Openreach will be carrying out roadworks to allow the new fibre upgrade to go ahead.
Frog Lane –> 18 – 19 March
Newtown –> 28 March for 5 days
Royal Field Close/The Street –> 16 April for 3 days
Why did we choose Openreach?
There were two major reasons to choose Openreach over another provider.
The first is to do with the actual build process itself. Openreach own the existing infrastructure. And so, the disruption will be far less than it would have been should another company be delivering the installation.
We asked Openreach the following questions on your behalf.
Q1. Do you need to dig up my road?
We will usually deliver the new fibre via existing poles and ducts, very occasionally we may need to install new ducting and poles, but we can usually deliver over the existing infrastructure.
Q2 Where the road / pavement / lawns / walls dug up for the fibre cables – will Openreach make good the surfaces after the work?
Yes, the only exception is if a drive is a specialist surface such as Resin, when the individual customer will need to arrange and pay for the re-instatement
Q3. How can one know if a fibre cable would come into the house underground or overhead?
It will follow the current route. As OpenReach own all the existing infra structure the disruption will be able to be kept to a minimum.
Q4. How long will the disruption to my internet last when changing from the current copper to the new fibre optic cable.
During the building of the network there will be no disruption (all things being equal and no-one cutting through main cables!)
We (Openreach) do not enter properties or install cabling inside the home during the community build, all work completed as part of the community project is outside. When we tell you that the work is complete, you can place an order with your chosen Internet Service Provider(ISP). Engineers will then complete the connection from outside the property to the new socket. Your ISP will advise as to the time and date of switchover and what to expect on the day
So, disruption to your service should be very limited and confined to a single day.
The second but equally important reason is that Openreach is Open Market therefore this allows total access to all available broadband products
Do I have to use Openreach?
No, and in fact you couldn’t use Openreach even if you wanted to – they are not an ISP everyone can choose their own ISP. There is no tie in. This will have a two- fold benefit. Firstly, Openreach puts no limitation on broadband providers, and secondly this means increased competition will hopefully lead to keener pricing.