topic Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation in Full Fibre

Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

theleprechaun — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:05:03 GMT

Hello everyone,

This morning (Friday 17th April @ 9am) we had an Openreach engineer here to install the new full fibre connection in the house, but there was a problem so we couldn't continue... Currently we have two phone lines on a single copper cable that comes from the pole outside the house and runs to the corner of our garage. The black cable from the black box in the attached picture is my fathers line which has cordless phones connected in every room of the house, my line is the white cable in the picture that goes into the roof and into my bedroom to the socket on the wall.

The engineer said that if he completes the install and then activates it, then we would loose all phones in the house? Does he mean it will effect the one phone on my line or does it effect all the phones on my fathers line?? Due to my parents being elderly and they need a phone connection at all times so he didn't complete the install.

Where do we go from here to get a full fibre install completed?

Daniel.

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

jab1 — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:10:34 GMT

Are these two separate phone numbers?

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

theleprechaun — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:11:40 GMT

Yes, two separate phone numbers...

Daniel.

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

jab1 — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:17:45 GMT

OK. I'm not a telecoms engineer, but I suspect that as both numbers run off the same cable as far as the black (splitter?) box the engineer is possibly correct in saying it could cause total disruption.

There is a forum member who may have more idea, but he's not around every day.

@198kHz ?

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

bmc — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:22:41 GMT

@theleprechaun

I assume as it's two numbers then you have separate accounts with PN. As such I would not expect the activation on your line to affect your fathers unless the engineer needs to cut the copper cable somewhere.

You almost certainly need to phone PN Support to find out for certain.

As an aside, I assume you're aware that the PSTN is being withdrawn by Jan 2027 at the latest and therefore your father will need to do something with his account. Use the following the see if your Exchange is a Fibre Priority Exchange (Y/N) - if it's not then potentially he could move to a SOGEA connection and use VOIP for his phone requires. Any care alarms complicates matters.

Brian

Edit : Forgot the Checker link https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

theleprechaun — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:28:16 GMT

My father doesn't have Broadband yet, only I have an account with PN and a router in my bedroom.

Daniel

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

jab1 — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:32:48 GMT

@theleprechaun As I said above, because both lines run via the same cable as far as the splitter box, this needs technical advice - which you won't get from PN first-line support.

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

pvmb — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:35:32 GMT

@theleprechaun

Who currently provides both landline phone services?

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

theleprechaun — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:39:51 GMT

We are both with BT.

Daniel.

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

jab1 — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:42:25 GMT

@theleprechaun How far, if at all, did the installer get with the job, and are you overhead or underground fed?

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

theleprechaun — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:45:59 GMT

We got as far as planning a route for the fibre cable to enter the house, and that was when he said about activating it.

Daniel

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

theleprechaun — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:46:25 GMT

Overhead sorry.

Daniel

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

jab1 — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:49:33 GMT

@theleprechaun wrote:

We got as far as planning a route for the fibre cable to enter the house, and that was when he said about activating it.

Daniel

What was the route?

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

pvmb — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:57:35 GMT

@theleprechaun wrote:

Yes, two separate phone numbers...

Two seperate landline mumbers on one landline is a new one on me! It sounds like an old Party Line arrangement, but wouldn't they share one number? I wonder if it is some kind of Pair gain arrangement? Or is the ultimate phone line an ISDN circuit?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pair_gain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISDN

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

bmc — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:56:10 GMT

@theleprechaun

As I understand things, the activation of a Full Fibre circuit automatically ceases the copper landline serving the property. So you'll lose your BT phone service.

Now, for most people with only one landline that's fine. However as you have a second line (using a second pair of copper fibres within the single cable) this may be ceased as well. The engineer could be right on this. As it's not a PN phone service you, or your dad, need to phone BT and ask. Someone at PN may have the answer but as it's not their service they may not care.

However my original point about your father's phone line being withdrawn in the relatively near future still stands. You will not get a second Full Fibre service installed at the house though you might get a SOGEA connection but it's complicated. Any care alarms involved?

Brian

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

jab1 — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:58:20 GMT

@pvmb Somewhere, I did read that there may be two pairs in the one line, and looking at the photo, I think this may be the case. with them being split at the black box.

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

pvmb — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 17:06:17 GMT

@jab1

"However as you have a second line (using a second pair of copper fibres within the single cable)..."

That's what I thought as well, but seemingly only one NTE? The split appearing to come after the single NTE. Unless... a second NTE is upstairs with that circuit bypassing the one shown? It's confusing - well, it is to me!

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

jab1 — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 17:07:35 GMT

@pvmb wrote:

Unless... a second NTE is upstairs with that circuit bypassing the one shown? It's confusing - well, it is to me!

It is possible - the OP hasn't said though, so...

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

HPsauce — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 17:18:42 GMT

No confusion, maybe misunderstanding. The incoming dropwire has at least two pairs in it (I was told ours had four).

It goes to that black box and the white wire then takes one pair upstairs to the router, that's the PN line.

The other cable goes to the master socket for the "phone only" line and that then has wiring leaving it that presumably go to various extensions, That's the BT line.

It could be that the FTTP installation is assuming they will use the existing dropwire to pull the fibre across, thinking it's redundant. It obviously isn't.

Whether replacing one phone line with FTTP will or will not cause BT to cut off the other phone-only line to the same premises is an interesting question. In theory it shouldn't as it's a separate contract BUT I wouldn't trust Openreach's internal systems... 😡

Re: Incomplete Full Fibre Installation

theleprechaun — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 17:27:32 GMT

We have the new fibre cable that was installed from the pole to the outside wall of our garage with the grey Openreach box.

Daniel