Fibre companies---no real choice?

Most people talk about BT monopoly when discussing fibre broadband, but what are your thoughts about when things are the other way around? My rural home area has recently been told that fibre broadband is on its way.....but not via OpenReach. I have looked at the private company's proposed plans and it seems that fibre broadband will be made available if enough people want it.

Now...I'm thinking that there are several issues to this. First of all, if I switch to fibre, there will only be one company involved; in other words, I will have no choice of supplier. If anything goes wrong, I can't do anything about it....unlike when on ADSL, you can change companies if you're really having problems.
Secondly, the cost. The company is charging a fair bit more per month than my current ISP and phone-line combined, so immediately I face a price-hike if I switch. Similarly, with such a monopoly, I would have to suck the prices if they decided to increase them.

Thirdly...I presently run on ADSL, a rural 4Mb/sec, but it is actually quite good and my ISP is one of the few decent ones; been with them six years and have no wish to move.

Thing is, if this private company installs fibre here, then the chances of OpenReach fibre ever serving the same villages is probably zero, I imagine. Which means I have to either remain on DSL or abandon my ISP.

This household isn't into watching films, gaming or the other stuff that requires ultra-fast speeds, so is it really worth the bother and extra expense....and being stuck with one supplier?

You don't say where you are located or who the FTTP supplier might be.

Very likely at the moment you have a telephone line maintained by BT Openreach. That is one supplier who you can not make direct contact with. You have to buy a service via an ISP such as Plusnet, Zen etc, who then have to ask BT Openreach to fix any problem with the inevitable communication difficulties.

If you move to a non BT FTTP supplier then you do have a choice as you can always return to a BT based service. In the case of Gigaclear you may also be able to buy the service via a 3rd party if you really want.

Whether you think an FTTP service which will be faster and probably more reliable is worth what will possibly be an additional cost is up to you. I have had a Gigaclear service for the past 3 years and it has been fine unlike my phone line which often had problems.

In reply to a post by jollyjackdaw:

I will have no choice of supplier. If anything goes wrong, I can't do anything about it....unlike when on ADSL, you can change companies if you're really having problems.
Secondly, the cost.

You will always have the choice of moving back to a xDSL based service.

In reply to a post by jollyjackdaw:

The company is charging a fair bit more per month than my current ISP and phone-line combined,

How much is the company charging for their lowest speed tier, say around 30 Mbps? Can't imagine the company would charge huge amounts for such speeds knowing full well they wouldn't survive. Who is the company?

In reply to a post by jollyjackdaw:

Thing is, if this private company installs fibre here, then the chances of OpenReach fibre ever serving the same villages is probably zero, I imagine. Which means I have to either remain on DSL or abandon my ISP.

Not necessarily. Openreach FTTC/FTTP services cover many areas which are already served by other FTTP/cable operators such as Hyperoptic, Virgin Media etc. What does this say about your area? If it says something like "exploring solutions" then it means BT/OR haven't completely given up on your area wrt bringing FTTC/FTTP.

Many people would love to be in your shoes - even if it means getting a non-Openreach based FTTP service (potentially).

Edited by deleted (Mon 04-Jun-18 11:19:30)

Sorry to have not returned to this thread in the past day or so...I didn't get all the notifications of replies in my mailbox.
I'm in North Somerset. I am not well acquainted with the new fibre systems, hence my questions. I have managed to find out that the company installing the fibre is Gigaclear. The company that is offering the monthly rates is one called TruSpeed based somewhere near Bath. The standard connection offered is £47.50 per month. I've no idea whether they're the same or separate companies.
At present my ISP is £20 per month for ADSL, my monthly phone line rentail is---can't recall offhand, about £17 monthly (Post Office). So that's £10 a month less overall. Us old codgers tend to be a bit more penny-pinching.
As for swapping back and forth if things go wrong, well it's just a nuisance and I could really do without that sort of hassle.
On the whole, I think I'm going to pass it by. Maybe let others take it up and see how well it goes for them, in the locality.

The OpenReach site says "exploring solutions", that's as far as it goes.
The fibre network is via Gigaclear, but the connection packages are via a company called Truespeed, that I've never heard of, in Bath. There are only three connection packages offered; home, business and another one more expensive again; they dont seem to be an ISP for anything to do with ADSL, only fibre. So there's no "lowest speed tier" that I can see.
The home package is £47.50 a month, which is more than I pay at present for adsl and phone; as I said to the other respondent here, I tend to be cautious about increasing my outgoings when on a fixed income....I don't jump in with both feet, no matter how good the offer may look.

Thanks, its a lot clearer now.

TBH I'm surprised TrueSpeed don't offer anything lower than 200 Mbps for home/residential users as 200 Meg will be way overkill for many people. I've noticed Gigaclear's packages start at 50 Mbps but that's priced at £41 pm so not signficantly cheaper than TrueSpeed's 200 Mbps service at £47 pm.

Though I'm not sure if you can migrate direct to Gigaclear after you've completed your min term with TrueSpeed. Probably worth giving Gigaclear a call to get clarification.
edit: seems TrueSpeed have nothing to do with Gigaclear

Its still possible Openreach may bring FTTC/FTTP to your area but unless someone has a crystal bowl no-one can say for certain what their plans are for your area at this stage.

Edited by deleted (Tue 05-Jun-18 15:35:55)

Different companies.

Complain to OFCOM - tell them that when other companies lay fibre they should be treated similarly to BT Openreach. That they should make access available to any ISP, that they should have a "Chinese wall" between them and their ISP/sales side.

https://www.gigaclear.com/retailserviceproviders/

Gigaclear seems to have a number of partners.

But none of the majors and I wonder why..