good for you (typing with severely gritted teeth)
Please don't post that you don't want it for whatever reason !

A bit like that one guy who posted across TBB, DigitalSpy and (maybe?) here repeatedly and at great length for well over a year about why he didn't want FTTP only to go ahead and order Zzoomm

 

[2RRM]

Hi,
Complete waste of time contacting OpenReach and their CEO, just gets a team of customer service guys who feed you a load of crap to get rid of you. Deadlines come and go, when chased, new dates given with over 12 months added, again with no guarantee, "your area is currently still in the build plan but things could change". Been waiting 3 years, tried contacting MP's, councillors etc with no joy. Our estate is approx. 100 homes and as someone else above states, CBT's, fibre cable is already installed in underground ducting, neighbours less than 50M away can order, but about 40 homes can't. We are apparently going to be "fed from another spine".
Ridiculous how they prioritise areas, we suffer poor FTTC, no other providers available yet around the corner, they have a plethora of choice and OpenReach dig up several roads over 2 weeks with a 4 man crew, followed by 1 week of a 2 man crew connecting fibre cables to activate one lamppost to serve a maximum of 10 homes.
As above, quoted £21K + VAT to enable my property even though the spine is completed and according to OR engineers that visited recently, "there's two to three days work to complete this estate, but our manager has advised we can't do it, it's with the contractors".
Oh well, another 6 months to wait before the next disappointing update from OR.
R

 

[drevilbob]

Hi,
Complete waste of time contacting OpenReach and their CEO, just gets a team of customer service guys who feed you a load of crap to get rid of you. Deadlines come and go, when chased, new dates given with over 12 months added, again with no guarantee, "your area is currently still in the build plan but things could change". Been waiting 3 years, tried contacting MP's, councillors etc with no joy. Our estate is approx. 100 homes and as someone else above states, CBT's, fibre cable is already installed in underground ducting, neighbours less than 50M away can order, but about 40 homes can't. We are apparently going to be "fed from another spine".
Ridiculous how they prioritise areas, we suffer poor FTTC, no other providers available yet around the corner, they have a plethora of choice and OpenReach dig up several roads over 2 weeks with a 4 man crew, followed by 1 week of a 2 man crew connecting fibre cables to activate one lamppost to serve a maximum of 10 homes.
As above, quoted £21K + VAT to enable my property even though the spine is completed and according to OR engineers that visited recently, "there's two to three days work to complete this estate, but our manager has advised we can't do it, it's with the contractors".
Oh well, another 6 months to wait before the next disappointing update from OR.
R

Plans can and do change, they may be having wayleave problems which isn’t uncommon at all or you have a blocked duct

 

[2RRM]

Hi @drevilbob

A duct was blocked cleared in December 2021. They dug up the pavement and fixed a blockage ( council installed a bollard on the duct, crushing it). All cables waiting for final pull through new duct, connection and CBTs labelling.

Other engineers have advised that we are in a “pond” and they are having problems gaining access to other areas in the pond - industrial & commercial ( the main fibre will be split at a double OR manhole about 100M from us around the corner of our road to serve those areas). Apparently a request has been made to separate the pond, but I’m unable to get specific information.

Just so frustrating. Especially as OR engineers been a few weeks ago and confirmed headend and spine we need is built and live, just waiting to be connected up, “2-3 days work”.

R

 

[drevilbob]

Hi @drevilbob

A duct was blocked cleared in December 2021. They dug up the pavement and fixed a blockage ( council installed a bollard on the duct, crushing it). All cables waiting for final pull through new duct, connection and CBTs labelling.

Other engineers have advised that we are in a “pond” and they are having problems gaining access to other areas in the pond - industrial & commercial ( the main fibre will be split at a double OR manhole about 100M from us around the corner of our road to serve those areas). Apparently a request has been made to separate the pond, but I’m unable to get specific information.

Just so frustrating. Especially as OR engineers been a few weeks ago and confirmed headend and spine we need is built and live, just waiting to be connected up, “2-3 days work”.

R

Take anything engineers say with a pinch of salt as they don't have all the information and do make guesses, I've had it happen to myself. The best way forward is to be patent and keep speaking the executive complaints team to get updates.