FTTP Openreach Broadband installation delay

[Kanashiidesu]

Hi there,

Northern Ireland, city, not rural area, currently stuck in a limbo for few months with the FTTP installation. We moved to the apartment building recently, were expecting broadband to be installed when we moved it but everything went downhill.

Openreach was supposed to come in a couple of times to check, date/time were given, nobody showed up.

Updates are always "some external work has to be done at the property" with no other information.

The recent update I got is that now after all of this waiting Openreach said that they have to do the Survey. Because they said they only have two Survey people/contractors for Northern Ireland and with how orders are, the soonest date appears to be in March of 2023.

I am stuck worried and really confused:

1. Why exactly does it take so long to do anything at the property? We live in an area with people using Openreach, building next door and behind us using FTTP and building in front of us getting FTTP installed last week (same contractor/building management).

2. Why the only thing we can get is FTTP? We all work from home and we really rely on our broadband. Having big speeds are nice, but having any access to a broadband is better than having nothing for a year+.

Any provider we check, including BT, only offers FTTP (Openreach), no VDSL, DSL, ADSL, FTTC. It was important for us to get anything just to get going but nobody seems to be offering that anymore?

Our downstairs neighbors and next door neighbors in the same building are using BT Internet that is not FTTP - why is that not offered to us?

It is super scary waiting so long for anything to be installed with no option to receive any details, seeing everyone else around using FTTP or other means of getting a broadband. Not sure why it happens to our apartment, previous tenants had broadband that they stopped a week before we moved in, sockets from Openreach they used are still on the walls.

I am also attaching information from "BT Broadband Availability Checker".

Not sure if anyone has been going through similar situation or works in a field and knows more details that they can provide, but please give me some hope (or options) 😞

Thanks in advance

[Clairehcraig31]

Hi I just want to say you are not alone in this struggle. I too am awaiting a survey from Openreach in Northern Ireland. In mid October 2022 the engineer came out and said we weren’t all that suitable for an overhead connection (being a distance back from the pole) and a surveyor could approve an underground connection or an extra telegraph pole. We are in a rural area however our neighbour does have FTTP simply because their 2 storey house was suitable for an overhead connection. Despite calling BT a number of times all I’ve learned is that I’ve been referred to the surveys team and it will be reviewed on various dates, each time with it being put back for another review. I have heard there is a chronic backlog in Northern Ireland so it’s no surprise if you say there re only 2 surveyors available. Also Openreach are being deliberately obtuse in refusing to give time estimates etc. At least I have the old copper 7mbps system to use in the meantime. I will post again if I make any progress.