This topic

BT broadband Monopoly?

LondonResident808 — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 23:31:46 GMT

Hello,

I currently have BT broadband. I live in a central London building in Westminister that contains 40 flats, which was constructed in 2003. Unfortunately, BT appear to have a monopoly on ADSL / copper wire broadband to my building. I’ve spoken to other broadband providers and it appears that BT have all the cabinet space at my local exchange. I don’t even have the option to switch to another broadband provider. How can this be the case?

As a resident who does not have access to decent fast (fibre) internet, at the very least I expect to be able to switch to the most competitively priced copper ADSL broadband provider. Unfortunately, it appears that my only options are BT or EE (on BT infrastructure).

Why do I need to pay almost £400 per year for 10mbps speeds, when I could be getting the same (slow) from another provider for half the cost? Of course I’d rather just have fibre, but at the very least I’d like competitively-priced ADSL.

I don’t want a 4G/5G hub as the signal is not reliable enough. Am I really just locked into BT or EE for a wired connection? What are my options?

Re: BT broadband Monopoly?

gg30340 — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 00:40:47 GMT

BT do not have a monopoly. The infrastructure which includes cabinets is operated by Openreach which while part of the BT Group of companies is a different company from the BT broadband provider company

BT, by law do not get any preferential treatment from Openreach.

If all the ports in the cabinet have all been taken by BT all that means is that all the people who have broadband through that cabinet just happen to be BT customers.

All the other providers have an equal chance to get any port which may become available should a user give up their line.

If the cabinet is full, Openreach may increase capacity but as the copper side of things is being upgraded to full fibre this may not happen.

Re: BT broadband Monopoly?

LondonResident808 — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 00:45:36 GMT

The fact remains that BT is the only provider that I can access (and have been able to access for the past 7 years). Neither Openreach or BT have any plans or incentive to increase cabinet space at the exchange.

This is uncompetitive. I wouldn’t mind if it were a decent service or, at the very least, value for money, but it is neither.

Re: BT broadband Monopoly?

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 08:00:23 GMT

Rather than a monopoly it's maybe an addressing or capacitor error. What does the availability checker report here if you use both the phone number & address? You can post a screenshot but edit out you details first.

Is your address 100% correct on the Royal Mail database, especially postcode & unit number?

Re: BT broadband Monopoly?

LondonResident808 — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 09:43:27 GMT

Sorry about the potato image quality - I had to reduce the file size significantly in order to upload screenshots.

Are you able to help me decipher what the above info means?

thanks for your help

Re: BT broadband Monopoly?

Keith_Beddoe — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 09:57:06 GMT

@LondonResident808

You have missed out the name of the exchange and cabinet number.

If there is no cabinet number showing, then you are on an EO (Exchange Only) connection, so there is no hope of getting a faster connection unless fibre infrastructure is installed.

Its very common in large cities, where buildings that need to have a large number of connections, and are close to the nearest exchange, for Openreach to run a cable directly from the exchange frame, to the building.

This is also the case if a building was originally a commercial building which was converted to flats.

Re: BT broadband Monopoly?

LondonResident808 — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 10:02:33 GMT

Hello,

thanks for your reply - yes, you’re correct. There is no cabinet number and I am connected directly to the Pimlico Exchange.

While there is no hope of getting a faster fibre connection, I don’t understand why it’s the case that I cannot switch to another ADSL provider?

I’ve checked with numerous other ISPs and only BT or EE (on BT) are able to provide an ADSL broadband connection. I’ve given up any hope of getting a faster connection, but at the very least I’d like to be spending the least amount of money for my slow ADSL connection.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Re: BT broadband Monopoly?

garybs29 — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 10:17:36 GMT

Personally I don't think it's a monopoly, it may well just be that the other providers have made a choice not to provide connections on that type of line

Re: BT broadband Monopoly?

Keith_Beddoe — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 10:31:25 GMT

@LondonResident808

There is a "stop sell" for most copper based products, so providers are not even going to see an option to provide service.

You should not be paying more than £35 a month for your connection.

I am on ADSL by choice, and I pay £34.24 in total.

Have you considered a 4G mobile broadband connection?

Re: BT broadband Monopoly?

gg30340 — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 10:27:22 GMT

I may be wrong but as far as I am aware EO lines are a legacy of the time when the Post Office then British Telecom provided all phone lines in the UK.

Putting it very simplistically the infrastructure is "built into" the exchange so those lines can not be unbundled to allow other providers to use them.

Re: BT broadband Monopoly?

-Richie- — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 10:30:22 GMT

@LondonResident808wrote:
I don’t understand why it’s the case that I cannot switch to another ADSL provider?

Most likely a business decision by other ISP's, a while back the rules were changed where providers have to give average speeds of the product, customers in slow areas will bring that average down and they don't want them.
The other reason for being on an EO line is you live in central London, the costs for road closures and highways work is ridiculous, which is why Openreach will not do any work, they're a business and it's too costly.
If you read BT's terms they state:

Average speeds based on speed available to at least 50% of customers at peak time (8-10pm).  Your actual speed will depend on your location, phone line, home wiring, Wi-Fi connection and time of day.

Re: BT broadband Monopoly?

Keith_Beddoe — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 11:07:38 GMT

I may be wrong but as far as I am aware EO lines are a legacy of the time when the Post Office then British Telecom provided all phone lines in the UK.

@gg30340

Its always been the case. I started work with the GPO in 1968, and there was always a mixture of EO and cabinet, and pillars after the cabinets.

Most "subscribers" were fed from a cabinet/pillar combination, however businesses and large blocks of flats were connected via a large direct cable which was usually terminated in the basement.

A large company in Liverpool called United Biscuits, had loads of direct cables from the exchange, spent a lot of time as an apprentice in that building. Fresh scones every day 🙂

Locally the old Eastleigh Pirelli factory which was redeveloped for housing, had multiple EO cables from Eastleigh Exchange. People who moved into those houses only had EO cables until last year, when Openreach ran fibre from the exchange alongside the old EO cable routes.

Re: BT broadband Monopoly?

LondonResident808 — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 10:46:33 GMT

Hello,

Thanks for all the comments. Sounds like I’ll get access to a choice of ISPs and be able to shop around for the best price once Openreach get around to installing Fibre …sometime in 2030.

Re: BT broadband Monopoly?

licquorice — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 11:14:48 GMT

Just to correct a few things.

EO lines are simply lines that are sufficiently close to the exchange that cables are fed directly to the distribution points rather than via PCPs (cabinets) primary connection points that are a mini distribution frame connecting large cables from the exchange to smaller distribution cables giving flexibility of connection.

EO lines are not a monopoly and are no different to any other lines as far as ADSL is concerned.

However, VDSL equipment is not allowed to be sited in exchanges due to causing crosstalk problems hence EO lines are only capable of supplying ADSL. In some locations, a cabinet has been provided in the exchange grounds to provide VDSL capability, this is not universal practice and may not be physically possible in built up areas.