No installation 3 weeks and counting

[64Gary19]

Hi, can anyone give some advice, we ended our virgin package for sky, the installation date was march 27th, our virgin contract was out of date and sky had done all the talking, yes we could have all the services as our address was perfectly good for fibre. 27th arrived, open reach came, 3 engineers, very good bunch would have done anything humanly possible to install fibre but oh dear, no service to our house, would need a team to dig up some of the road to lay the cable. We currently have no Phone and No broadband, we can live without the tv but my husband has Parkinsons, I have to work 2 days in london, we rely on a landline for emergencies hes not so good with the mobile gets all confused so we have no safety net, Sky have told me today it might take another 10 days at least just to find out when openreach might decide to do the work, what can I possibly do to get it done sooner - I am worried - Virgin wouldnt extend the contract all their equipment has gone, their cable needed relaying anyway which they refused to do - because the broadband and phone were so intermittent hence the need to change I really could do with some advice if possible.. please

[GD1]

@64Gary19  If the install means digging up a public highway/path then that can't be speeded up as it will need all manner of permissions to be granted before work can begin.  Sadly in such cases you'll need to wait for Openreach.

[TimmyBGood]

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@64Gary19 wrote:

would need a team to dig up some of the road to lay the cable. 

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Unfortunately, as @GD1 indicates, there's inevitably a considerable lead time for such work because, at the very minimum, statutory notification and acknowledgement is required from the local authority and any utility companies with infrastructure in the road or pavement, plus (potentially) a survey, traffic control and the assembly of appropriate Openreach resources.

[64Gary19]

Thank you both for taking the time to answer and for your advice, I did think exactly the same, unfortunately,. The only upside to this whole saga is we live at The end of a cul de sac and don't need traffic control and there is no pavement, its just the open reach guys said it should only take a couple of weeks because of the fortutous location but it seems 6 weeks is more likely now

[Chrisee]

@64Gary19 it very much depends on the availability of the various teams as typically you need a  "civils" team who do any digging and laying the ducting after them the fibre guys come baxk run the external fibre to the customer service point only then can the internal install take place. My own install was similar to yours, end of a close, no pavement but a 10m run to the entry point which took several weeks to set up.

[Sayek]

I am moving from Virgin Media to Sky in 2 weeks. Like my neigbours my property will need a new cable pulled from the street pole to my property and the usual external and internal box fitted.

When switching between different network and needs new install...prepare for some drama and have a backup plan.. Although my Sky installation is due on 29th April, I have given notice to Virgin to end service on 15th May.

This gives me 2 week safety net. If Sky delay and dont have this setup by 14th May, then I will just resume with Virgin as they offered decent price to stay.

[JimM1]

@Sayek Sky use the OTS so do not understand why you have given VM any notice, this is for sky to control and do the switch, VM are now included in the OTS program!

[Sayek]

True VM is now part of the OTS.

But I have seen horror stories on VM forum  failed  OTS and customers WITHOUT internet as previous ISP cancelled and new ISP not connected.

My current VM deal is currently pretty cheap M125 but jumps to £45 from 16th May on rolling contract. They offered £20 for M250 or £26 for M350 but only if I renew another 18months. I can't afford complicated delays with Openreach  OTS beyond that date so if Sky fail installation by 14th May..I will have to renew with VM and cancel Sky order.

If the Sky connection was a takeroer from another Openreach ISP...then less things to go wrong with OTS.

[JimM1]

@Sayek So you are simply doing a new install with Sky, having both running at the same time?

[Sayek]

New install of Sky with 2 weeks overlap of service as backup.

[JimM1]

@Sayek Hope it goes smooth then and no obstructions in getting you fttp up and running. Certainly the better way to do it, definately keep an eye on your VM, they are notorious for not shutting down the account's and continuing to bill and take the money, which is very hard to get back from them.👍