How best to escalate delayed EE Broadband installation

Spelunthus

Please, does anyone have advice on the most effective way to expidite a very long-running EE broadband installation?   We walked into an EE shop in Feb 2020 and ordered a broadband line. This requires a phone cable to be strung from a nearby pole to our house, and a master socket fitted.  The router was delivered months ago. It's still not done, and EE blame BT.   Of course, our only contact is the EE call centre - who just promise a date, fail to deliver, and defer the installation again.   This is in a county town, not some remote rural location.   Any ideas?

JJ_Egan

Its down to your ISP to chase the work , keep pestering them .

Farway

No help I'm afraid, but no doubt CV lock down is the root cause and you are in a very, socially distanced, long chain

Did you have broadband before? I assume Virgin cable?

If ever Open Reach resume normal working you will move along the queue and I doubt there is a magic way of jumping the months long queue of outstanding work

littleboo

There maybe complications with providing your service - pole could be full, pole could be dangerous etc

brewerdave

Also to run a new high level line from pole to house requires "special" Openreach engineers and equipment. Their availability may be your issue.

Spelunthus

We seem to have reached the end of the line(sic) with EE.  They say we need a new cable from the pole outside the house, but this cable has to run over (or via) a power supply pole.  This is an urban location, not remote countryside. The power supply company refuse to meet or discuss the case with OpenReach.  EE have emailed us to say "The Matter is Beyond our Control" - and I think the dialogue ends now.  What are my options ?   Another ISP ? - will just have to go back to Openreach.  There is no Virgin cable availability in the area.  Should I take up with Ombusdman?

JJ_Egan

Another ISP will use the same cables via OR . Ombudsman has no control over a power supply company .

Next step would be mobile data networking as a supply .

iniltous

EE ‘blaming’ BT is nonsense , but it’s possible that there are Openreach issues ( BT are not OR).
Have EE processed your order and OR attended but been unable to provide service ?
Has the property never had phone service in the past ?
Joint user poles ( Power company poles that OR have a licence to use ) have restrictions , like a minimum separation between power and OR services, but , unless your property is isolated, presumably other neighbours have service from the same  pole.
If EE won’t enter into a dialogue with OR , or if they have but won’t tell you what OR have said , then perhaps its time to consider a different provider.
AFAIK, on the same pole, OR is always below power lines ( obviously safer, if above and it failed it potentially could come to rest on a power line rather than fall to the ground ) but also needs to be a minimum height over the road/footpath, so it’s possible that to get separation below the power means that the minimum height cannot also be achieved.
That would mean that the pole isn’t ‘usable’, the power company are not going to replace the pole for OR , so (usually) OR would have to explore alternatives , under the USO they cannot simply say you cannot have service, but if the solution costs more than £3400 you pay the excess.
EE should be telling you this.

Linton

When I was having problems getting a connection I found talking to OpenReach directly very useful. AIUI you can’t talk to OR if you have a contract with a provider but if you have not got a connection you cannot have a contract.

Spelunthus

It was finally resolved after more than a year.  I starterd quoting "Universal Service Obligation" in my correspondance and, finally, therewas an agreement to proceed.  This required the involvement of (at least) the ISP (EE), Operreach, Power company, Council (for partial road closure), Council contractor, ISP contractor, Power contractor....