New Build Fibre Connection

[iniltous]

Single plot builders are not dealt with the same as larger housing developments ( large scale developments like Taylor Wimpy, Persimmon etc.,  who would have the choice to go for FTTP ) , and ‘internal’  wiring isn’t something OR  will be involved with ( that’s up to you, if you want to run internal cabling for broadband from the probable position of the router/OR master socket )  

Is the property registered with the council  ( for council tax ) and other official entities ( like the Post Office ) or if it’s going on a plot that had a building that was demolished  , will it be known as the same address ?

Quite a lot depends on what exists  locally, for example if your building is going on a vacant plot in a ‘regular’ street , or is to be sited on the plot of a previously demolished residential building, ( so in a ‘built up’ area ) , then  the method surrounding buildings are served by, will also be how yours would be served ( overhead using poles, or underground using duct ) if it’s underground duct , installing  OR duct to the curtilage of the plot from the house wall , will probably reduce the costs to you , if it’s an overhead area and the pole that would serve your property isn’t too far away , then that is the method that would be used ( and probably no extra installation fee ), in all cases OR will pay upto a certain amount ( around £3400 ) as every residential property is entitled to a basic service under the USO ( universal service obligation ) but anything over , you pay the ‘excess construction costs’.

If you are building in a remote area, quite some distance from other residential property’s and existing line plant  ( like converting a barn for example ) then you pay the  excess construction costs , which depending on what’s required could be significant.

If underground duct, the point on the external wall where the duct would surface , OR would fit a small termination block and feed a cable onto the building and terminate on a socket, or ONT if in the case FTTP is available , if overhead the dropwire from the pole attaches to the building in the normal way.

[Devon_Dave]

Suggest you run an ethernet cable from each room (plus one for the TV) back to a central point at front of house where potential your phone service would enter the house ( understairs cupboard?) , this should future proof any connections yo may go for. 

[Starwire]

As Dave said you’re best off installing a Cat6 Data Lines back to a central point where you plan on keeping the Router.

Also bear in mind at some point in the future you’ll most likely be upgraded to FTTP so make sure you future proof for that as well.

[ShaunCambo]

Thanks for the advice. It is now over ten weeks since I registered the new site and I have not been contacted by Open Reach to arrange for a survey. Do you have a contact number for me to chase up the application as I cannot find anything on the website?

[NeilO]

Hi, @ShaunCambo there's no phone number that I'm aware of but there is a contact us option on the Openreach website to raise a complaint by filling out a contact form. 

Thanks

Neil

[iniltous]

You haven’t give much in the way of details, is the property you are constructing remote , and not close to other properties, or is it close to other properties, if near other properties and they are served from a telegraph pole, and this new building can also be served from existing overhead means, then Openreach won’t necessarily be interested, once your address is valid , then it would appear as an address in the database providers use to order service on your behalf….if the property is remote and no existing pole Openreach pole coukd be used to provide service then obviously OR would need to do some ‘construction’ , however it could be you order service with a provider, once your address is registered, ( knowing it will fail ) and OR retrospectively provide the ‘network’.

[ShaunCambo]

Thanks for the reply. It is a new build in a village. The neighbouring houses are served by overhead lines. I was just expecting openreach to contact us to arrange a survey so we knew how they were going to connect us. If ducting was required we could have laid it while doing the groundworks.

[hannah82w]

Hi @Starwire and all, I found this thread whilst searching for help on how to approach getting two self-build properties connected to fibre and hope you can help! We are building two self-build houses on a redundant farm site owned within the family. There were agricultural buildings on the site, now demolished, and it is in a village location which has recently had Virgin fibre put in, but not to all properties. We will be starting on site soon so was trying to get all our ducks in a row for services. I spoke to Openreach and they directed me to the New site registration page which I signed up to and they have sent me a quote for £2000 per plot for full fibre connections.

Having read through this thread, and looking at the info OR have sent me with the quote, I get the feeling they are treating us as a development (2+ plots) rather than two separate self builds which happen to be next to each other.

We don't want to pay £4000 unless we really have to, and certainly not at the moment, so am I better to cancel this completely and de-register the site (if possible) and then later when the houses are closer to being finished approach BT or another provider to place an order for Broadband and then they will get OR involved? Would this be cheaper?!

They have also offered us the alternative of copper or partial fibre connection at no charge - is this a good alternative for now with the assumption they will upgrade it to full fibre eventually?

NB there is a telephone pole on the site carrying a single copper phone line from there down to my in-law's house. This will also need to be moved at some point, but having started looking into that they want to charge us £350 for a survey to work out the best options and then charge us for moving either the pole or the cable. Again, if we can live with it for the time being are we better to wait until they get round to upgrading all lines to fibre anyway?

[iniltous]

Obviously it your choice, but not proceeding with the FTTP offer , and just ordering any service when the addresses are registered and appear on the relevant databases that Openreach use , as well as a potential delay,  will almost certainly be a copper pair based service , and although FTTP may happen eventually  , it could be many years away.

TBH £2000 per plot isn’t bad, set against the probable total build costs , and although resale may not be a consideration, the consensus is that property’s with access to FTTP are worth considerably more than an similar property without FTTP.
As far as shifting a pole , (AFAIK) any survey fee is discounted from the works cost, ( to discourage time wasters ) so if a pole shift is ( ball park guesstimate ) £950 , after the survey is paid upfront, there should be £600 left to pay.