Waiting for Fibre Install (Delayed) Will I keep current copper connection?

[skydave3]

Hi I have been with Sky for over 14 years and have my broadband with them via copper. I got an email to say fibre is now ready in my area so I jumped at the chance and ordered on the 29th September 2024. I have an activation date of 14th October but have recieved a message saying "Openreach do not have the equipment in place to connect your broadband".

What I want to know is will I still have my current copper connection until my fibre is installed and activated no matter how long it takes? My current sky and broadband packages are due for renewal on the 29th November 2024 so want to make sure after this date I still have an internet connection as I work from home, and who knows how long it will take to get the fibre line setup?

Thanks

@Chrisee 

[TimmyBGood]

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@skydave3 wrote:

 so want to make sure after this date I still have an internet connection as I work from home,

The current connection should keep going, although it may revert to a higher list price.

and who knows how long it will take to get the fibre line setup?

That's entirely down to local circumstances and the individual complication at the particular address.

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[TimmyBGood]

@skydave3 

If it's in the UK, putting the address into the BT Wholesale Availability Checker should indicate where the delay is.

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL/AddressHome 

It's the table and the two text lines below it which are most useful.

Remove any personal information (such as the address itself) if you post an image.

[skydave3]

Thanks for the speedy reply Timmy.

This is the table you mentioned but I have no idea what I'm looking at haha.

[TimmyBGood]

@skydave3 

What does the first line of text below the table say?

[TimmyBGood]

@skydave3 

'KCI2 Assure' is itself indicative of complications: that typically means an additional pre-installation survey should be carried out before any work commence.

[skydave3]

Here is all the text under the table.

[TimmyBGood]

@skydave3 

The relevant text is 'UG partial Direct in Ground'

That means there's currently no telecoms duct reaching the property and the copper line is just buried in soil.  That's not possible for FTTP, so a new duct will have to be dug, and combined with the KCI2 notation suggests the route for this needs to be surveyed and agreed with yourself.

[Chrisee]

@skydave3 not saying Openreach can't mess up as they definitrly can on occasions. However when I upgraded my line to fibre it took best part of 3 months with cancelled appointments etc but I had my copper connection until after the fibre line was live. Got compensated which covered my first 6 months payments which did help see Customer Auto-Compensation | Sky Help | Sky.com 😀

[skydave3]

Oh ok, so they would probably need to dig up the driveway (heringbone) and install it. I share my driveway with neighbours so I'm assuming as long as I give consent and talk with them they can't object which would cause issues when having this work carried out? Not sure if you have experience with this.

[Chrisee]

@skydave3 I would talk to your neighbour before Openreach turf up as if one of them objects you wont see Openreach for dust. Whether your neighbours could object legally will be down to the way the shared drive is set up. Neighbour disputes can be a mine field when I ran an advice bureau we hated this kind of question as nothing is certain.