What are my options?

[#1]

Just thought I'd share this for comedy value. Openreach turned up yesterday and were really good, however things are never that simple.

The engineer's job card listed it as an underground install so he was a bit surprised to see it was poles for the drop cable from the nearest fibre point. 

He went away to get the right kit (and a cherry picker) and returned with a colleague. 

I went down the lane to make them a brew and they had opened up one of the trenches. It was full of water and they'd started bailing out. It turned out the termination for the fibre was in the trench, so they set about rodding the trench to the nearest pole with the fibre connectors installed. After a while they reached the conclusion that there was no door on the end of the trench and that the contractor (Openreach Sub) hadn't installed an inspection hole at the foot of the pole.  I think they need to call out Openreach to move the fibre  (somewhere) so they can do the job, and that might be 2-4 weeks...or longer. 

So close...

[#2]

Sounds about normal for Openreach order communication failure and the blunders of their contractors who don't seem to be told what is required or just don't do it.

[#3]

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@Crellster wrote:

The engineer's job card listed it as an underground install so he was a bit surprised to see it was poles for the drop cable from the nearest fibre point. 

He went away to get the right kit (and a cherry picker) and returned with a colleague. 

I went down the lane to make them a brew and they had opened up one of the trenches. It was full of water and they'd started bailing out. It turned out the termination for the fibre was in the trench, so they set about rodding the trench to the nearest pole with the fibre connectors installed. After a while they reached the conclusion that there was no door on the end of the trench and that the contractor (Openreach Sub) hadn't installed an inspection hole at the foot of the pole.  I think they need to call out Openreach to move the fibre  (somewhere) so they can do the job, and that might be 2-4 weeks...or longer. 

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@Crellster

I'm slightly confused (doesn't take much!) by your account.

Earlier in the thread you said you would be getting a 1-stage install which implies the use of the new Connectorised Block Terminal (CBT) method of installation.

You say that the OR installers were surprised to see that it was an overhead job and they set about rodding the trench duct to the "nearest pole with the fibre connectors installed".  Presumably that pole therefore has a CBT installed on it?

If the pole does have a CBT installed, AFAIK, from what I've seen in my area, it's usual for the pre-connected fibre cable feeding it to be installed at the same time, so therefore it would have been fed back through the ducting to its point of connection in a trench chamber and spliced.  Or has the cable been left coiled up at the pole?

Is your copper line overhead feed and does it come from that same pole?

[#4]

Thanks for the update. Sorry to see there are issues.

The engineer notes we've received aren't as detailed but do indicate a routing problem.

I've raised an escalation with Wholesale to chase this up with Openreach accordingly and I'll update you when we know more.

[#5]

I was confused as well. One of the engineers has encountered this once before apparently. 

Property is fed by a drop cable from the nearest pole (no CBT on it). This pole feeds one other property, but there are 3 other properties further up our lane who must be getting their service from a duct running from this pole as there are no visible phone cables running from this pole to their properties.    

The Pole in question has a CBT on it. The fibre isn't coiled on the pole. The install plan was then then to run a new fibre from that pole / CBT to the pole outside my property (about 40-50 m).

I took it as there's no (useable) fibre running back from the CBT on the pole to the chamber, and despite their attempts to do it the Contractor has bodged the install so they couldn't run the fibre through. Hopefully OR might explain a bit more when they get in touch with Plusnet (or vice versa) in terms of what needs to happen. 

@Gandalf  have you guys heard anything yet?  [EDIT - I See you've replied already ]

[#6]

@Crellster

I guess depending on how many connectors are on the CBT on the enabled pole compared to how many properties are copper-fed from that pole would determine how many are spare.

Then depending on the actual distance between that pole and yours, and whether there are any obstructions (including crossing roads) to overcome, one option might be to fly a cable from the CBT pole to yours and onwards to your property, thus no ducting required.

[#7]

@RobPN that was always the plan to go from the CBT on the pole at the end of the lane with an overhead fibre to the pole outside the property. There's no-one else on the CBT yet as it's a new install so no capacity issues (yet!). By the time it's sorted who knows though

[#8]

@Gandalf anything back from OR yet? I see the ticket is off hold. 

[#9]

Hi Crellster, 

We'll need to check with Anoush directly. He's  back on shift tomorrow so I'll make sure someone gives him a friendly prod for you. - Adam 

[#10]

@Gandalf any update on dates and times for the next visit / attempt ? 

[#11]

Hi @Crellster 

I can see Anoush has updated this ticket on your account with the most recent info. 

Thanks 

[#12]

I knew it was all sounding too easy

[#13]

 Hi @Gandalf, have OR managed to agree amongst themselves what needs to happen next? My neighbours are all waxing lyrical about their new fibre installs.  

[#14]

Hey. I've got confirmation from our suppliers that it's safe to place a new order now which means that the routing should be correct. While I don't know any more information than that, I've placed it now as instructed (Third time lucky!) and notified the wholesale escalation team (Which is at Team Manager level) so they can keep an eye on it and chase it up with Openreach accordingly. I'll update you when we know more.

[#15]

haha 3rd time lucky indeed @Gandalf. Can't say I've noticed any Openreach engineers or contractors here this week so I'll go for a 10% chance of success on this one - always the optimist (realist) Was the order against the new property name (again) or the old name as per the original (failed) attempt? 

It's a shame you guys closed the trial as there are lots of people in my village who don't want to go with BT and are paying more with Zen.