Moving to EE in Stop Sell area.

[#1]

I have a non techie friend who wishes to move ISP in order to keep a combined broadband and landline phone service. 
However we live in a stop sell area. He has enquired about an upgrade to Full Fibre, stated to be available on the broadband availability checker. Openreach has been to survey and quoted £5k+ in ECCs. As you may imagine, this has been refused and the order cancelled.

Am I right in assuming that any Plusnet customer who wishes to transfer within the BT group to EE to keep their phone service and lives in a stop sell area, has no choice but to upgrade to FTTP?

[#2]

@Baldrick1 

I don't think so. Because FTTP is only available with a high ECC I suspect an exemption will be allowed to move to an FTTC connection.

Assuming they are near the end of their contract I think they should be able to choose their new ISP eg Zen Internet.

Brian

[#3]

Could one transfer to BT/EE FTTC Internet connection + Digital Phone until OR FTTP is available ?

£5K+ is not a huge fee suggesting FTTP is available not too far away.

Any signs of Openreach progressing towards your friends street :

https://www.openreach.com/fibre-checker

[#4]

@PhilipHeyes 

 No it’s not far away. The problem is that it’s the last property on a line that ends in the next street, There is the start of a duct heading in the right direction but because all the properties are partial direct burial there’s no indication if the extent of the rodding before hitting the blockage identifies if the duct just peters out. The cost is for installing a new duct. The annoying thing is that the availability checker shows FTTP to be available so I suspect that we are in ‘computer says you can get FTTP’ territory.

[#5]

@Baldrick1 

Could you post a screen image of the Address Checker results, including any narrative below the results window. Remember to hide personal details.

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL/AddressHome

Have you checked other addresses on the street to see what they say. Look to see what the checker says about the ONT.

They will probably have to phone the COTS team to check what their options are.

PlusNet Customer Options Team on 0800 013 2632

Brian

[#6]

@bmc 

The problem is that the checker has recorded an underground duct to the curtilage. This property is a single dwelling  located around a junction to a different road to the rest of a small development that is served by an underground duct. When built all the properties were connected via direct burial of the incoming copper, presumably from this duct. Either the duct from the chamber in the adjoining road that feeds the other properties in that part of the development did not extend around the corner to this individual property, or the duct is blocked. Either way, replacing/installing the duct to the curtilage of this single property from the nearest chamber is what is attracting the ECC.

Other properties in this road are a mixture of underground, overhead or simply FTTP not available connections.

My friend allegedly received emails from Plusnet advising that as their contract had ended, he would be losing his FTTC landline and phone, the only option being to move to FTTP.  

My initial thought was to simply log in to the Plusnet account and transfer to SOGEA. What I had not realised is that even this is not available if FTTP is listed as available in a stop sell area.

Anyway, a lengthy discussion with COTS and as Plusnet had the ECC quotation, the Agent sought help from another team where it was determined that, in this case, they could claim an exception and offered a continuation of the existing broadband and phone service for another 12 months. Moving the service to an EE FTTC and digital phone service not being an available option.

Time will tell whether this is just kicking the can down the road for more hassle before the contract ends, or whether, there being and exception already now in place, this can be transferred to EE or another ISP.

In the meantime, I shall look at the possibility of getting the availability checker updated to FTTP not available.

[#7]

@Baldrick1 

I suspect the Exception will last only until PSTN is withdrawn in January 2027. Without looking back through the thread is an Independant VOIP service possible / acceptable? SOGEA on PN appears to be a possibility.

As regards the Checker I believe it is correct. Full Fibre is available - it's just the ECC charge that's stopping an install.

Brian

[#8]

@bmc 

The Checker is incorrect. If, as is stated as available on the Checker, there was a duct to the curtilage, there would be no ECC.

As I have stated, without an exception in place, there is no option to convert to SOGEA. Now that there is an exception is place, there will hopefully be either the option of either a move to SOGEA or to EE/alternative ISP, when the PSTN phone service is stopped. 

[#9]

@Baldrick1 

Did PN grant an Exception to their own rules about contract renewals "as is" or have OR granted an Exception to the Stop / Sell? If the former then there will be possible problems in the future.

As for the Checker it all depends on what "Pre built to curtilage Soft" means. From memory I have never seen this message before. If a duct was in place it would either say nothing other than "partial direct in ground Soft" or state the duct was Blocked or Congested.

To me it could be a message to the Engineer doing the survey to state a duct needs to be installed to the curtilage.

Brian

[#10]

@bmc 

Pre built to curtilage means what it says. My property and all the others in this development is the same.

It means that there is an existing duct up to the curtilage, that is, the boundary to the property. Soft refers to the installation of a duct from the curtilage up to the property. In my case, a shallow narrow trench across a lawn. Hard refers to a more difficult dig from the curtilage across say a tarmac drive, or in the case of my neighbour, a rockery.

[#11]

@Baldrick1 

Fair enough. I just can't recall seeing "pre built to curtilage" before. I knew the difference between Soft and Hard.

Technically speaking I still think the Checker result is accurate. From what you say it's whoever did the survey for the install that got things wrong.

Brian

[#12]

Is there a confusion of terms here?

”Stop sell” generally refers to WLR (the POTS voice service) which has been stop sell virtually everywhere for ages.  AIUI that means that though an existing CP/ISP can renew an existing contract (as there’s no order raised with BT) an alternative supplier cannot.  They have to deploy SOGEA ir FTTP.

Further a fibre priority area dictates that FTTP should be deployed rather than SOGEA.  Is this user in a fibre priority area?  The acid question here is what are the protocols in a fibre priority area where significant ECCs are required to install the “fibre priority preference”.

[#13]

 Is this user in a fibre priority area?

According to the BTw checker results posted earlier, yes!

[#14]

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@Townman wrote:

The acid question here is what are the protocols in a fibre priority area where significant ECCs are required to install the “fibre priority preference”.

---

It is indeed. But who knows and how do we find out? It seems totally unreasonable for the Availability Checker to state that it's available, blocking access to SOGEA, if there are extortionate ECCs required.

Having been told the new contract MGS,  I have realised that the current connection is still ADSL, this had not occured to me!  Consequently, I am more convinced that the current extension is doing no more than kicking the can down the road, unless there is a route to upgrading the account to SOGEA, which would be acceptable.

[#15]

@Baldrick1 Openreach currently have a bulk relaxation (until Oct) of the FTTP priority rules https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2025/12/openreach-tweak-stop-sell-rules-in-fttp-priority-areas...

So maybe now is a good time for your neighbour to try upgrading to SoGEA