BT have a monopoly on new builds!!

acerazor1

So we moved into our first home June last year. The house was built by Redrow, who informed us we would have to go with BT internet for a year if we wanted internet anytime soon as they are the only people who would supply our lines. Apparently openreach react ALOT quicker to instructions by BT, for those who don't know, they are owned by the same company. How is this being allowed to happen, competitions watchdog???

Anyway in my particular case, we are now over a year on, and still there is nobody else who will supply our internet! We are paying £49.99 a month for our fibre, with the only option I can see being to get a slower connection rate with BT if we want to lower of bills. Has anyone else been in this situation? Must be lots of others. Is there any way we can get a cheaper connection, preferably not with BT as I very much dislike them as a company. We have an FTTP connection but also have a phoneline.

Thanks in advance.

Marcio45

From what i understand FTTP is still a very small market for broadband and will probably be the future when all house are connected directly to fibre networks. Some countries in Europe, like Portugal, have an almost entire phone network on fibre.

The problem you have is that, other than BT, no other suppliers are equiped in your area for that tecnology, so no alternative. So basically you paying the price for being ahead of time. In theory you would be able to get really fast speeds in comparison to Virgin Media.

It is a tricky one, and very dodgy ground in terms of competition and freedom of choice.

acerazor1

Marcio45 wrote: »

From what i understand FTTP is still a very small market for broadband and will probably be the future when all house are connected directly to fibre networks. Some countries in Europe, like Portugal, have an almost entire phone network on fibre.

The problem you have is that, other than BT, no other suppliers are equiped in your area for that tecnology, so no alternative. So basically you paying the price for being ahead of time. In theory you would be able to get really fast speeds in comparison to Virgin Media.

It is a tricky one, and very dodgy ground in terms of competition and freedom of choice.

Thanks for your reply. I have searched for FTTP providers, only a few pop up, but none of them provide to my postcode (not even plusnet!). So it would seem I have no choice but to continue paying for BT. Surely the prices should be regulated in these circumstances?

Anyway, can anyone think of a cheaper way for me to get broadband good enough for online gaming not using my FTTP (Dongle or something)?

Cisco001

Go to one of those price comparing website and see what pop up?

If it is purely for browsing or watching video, an alternative would be sign up for a phone tariff with lots of mobile data.

However, it probably not work for gaming?

pmduk

There are many new builds served solely by Virgin.

[Deleted User]

Marcio45 wrote: »

It is a tricky one, and very dodgy ground in terms of competition and freedom of choice.

Hardly BT's fault if no other company wants to set up a supply. They have freedom of choice anyway, they can reduce costs by taking a slower line, try a mobile BB service (usually with download restrictions), carry on paying BT or of course just don't have BB (yes, that really is a choice).

cajef

acerazor1 wrote: »

I have searched for FTTP providers, only a few pop up, but none of them provide to my postcode (not even plusnet!).

At the moment Plusnet do not do FTTP to any new customers, they had an FTTP trial running for several years but only existing customers could apply to go on it if they were capable of receiving it, the trial ended at the end of July this year, people are now waiting to see if they will be offering it as one of their packages in the near future.

littleboo

acerazor1 wrote: »

So we moved into our first home June last year. The house was built by Redrow, who informed us we would have to go with BT internet for a year if we wanted internet anytime soon as they are the only people who would supply our lines. Apparently openreach react ALOT quicker to instructions by BT, for those who don't know, they are owned by the same company. How is this being allowed to happen, competitions watchdog???

Anyway in my particular case, we are now over a year on, and still there is nobody else who will supply our internet! We are paying £49.99 a month for our fibre, with the only option I can see being to get a slower connection rate with BT if we want to lower of bills. Has anyone else been in this situation? Must be lots of others. Is there any way we can get a cheaper connection, preferably not with BT as I very much dislike them as a company. We have an FTTP connection but also have a phoneline.

Thanks in advance.

Redrow are incorrect in what they have told you about Openreach speed of response. The real issue for you is that apart from BT, the mainstream retail providers such as Sky and TalkTalk have chosen not to offer FTTP, despite criticising Openreach for not providing enough FTTH, go figure, politics at play. So your gripe is with the providers who aren’t interested in your business. Of course, they are not compelled to offer these services , so there is little you can do.

[Deleted User]

Companies offering FTTP via the Openreach FTTP infrastructure can be found at https://www.homeandbusiness.openreach.co.uk/fibre-broadband/ultrafast-broadband/ultrafast-fibre-buy-it-now
Also yet to be added to that list is Freeola https://freeola.com/ultrafast-broadband/