Put in a full fibre order in the second week of May 2026. I live on a small road with only 6 houses. Each house has a drive for two cars, and then there is a strip of land in front of that which each homeowner has a share of the freehold. Openreach came out to map a route and said that they may need to dig if the existing routes are blocked.
I currently have FTTC via underground ducting with a grey box at the front of my house. We got to the stage in the order where PTWs were sent to each homeowner requesting permission to carry out works on the land we all have a share of the freehold and possibly the parking spaces. We were told that Openreach hadn't received replies back from all the PTWs they had sent out. So I went and spoke with my neighbours. One of my neighbours has also put in a FTTP order so it would be safe to assume that they have given permissions simply by putting an order in. I've confirmed with another neighbour they received a letter via post and replied and sent back to Openreach. So including me, that's 3 out of 6 homeowners who have given permission. The other neighbours said they had not received anything via post and were happy to share their email addresses to try and speed up the process. I asked Plusnet support via a ticket multiple times to share these email address with Openreach but they never did. I asked Plusnet to ask Openreach how many PTWs were awaiting approval. They just keep regurgitating the same responses:
"we can't discuss other orders". (I didn't ask about any other orders, I'm only asking about mine).
"This is a breach of GDPR". - (They seem to be misinterpreting GDPR. I haven't asked for any personal or identifiable information about anyone or any 3rd party).
The order was then cancelled as Openreach had tried three times and received no response to the outstanding PTWs.
So I requested the order be reopened, which is was. Again we are at the PTW stage. When I asked about the PTWs that had already received, I was told that these would still be valid for use with the reopened order.
So I recently asked Plusnet to ask Openreach the following and also pass on the email addresses again:
- How many PTWs have been requested (they can simply provide a total number)
- How many PTWs have been received back (again a simple number value)
- How many are outstanding (again a simple number value).
They replied back with:
In regards to PTW's required, I can only see what has been sent on your order not anyone else's. -
(I didn't ask about anyone else's order, but if my order is contingent on PTWs being approved by homeowners/landowners, surely they can ask Openreach for more information?)
Openreach have advised that a PTW was sent on the 13/07 via Royal Mail. Sadly it does not advise of who the 3rd party is due to GDPR. There has not been any PTW's returned as of yet and the next update is due on the 22/07.
(I didn't ask who the 3rd party was or for a name because obviously they can't share that. They say no PTWs have been returned as of yet, but I have confirmation from neighbours and also Plusnet saying the PTWs obtained from the previous order that was cancelled then reopened, are still on file. I even asked my direct next door neighbour today and they have received nothing via post or email from Openreach).
I have passed on the information regarding the home owners to Openreach, however I am unsure of what the outcome will be,
(this is the first time despite asking multiple times before, that the email addresses have apparently been sent to Openreach).
It's been nearly two months since I put my order in and I'm finding that Plusnet is becoming more of a hindrance than a help when communicating with Openreach.
Any advice would be most welcome
