How are Virgin Media going to get broadband into my flat?

somerandomusername

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81923923#Comment_81923923

There isn't a freeholder per se, it's a share of freehold thing where the flat owners own the building.

iniltous

if you have already ordered Virgin Media then presumably you will find out soon enough…is the brown box on the external wall you refer to for the entire apartment complex or just for your flat ( if it’s for the entire MDU , presumably you were ‘unlucky’ that the external block happens to be on your particular flat wall )

When they turn up you can obviously ask what they intend to do to install your service, a bit like them providing a method statement, and if you are not satisfied with what they propose you should be able to cancel , if they are offering Gb speeds it’s not possible for them to somehow intercept the wiring to the BT socket and use that , so presumably if there is currently no property of theirs inside your flat , there will be after they complete the installation.

somerandomusername

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81924871#Comment_81924871

Management said it's fine I don't need permission as Virgin Media are already "hooked up to the building" is what they said. The engineer will come out and will know what to do, is what I was told. As for the brown box it's not on anyone's walls, it's on the wall of the main entrance next to the communal door, and the cable the comes from the box goes into the communal staircase, not into anyone's flat directly.

iniltous

OK , it wasn’t clear on the OP where the brown external box was , but if there is an existing cable into to the common area of the building, then depending on the design of the building (central risers , false ceilings etc ) it may be each flat was pre wired but with each flat having a cable ‘tail’ coiled in the ceiling above each flat , when service ordered they move a few ceiling tiles and simply uncoil the cable and introduce (drop) it into the flat , possibly above the level of the ceiling tiles (hence no visible cabling) ,replacing the tiles at the end of the job , if the ceilings are not like this then obviously that won’t be the case.

TBH , it’s somewhat irrelevant how they do it , VM presumably will know the building layout already and permission to do work inside doesn’t seem an issue so it may be intriguing, but clearly whatever work VM will actually do to get their services to you , it’s doable , and if at the end of the process no cable is visible that’s a nice aesthetic result.