New build - only Virgin cables laid?!

leanne8603

I moved into my new build house just over 2years ago. Only Virgin Media cables had been laid meaning that only Virgin telephone lines and broadband were available. Sky Tv was installed fine but since there are no BT Cables laid beneath the road, they were not able to connect a phone line or provide broadband service.

Does anyone know how we (as a street) can go about getting BT Cables laid in our street? Has anyone heard of this kind of thing before where Virgin have basically been given exclusivity on a road?

Virgin charge a lot more than other providers and our choice as a consumer has been taken away from us.

Many thanks

AndyPK

Humm...

Are you a VM customer then ?

Are they not giving you a good deal?

onomatopoeia99

Unless you're in Hull, BT have a universal service obligation so they must supply a phone line if you order one. It only has to be good enough for 28.8k data though!

rusty_f

New build developers only need to work with one broadband/telephony provider to give access to broadband and phone. Some work with Openreach, others work with Virgin or an alt net such as Hyperoptic or other fibre provider.

Openreach have an obligation to provide a phone line to those who request it, but the process will be cumbersome if there is no infrastructure in place. Sky are notoriously bad at managing the 'new build' process if no infrastructure is in place so I would suggest placing an order with an alternative provider - but it is likely to take some time depending on what needs to be done to bring the line to you.

iniltous

Any developer can do an exclusive deal with a non BT provider , and effectively lock out others, the residents could potentially be screwed over.
BT do have a universal service obligation but the site is the developers property until the local council adopts the roads and footpaths, when this is done BT have the right to install their equipment , you need to find out if the roads have been adopted by the local authority, if they have , and the your address is on the postal address file you should be able to order a line, if not yet adopted BT have no right to be there , irrespective of the USO
If the roads are adopted it may take a while , BT would have to extend their network into the area , so planning, network build and install could all make the lead time quite long