FTTP installation – Will Openreach install a new duct?

[NiKRuLeZ]

Hi all,

FTTP has finally become available at my address, so I’m now looking at ordering an Openreach-based FTTP service, most likely BT.

This is the reading from the checker:

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Our records show the following FTTP network service information for these premises:-Single Dwelling Unit Residential UG congested duct.

FTTP is available and a new ONT may be ordered.
The exchange is not in a current fibre priority programme
As a WLR withdrawal exchange, product restrictions apply
SOADSL is not restricted at the exchange

For all ADSL and WBC Fibre to the Cabinet (VDSL or G.fast) services, the stable line rate will be determined during the first 10 days of service usage.
For all SOADSL services,the stable line rate will be determined during the first 10 days of service usage.

Actual speeds experienced by end users and quoted by CPs will be lower due to a number of factors within and external to BT's network, Communication Providers' networks and within customer premises.

In order to be eligible for handback, downstream speed should be less than Downstream Handback Threshold values.

If you decide to place an order for a WBC fibre product, an appointment may be required for an engineer to visit the end user's premises to supply the service

ADSL, ADSL2+ and SOADSL availability: If shown at FTTP or SOGEA premises,ADSL, ADSL2+ and SOADSL are not available to order due to WLR Withdrawal stop sell rules. CPs should order FTTP or SOGEA. Copper products are only available by exception.

Thank you for your interest

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I’m hoping someone can clarify how the installation would work in my particular situation.

At the moment, my BT/Openreach phone line is served via an underground cable. There’s a BT/Openreach manhole in the footpath directly outside my front garden wall. The existing phone line comes from that manhole, passes underground through the front garden wall, and then emerges just inside the garden, marked by the green star on the sketch.

From the BT/Openreach manhole to the green star, the cable is contained within a short length of hose pipe/conduit (it could actually be an existing Duct 100, but I’m not certain). From the green star onwards, the copper phone cable runs exposed along the ground beside the boundary wall separating my property from my neighbour’s until it reaches the front wall of the house, where it enters the property.

My question is about the FTTP installation.

The existing hose pipe/conduit (possibly Duct 100) is only large enough for the current copper phone cable and doesn’t appear to be wide enough to accommodate a fibre cable.

If I order FTTP, would Openreach normally install a new Duct 56 from the BT/Openreach manhole all the way to the house wall, running underground beneath the front garden? Or would they be more likely to reuse the existing route in some other way?

I’ve attached a quick sketch to show the layout. Excuse the messy drawing, but hopefully it gives you an idea of the current setup.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[WSH]

UG is underground, so they will just run a cable through the existing duct.  I wouldn't worry too much about the "congested" label.  It often just means they're not surveyed properly.  (My entire estate is congested, yet the installer told me the cable went straight through my duct and was one of the easiest he'd done).

They will need to drill through the wall somewhere to install the ONT (Optical Network Terminal).  They will ask where you want it put.  That does not necessarily have to be next to the old phone master socket but does have to be doable within the constraints of fibre optic cable and in the time and money budget allocated.  It also needs power and so has to be within about 1.5m of a power socket.  Thinking of a first and second choice location might be worth while in case your first choice is not doable on the day.

[NiKRuLeZ]

What if I wanted a Duct 56 being installed from the BT jointbox (pavement) to the ONT on the wall of the premise?

[WSH]

The survey note suggests a duct is already present.   That would suggest the records suggest it is usable.   If not then it would be a more complicated install than it suggests.  If you look further up that BT checker, does it say 1 stage or KCI 2 for the install?  The latter implies they may need to dig as it implies a 2 stage install.

[NiKRuLeZ]

It says: KCI2 Assure

[WSH]

Ah, may require a dig then.

I'm not the expert in this area.  @iniltous is the expert here.  I'd wait and see what he says. 

[iniltous]

As stated , a duct is thought to exist. If the house was built 1990 or later a fully ducted feed  is the normal way service was/is provided…the congested description is simply  cautionary, no one has checked the duct’s viability, but it suspected the duct may be compromised, this could be something like a porch built on the front of the house where the duct would normally surface on the house wall covering up the duct mouth ….something to try (assuming a modern-ish house surrounded by similar properties is to check a couple of neighbours to see if the also have a congested duct indication .

As far as what happens , KCI2 , is effectively a two stage installation, before the contractual date a visit is made to try and get a cable to the house wall through the duct , this may well be successful, if it’s not , whatever remedy is needed is put in place , excavation to clear stoppages , possibly a section of new duct (as in the scenario where a porch is making the previous duct unviable) , you agree to the work , and when it’s completed, the order can progress , any initial appointment date moved to reflect the now necessary ‘civils’ work , this may be Duct 56 or may be a different solution, similar to the way the cable companies install their customer lead ins .

If the OP is correct in that the existing  is Duct100 , then either a planning policy change has happened in the previous 3 years or the surveyor has made a mistake as previously Duct 100 was ignored and the area treated as DIG .

In some very rare cases a cable can be retro installed in Duct 100 but it’s not very likely that’s why its existence was ignored, if it is this and unusable then the solution is the same as DIG , building from an existing footway box to the house wall.

What year approximately was the house constructed ?.

[NiKRuLeZ]

The house was constructed in the ~1930's.

Also see this picture of an opened BT joint box outside the house here: 


In my OP, I've been referring to it as the D100 but it's more like a hosepipe (flexible) and very tight to accommodate anything else in there. That pipe emerges immediately after the front wall of the garden (it's probably about ~1 meter long at max) ... then the cable runs on the floor to the front of the house wall.

I'm not sure why the survey note makes no mention of a 'partial dig', they've only labelled it as 'congested duct'.

Also to add, the phone line that comes into the front of the house wall serves both me and by neighbour. So even though I'll be getting FTTP, that existing wire will have to stay in-situ to continue to serve the neighbours service.