Who can connect a telephone master socket?

WIAWSNB

I know it should be Openreach, but heard that some independent engineers can also do so? 
A flat was renovated, and the old telephone cable left disconnected under the floor. Fibre ain't coming for a year, 4/5G is variable, so owner would like line reinstated for BB.
His sparky uncovered the cable, and ran a new one to the new master location. But, they wouldn't join the two wires together...
Openreach is almost certainly going to charge £160 for this.
Any alternative? This is in London.
(Yes, I'd be DIYing this, but not something I can suggest to others )
Ta.

Ayr_Rage

Hopefully the sparky has extended the correct pair as incoming cables often have more than one pair.

First thing to check is if the line is still live, get a multimeter and check there is 48 V DC on the line.

Master sockets can be obtained from many online selling sites and as it is only two wires that need connecting it is a simple job, just follow the online information regarding polarity.

FreeBear

WIAWSNB said:
His sparky uncovered the cable, and ran a new one to the new master location. But, they wouldn't join the two wires together...

Sounds like a job for a couple of Wago connectors, or if it were outside, Jelly Crimps.

Eldi_Dos

If Fibre is coming are you sure one of the phone companies will provide a new service on the old metallic path route. Check if there is a cease order for that exchange area.

I presume from your post that you are wanting to do a "inline" joint under the floor boards where the two sections of cable meet, not normal way of doing things and if a engineer commissioning a new service found out I would imagine they would be obliged to report their findings.

But the first thing you need to find out is are the two sections of cable compatible. (Same colour code, gauge ect)

clive0510

when i first moved to this place, over 30 yrs ago, one of the things I decided was that the I needed an extra phone so that I could answer it with out getting out my arm chair! So went and bought a telephone extension kit and set about routing it along the skirting board through the airing cupboard and into the lounge. only trouble was every time I touched the cable the electrics in the house went off! what I hadn't realised was the cable was touching the central heating pipes and that was taking it to earth and tripping the fuse box!. those old cables didn't carry much, like less than 2volts. but it was just enough to set it off. these days I wouldn't do it. i would rather just pay someone else. 

TELLIT01

I thought that nobody other than BT/Openreach was allowed to install a master socket.  Presumably they have to check the connection back to the exchange when it's installed.

Badboi

If there is no existing master socket, then open reach/bt will fit it for free. Happened in our old house

WIAWSNB

Thanks all.
Sadly I'm not there, or I'd connect it up as a trial.
The existing cable went to a master socket in a wall. That wall was taken down, and the bare cable found under the adjacent floorboard.
It was recovered, comes up against the skirting, and a new cable runs from there, over a door frame, and to a shelving unit, whereupon sits a new master unit. 
It doesn't look as tho' any of it has been connected - not the two wires joined, or the master socket. The sparky seems to be a stickler for rules, even tho' he removed and 'buried' the cable in the first place.
Both cables are the white-sleeved containing paired-wires type. I know that only the blue/white and white/blue are actually required. To finish the job would be a 10-minute task, but clearly no-one there is prepared to do it.
I suspect an independent telephone engineer would charge a lot less than OR, but hey.
Good point, Ayr - I'm not sure anyone has tested the old cable to see if it's still 'live'!
I did check whether going straight to fibre was a better option, but that's not planned in the area until 2026.

Eldi_Dos

If there is no service at the moment it is unlikely that the cable is "live", that would most likely happen when new service is commissioned and work done in exchange, cabinet and customers premises to bring new circuit into use.

Not necessary true that you only need two wires put through for it to work, which is why I asked if the two cables are compatible.

WIAWSNB

Eldi_Dos said:

If there is no service at the moment it is unlikely that the cable is "live", that would most likely happen when new service is commissioned and work done in exchange, cabinet and customers premises to bring new circuit into use.
Not necessary true that you only need two wires put through for it to work, which is why I asked if the two cables are compatible.

Thanks. I presume there was an active service with the previous occupant - it's an old-looking cable, and an old pic shows a master socket in a now-removed wall. That's where the cable was found - under a floor board.

Whether it was made inactive before the renovations, I don't know. 

Only two cores supply the service, and this continues to the master socket. From there, if one wishes to retain a 'bell' wire, that's their literal call, but it's almost always left off as both unnecessary and a possible source of interference. 

In this case there will only be one socket, the master. So only two wires going to it. 

Eldi_Dos

WIAWSNB said:

Eldi_Dos said:

If there is no service at the moment it is unlikely that the cable is "live", that would most likely happen when new service is commissioned and work done in exchange, cabinet and customers premises to bring new circuit into use.
Not necessary true that you only need two wires put through for it to work, which is why I asked if the two cables are compatible.

Thanks. I presume there was an active service with the previous occupant - it's an old-looking cable, and an old pic shows a master socket in a now-removed wall. That's where the cable was found - under a floor board.

Whether it was made inactive before the renovations, I don't know. 

If there has not been a active service to the premises for a while there is a good chance in a busy urban enviroment like London that a engineer could have used that "spare pair" in the network to feed another subscriber or replace a faulty pair on someones line.

I believe when they plan new FTTP, if they can avoid it they do not spend money on the metallic path, which will only have a limited lifespan now, hence spare pairs being used up more than before.

Anyway I am having a disappointing afternoon, Dundee Cake failed to rise in the oven, cannot work out what went wrong and I am going to have to wait till next Sunday for half price electricity to try again.
Anyone got any tips on how to use a cake with a unrisen stodgy centre.