Change Broadband provider - two lines to house?

JohnB47

I recently signed up, then cancelled, a move from my current 'copper wire' provider to a 'fibre to the house' provider. It wasn't the only thing that caused me to cancel the move but one thing that came up in conversation, quite by accident, was that the new provider wouldn't remove the previous providers copper wire to the house. This would have meant having two wires from the pole across the road to my house.

Is this normal practice?

Neil_Jones

Yes... that's normal.

JohnB47

Neil_Jones said:

Yes... that's normal.

Hmmm. OK, who is responsible for the old line? What if a storm, or a tree brings it down? What happens then and who pays for any work to make it safe?

iniltous

It’s the same situation if ( for arguments sake)  a property had an old Openreach wire from an old service and Virgin Media ( via an underground cable ) as the current provider , VM wouldn’t touch the OR wiring  , is no different with an Alternative Network provider putting up their own overhead wire alongside the Openreach one , the fact is the Alt Net doesn’t have the authority to touch Openreach equipment ( even if you ask them to take it down ) , if it was damaged in a storm and was hanging dangerously ( even if it was not in use ) it could be reported to OR as a dangerous wire, but taking it down proactively just because it’s not currently in use isn’t done.

FWIW …if at some point in the future when Openreach FTTP is also available ( assuming it’s not available now ) and you , or if you have moved out , some other occupant , want OR based FTTP then OR ( because it’s their copper wire ) could take it down then , as they put up the fibre cable , but in the same way they couldn’t take down the Alt Nets wire , even if the occupant asked them to .

If in the unlikely event a property had access to 3 networks from the same pole and used them all at various points in time they would have 3 dropwires and 3 ONTs fitted , when you sign up , you may not know it but the T&C’s obliges you to keep that network connection even if you stop being a customer 

QrizB

iniltous said:

If in the unlikely event a property had access to 3 networks from the same pole and used them all at various points in time they would have 3 dropwires and 3 ONTs fitted , when you sign up , you may not know it but the T&C’s obliges you to keep that network connection even if you stop being a customer 

All those people selling ONTs on eBay might not have read their T&Cs!

JohnB47

"If in the unlikely event a property had access to 3 networks from the same pole and used them all at various points in time they would have 3 dropwires and 3 ONTs fitted , when you sign up , you may not know it but the T&C’s obliges you to keep that network connection even if you stop being a customer."

Sounds like a system out of control.

Thanks everyone.

EssexExile

JohnB47 said:

Neil_Jones said:

Yes... that's normal.

Hmmm. OK, who is responsible for the old line? What if a storm, or a tree brings it down? What happens then and who pays for any work to make it safe?

There's not much "safety" to worry about with a phone line, the tree is another matter.

phillw

JohnB47 said:

was that the new provider wouldn't remove the previous providers copper wire to the house. This would have meant having two wires from the pole across the road to my house.

Is this normal practice?

Who was going to fit the FTTP? Openreach own the copper line, nobody else can remove it. I assume they are going to rip it all out as soon as possible as it's worth money.

QrizB

JohnB47 said:

Sounds like a system out of control.

Sounds like the market working as intended.