Constant disconnections caused by cable or pole damage

[#1]

Hi,

I have a rather unique problem with my internet connection (and phone line in general). It's a bit complicated but I'll try to summarise. Basically, whenever it's windy outside, the internet tends to disconnect all the time and this week it has been windy pretty much every day so I'm lucky if it stays connected for more than 10 minutes.

It's an issue that has occured in the past and is caused by the phone wire threading awkwardly through the branches of a couple of trees before it reaches the pole (which itself has become consumed by tree growth). A further complication is that the land on which the trees are situated is used for allotments and is supposedly owned by some charity trust that is almost impossible to contact. The chances of getting somebody to pay for tree surgery are next to zero. Also, the phone wires (not just mine but many others on the same street) are all tangled in amongst the brances with some bending around them to reach the pole, so cutting away at the tree will likely rip the wires down completely.

I opened a support ticket on Wednesday and eventually the operator agreed to send out an Openreach engineer. In the past, the engineers have had to return the next day with a lift because the pole is inaccessible. However, this time the engineer said that even with a lift, the pole would still be impossible to work on due to the tree growth. He said that the pole really needs to be resituated and a planner should come out to assess the situation. He also said that the case would remain open so Openreach would not forget about it.

However, last night I received an email and text from Plusnet claiming that Openreach had "fixed the issue" and that the ticket would be closed because the "service is now working as expected".

It's not fixed at all.

My concern now is that Plusnet can't really see the problem and because Openreach have the impetus of a dead sloth, the issue will now persist for weeks, months or even years before they do something.

Is there anything that Plusnet can do to compel Openreach to send out someone to inspect the pole, and possibly fix any damage that might have occured to the box (last time the movement of the tree branches had partially yanked the phone wire out). If it's possible to fix the connection at the box, that would be enough to tide me over until they can resituate the pole.

I suspect I already know the answer but I've always been happy with Plusnet and I wanted to exhaust all avenues before assessing other options. A fibre altnet recently came to the area and it seems they route their wires through a wayleave on a nearby property to bypass the dodgy pole so they might be my only option.

Thank you for reading my novel and for any advice you might be able to offer.

🙂

[#2]

@lindahwilliams My suggestion would be to contact Plusnet by phone and state forcibly that Openreach have NOT fixed the issue and your service is NOT 'working as expected'.

[#3]

Hey @lindahwilliams,

I tried to call you today, but I was unable to reach you.

"A further complication is that the land on which the trees are situated is used for allotments and is supposedly owned by some charity trust that is almost impossible to contact"

From the way you described the situation with the pole I do think as well that could be causing the issue, I do understand that the pole is on the charity's property however Openreach would have an agreement with the landowner so they can perform maintenance on their equipment I have run a test on your line and it is still showing that there is a fault and an appointment is needed since I did not reach you, I have raised this fault with Openreach and chose the earliest date, I have sent you an email with the appointment information if that does not work out for you, please reply to the ticket or this thread and we can get that appointment changed I also left a note for the engineer to investigate the pole although it may not happen on the day of the engineer visit if they need to send permission.

[#4]

@Marsh Just one observation: I know the response to the OP saying 'everything is now sorted' was an auto-response on the back of erroneous information from OR, and I know there is little or nothing PN can do, but it is this kind of response that creates distrust by customers.

It just means that you (ISPs) get it n the neck due to the 'Post Office Telephones' attitude still displayed by that organisation, who still regard end-users as an unwelcome intrusion into their cosy world.

[#5]

Thank you for getting back to me, sorry I just narrowly missed the call.

I have confirmed the Openreach visit and look forward to seeing what they have to say, although I'm not expecting they will be able to do much.

Is there any way to make a note on the appointment booking that they will probably need a lift? Because they always need a lift.

[#6]

"however Openreach would have an agreement with the landowner"

I would like to suggest that OR may not necessarily have such an agreement. Such cases are not unknown. I've recently been made aware of a case where a (different) utility provider had no wayleave agreement in place for their infrastructure.

[#7]

@lindahwilliams Thank you for getting back in touch, @Marsh has already beaten me to it and did update the notes on the fault raised yesterday, and we will also check with you again once the engineer has been. 

@grumble I believe where there's already an Openreach pole on someone's land, a wayleave is usually in place, where a wayleave isn't in place then permission to work (PTW) is requested by Openreach to carry out the work required. PTW usually contains details of of the extent of the works so landowners can make an informed decision, we see these cases a lot more in provisioning, especially with Full Fibre being fitted in such a large scale nowadays. 

[#8]

Just to clarify, the pole itself is situated right at the edge of the trust land and should be accessible from the surrounding public alley ways. The problem with the trust land is more to do with the trees which stand a little further within its borders, and through which the phone line is awkwardly threaded in order to get to the pole. The reason why the pole is not accessible is two-fold:

1. According to the engineer that came on Friday, it is designated as dangerous and can only be operated on with the help of a lift.

2. The growth of the nearby trees has consumed the pole, making it impossible to operate on even with a lift (at least, according to the engineer on Friday). However, we had the same issue 18 months ago and the engineer at the time was able to get up there.

We will see what the engineer tomorrow says. Hopefully he's brave (or crazy).

[#9]

@lindahwilliams If the pole is designated 'do not climb' - there is usually a notice/marker on them to signify this - then no competent engineer will attempt to access it without a hoist - if they had an accident, then they would be unable to claim any compensation - and could lose their job through failing to follow H&S instructions.

[#10]

It's a bit complex, innit?

It my understanding that wayleave agreements are between the current landowner and the utility. So when land gets sold the old wayleave agreement lapses. Utility companies can literally take years (up to a decade or more) before they realise this.

This case could become more complex. Arboriculture work is best not carried out during bird nesting season (March - September). It is illegal to knowingly disturb an active bird nest (different legislation).

[#11]

Oh, yes. I know of at least one of those poles.