Openreach full fibre - safe to tamper with cable cover?

[#1]

I'm having some building works done including putting new skirting boards on; it's become apparent that the new skirting is taller than the old, and comes up higher than the small round wall-attached cable cover on the fibre that plugs into the ONT (all hidden behind furniture previously).

My builder is keen to pull the cover off the wall, thread the wire through a small hole in the skirting, then stick the cover back to the skirting. I'm very worried about damaging the fibre, or invalidating any kind of agreement with Plusnet/Openreach (or both).

Is this safe, or am I better off just getting a 5cm diameter hole cut in the skirting to fit the whole cable cover and wire poking out?

[#2]

It's not just a cover, it's attached to a tube which supports the fibre in the wall cavity. 

[#3]

The only way to get skirting behind the cover would be to cut a slot in the skirting and pull the cover carefully out a bit, making sure not to stress the fibre in the CSP outside, which you are presumably not supposed to tamper with.

[#4]

@paz 

I'm not sure if it costs but you can ask OR to move it due to building works. At least I thought you could but I can't find the page on their website. Have a look for yourself - www.openreach.co.uk

You could phone the PlusNet Customer Options Team on 0800 013 2632 and ask them.

What I do know is the fibre is continueous so cannot be cut to move the position of the incoming cable. It may need re-drilling and then re-joining.

Brian

[#5 · Accepted solution]

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@paz wrote:

My builder is keen to pull the cover off the wall, thread the wire through a small hole in the skirting, then stick the cover back to the skirting.

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This is totally impractical. The 'wire' is the fibre tail, which is welded to the external fibre in the external box. It is not an electrical connection that can be disconnected, fed through a small hole then reconnected. 

Either cut a 5cm clearance hole or speak to Plusnet to arrange Openreach to come and move it for you. This will be chargeable by Openreach..

[#6]

@paz 

another consideration is the bend radius for fibre cable, if the bend of the fibre cable is very tight it might break the fibre core within the cable.

[#7]

I wouldn't fiddle with fibre if I were you. Our friendly engineer showed me the whole operation a few years back and while he was not allowed to walk over the rafters he let me run the cable through the roofspace and clip it up before dropping it through my pre-cut hole in the ceiling. We left a loop in the roofspace but he warned me not to disconnect or bend the fibre in any way as it's apparently quite easy to damage it and as he said it can be a ******* to fix.

I suspect Openreach will charge heftily for your cable move, that is if they come at all. Rather than face all the hassle I would just slot the skirting board around the cover -- after a while you won't notice it!

Mike

[#8]

@Longliner 

Unless it's changed recently I believe it's £160 for the visit.

It should be a relatively simple fix, especially if the CSP is reasonably close to the entry point. The fibre cable will be cut either side of the original join in the CSP. The house side will be pulled through and the hole sealed. A new hole will be drilled in an acceptable location, the cable fitted through and then re-joined.

Brian

[#9]

Thanks all; you've reassured me that I'm right to tell the builder to leave well alone and just cut a slot in the skirting to accommodate the incoming fibre. if it was an eyesore I'd pay Openreach to move it, but I'm happy to live with it.