BT replacing cables.

[#1]

A couple of weeks ago I had a BT/EE person turn up at my door asking me if I was having problems with my broadband like my neighbours were. I told him no - that I was connecting at 50/8 which for my line length was pretty good (its about 720 metres) and the line was stable.

Of course I spoke too soon and a set of rapid drops took my speed down to 33/6.

Its now crept back up to 50/8 but BT have been crawling all over the estate digging holes and pulling new cables. This morning they were on the main road with a lane closed off and pulling cables through at an access point that I believe is on the duct from the cabinet I'm on.

We're not an FTTP priority exchange.

Is this normal behaviour for BT? Is it possible that they're pulling new fibre lines through?

[#2]

Not sure who you saw, but not BT they do not install fibre/cable, may well be Openreach.

Why not check?  https://www.openreach.com/broadband-network/fibre-availability 

[#3]

Sorry yes - the person at the door was BT/EE but the vans and all the work notices have been Openreach.

That site says basically what it's said for a while

Build planned between now and Dec-2026

I'd signed up for updates on availability over a year ago and I've heard nothing,

It all just seems a bit odd

[#4]

Any other suppliers in the area doing work - Cityfibre maybe - depends where in the coutry you are, there are so many out there?

Might have been BT/EE checking they were not disrupting the Openreach lines!

[#5]

Its not cityfibre or Netomnia . The barriers lying round on the estate all have notices saying its Openreach. I did see a new cabinet in one part of the estate and we seem to have grown a few new poles

[#6]

@SteveA 

My best guess is that it is some random opportunistic door to door salesman on commission trying to get customers for whoever he is selling for.

They won't know (or care) who your current supplier is but will hope to get paid for shifting your broadband.

Don't ever buy anything sold at the door.

My general rule is "the more they want to sell it, the less I want to buy it" and it seems to work!

[#7]

@SteveA  The doorstep cold caller was just trying to scare you to get you to switch, nothing to do with the Openreach activity which is almost certainly installation of fibre infrastructure. Openreach will not be spending money replacing copper cables any more unless there is some major fault with them.

New poles are often used to provide fibre if there is no existing underground ducting in place, however it's very strange that you say there's a new cabinet as Full Fibre (FTTP) uses no cabinets. All the hardware is underground or mounted on poles. A new FTTC cabinet would be unusual.

Very rarely a cabinet can be used for FTTP but usually in remote rural areas and as an add on to an FTTC cabinet. Any chance you could get a picture of the cab to see what it might be.

[#8]

@SteveA 

Anthor thing to try is if you get the chance speak to the OR people working on the street and ask what's up.

Brian

[#9]

The whole of the estate is on poles for the phone lines - the line to my house goes right past my door, to about 3 houses up then goes down the side of the house to a pole by the bottom of the gardens and then back down to the back of my house.I do know the duct up our side of the road is blocked - probably full of silt after the great flood.

OR seem to have finished up and left so there is no-one to ask.

I'll try to get a photo of one of the new cabinets.

[#10]

@SteveA 

Has anything been added to the pole? For FTTP a CBT is added to the pole for the incoming fibre cable and then individaul huse are connected to it as required.

Brian

[#11]

New poles are still totally bare with just a bit of orange string hanging out of the ducting at the bottom.

Not been able to do much investigation as I've got tendonitis in my left Achilles

[#12]

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@SteveA wrote:

New poles are still totally bare with just a bit of orange string hanging out of the ducting at the bottom.

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<sucks teeth> Orange sounds ominous. 

Could be irrelevant, but these days I only ever seem to see blue draw ropes hanging off poles and out of holes where BT/OR are involved, so may be someone else installing. 

[#13]

I'm starting to wonder if the new poles are not OR. I would suspect that they'd piggy back on the existing poles that deliver phone lines as that is where their existing ducts go to.

[#14]

OK so the new poles are Netomnia

OR back in the estate yesterday laying a new pipe run through existing pavement chambers to an existing phone pole.

New cabinets are grey and small like these