FTTC waiting list status - applies to all providers?

I'm trying to get fibre arranged for the house I'm moving into at the end of the month. Unfortunately, the BT Wholesale Availability Checker tool shows FTTC connections to the address as being in "waiting list" status.

When I talk to smaller providers (AAISP, Aquiss) they all acknowledge this and only offer me ADSL.

However, when I've spoken to larger providers (Sky, BT, TalkTalk) their sales people all seem to believe adamantly that fibre connections up to 60Mb are available. They say that they wouldn't sell me on a plan if they'd then have to tell me subsequently that actually only ADSL is available.

The chap I spoke to from Aquiss bluntly told me the larger providers are just lying to generate sales, which (based on my rudimentary understanding of the networking involved) makes sense.

Am I missing something? Do larger providers perhaps have their own earmarked pool of FTTC connections not available to smaller providers?

Thanks!

They have salespeople who receive commission when they make a sale, regardless of whether it can be delivered or not.

In reply to a post by tdus:

I'm trying to get fibre arranged for the house I'm moving into at the end of the month. Unfortunately, the BT Wholesale Availability Checker tool shows FTTC connections to the address as being in "waiting list" status.

When I talk to smaller providers (AAISP, Aquiss) they all acknowledge this and only offer me ADSL.

However, when I've spoken to larger providers (Sky, BT, TalkTalk) their sales people all seem to believe adamantly that fibre connections up to 60Mb are available. They say that they wouldn't sell me on a plan if they'd then have to tell me subsequently that actually only ADSL is available.

They're lying. If the cabinet is full and in wait list state, no ISP can order a connection. What will happen is:

(a) As someone quits service, freeing up a port, an order on the wait list will go through, allowing an order. This might be where someone does an ISP migration (and yes that alone can leave them without internet too) or someone ceases (because they're moving house or something).

OR

(b) Openreach will add additional capacity/expand the cabinet (where possible) at some point and then the orders will be possible again.

Your best bet is to get a clued up ISP - like idnet, aa etc to provide you with an ADSL service, and then keep an eye on the FTTC status and once it clears, get them to do an order to swap you over.

But no, for the avoidance of doubt, BT Retail, TalkTalk etc do not get any special extra ports that smaller ISPs can't have.

Thanks. Glad I'm not losing my mind. A bit shocking really how duplicitous these sales people are allowed to be in making such false claims. You would think there would be regulation to stop it.

But yes, I think you're right. Getting a decent ISP and then sitting tight seems like the only option.

...or perhaps EE's 5G home router which apparently get's coverage in my area.

Thanks again!

If it was Martin @ Aquiss you were speaking to, he would be absolutely straight with you.

I do think the high quality and lower volume ISPs like AAISP, Aquiss, IDNet, Pulse8 and Uno will be much straighter with you than the sales teams from the bigger players. In my view Zen probably sits somewhere in the middle.