overhead cables on electricity poles

[Lizzylt]

I am hoping that someone has had the same issue I am facing, and I would appreciate any advice. 

I live rurally, our phone/broadband comes in via overhead cables that are on the same poles as our electricity supply. Every year the farmers pull the line down with tractors (it is usually a contractor, not the land owners), whilst spraying/cutting grass.  The cables are usually low due to being on the same poles as electricity cables, and are now very low, drooping in-between each pole. I am currently on day 8 without phone or internet, despite having a business line. Each time this happens I get an Openreach engineer who does not have the correct ladders (fibreglass, I believe), and then I wait for the next engineer to arrive, or in this instance the 3rd engineer, hopefully.

When I have raised the issue with BT regarding dangerously low wires I get an engineer who cuts them, then we wait for another engineer to repair them. 

Does anyone know who I can have a conversation with regarding this issue, or how I go about resolving this? After 24 years of this being a regular occurrence, and the disruption to our business, I am keen to find some sort of solution.

[Keith_Beddoe]

@Lizzylt 

Welcome to this user forum for BT Retail phone and broadband customers.

This forum has nothing to do with Openreach, who provide the network for many different service providers.

All you can do is to keep raising the issue with them.

https://www.openreach.com/help-and-support

[Colin_London]

I am not surprised that consumers are confused who they need to speak to. Openreach usually state your point of contact has to be through your ISP - in fact it is regularly reminded that you are not Openreachs customer.

It is true that you can contact Openreach to report health and safety issues with their network, but this isn’t one of those (except perhaps for the engineer who has to fix it).

So how is a consumer supposed to know when to speak to their ISP or when to speak to Openreach?

FWIW I am sure Openreach will not install an alternative solution which would be new separate poles due to the cost. If the OP is fed up reporting the problem then suggest they go for a 4G backup solution like Halo 3+, or go totally cable free like a 4G/5G modem or Starlink.

[imjolly]

@Lizzylt 

this is a forum for BT residential customer so as a business user you can try posting here and may get help from business forum   https://business.forums.bt.com/

[iniltous]

Openreach wires have to be below the power lines when using ( sharing ) the DNO ( power company ) poles  and by a minimum separation, so ‘dangerously low’ is probably your uninformed view , if a farmer or farmer’s contractor continually brings down Openreach wires , it’s because of the lack of care they have taken when cutting hedges or whatever, what’s more, the replacement wires are unlikely to be hanging low due to age if the previous ones were not in situ for very long ( as you claim they are brought down frequently ) 

[rbz5416]

We have the same setup, but without the irresponsible landowners.

Poles are around 8m high & electricity travels between poles at the very top. It's then distributed to properties around a metre below that, & Openreach cabling a metre below that. I'd estimate the lowest point between poles is around 4m, well above the legal minimum of 3m. We only get downtime when a rotten pole is replaced.