Open Infra

Over the last four to six weeks I have received two letters from a company called Open Infra. The letters say that they are building out full fibre on my street. The first letter informed me that this is happening. The second letter reiterates this, however, it goes on to add that if I don't sign up for one of their deals by a specific date then "you won't be a part of the Full Fibre rollout" (quoted from their most recent letter).

The letter says that I can delay activation of their service for up to two years so that I can remain in a current contract without having to leave mid-contract and so avoid any penalties.

I am already with Community Fibre so it's not like I will lose out on FTTP. Also, Virgin Media's website indicates that my property can be connected to their services, including Gig1, so there are alternatives available

I find it rather strange that a provider would exclude potential future customers, including those that might want to switch from other providers, simply because they did not sign up by a certain date.

Has anyone had any similar experiences with Open Infra or with any other provider building out FTTP in their area?

Or is this a way to lock me in to a contract, albeit one whose start can be delayed by up to two years?

I would like to have multiple competing providers available but I don't want to fall for what I see as aggressive marketing. Or is this a genuine claim that if I don't sign up then I won't be a part of their rollout?

Edited by teshy (Tue 19-Dec-23 14:30:23)

In reply to a post by teshy:

Over the last four to six weeks I have received two letters from a company called Open Infra. The letters say that they are building out full fibre on my street. The first letter informed me that this is happening. The second letter reiterates this, however, it goes on to add that if I don't sign up for one of their deals by a specific date then "you won't be a part of the Full Fibre rollout" (quoted from their most recent letter).

I find it rather strange that a provider would exclude potential future customers, including those that might want to switch from other providers, simply because they did not sign up by a certain date.

Has anyone had any similar experiences with Open Infra or with any other provider building out FTTP in their area?

obviously as you have fttp, you don't need this offering. I'd contact ofcom and explain what's happened. the company operates in several counties and may have chosen to do what it does in germany (for instance) and apply it here. Hopefully contacting ofcom may nudge the company to change its communications to Joe Public!

Do the letters mention performance (speed of connection) and price? Where I live Gigaclear provided a fibre to the boundary of every property regardless of any commitment by the occupier, The project went ahead when 30% of properties had agreed to take the service. There was no aggressive marketing as you describe though some residents did persuade others to take up the service especially when we were close to the 30%.

Sounds like the marketing department personnel where previously selling double glazing.

obviously as you have fttp, you don't need this offering. I'd contact ofcom and explain what's happened. the company operates in several countries es and may have chosen to do what it does in germany (for instance) and apply it here. Hopefully contacting ofcom may nudge the company to change its communications to Joe Public!

Completed agree.

In reply to a post by teshy:

Or is this a way to lock me in to a contract, albeit one whose start can be delayed by up to two years?

Certainly sounds like it. Chancers, if they don't even realise they're overbuilding Community Fibre.

Do the letters mention performance (speed of connection) and price?

The so-called deadline to order a service was 19 December 2023. Before this date their website had several options for bandwidth. I can't recall exactly what all of them were, however, the max was 900 Mbps symmetric. They also provided two payment terms. One was a monthly payment, for a one year contract. The second was a full year's payment upfront, which meant a slightly lower monthly cost. The start of the service, and for the start of billing, could be delayed by up to 24 months to allow any existing contract to end.

Today, their website still shows that I can place an order, however, it looks like the options have changed. There are two bandwidths showing as available. 500 Mbps symmetric and 900 Mbps symmetric. However, the minimum contract length is a massive 36 months compared to the 12 months prior to the so-called deadline for signing up. I think there is an option for a full payment upfront for 36 months which lowers the monthly cost.

I am not sure about these marketing techniques so I think I will stick with Community Fibre and hope that another alt-net or Openreach decide to build in my area just to have multiple options for FTTP in the area.

I find it interesting that Open Infra are marketing aggressively in my area. They have had their representatives knocking on doors in my area and I was even stopped by one of them while I was out walking a few weeks ago. I had received no communications from Community Fibre about their services being available to my property when they went live in my area - I only found out about it as I was checking their website almost daily.

Edited by teshy (Wed 20-Dec-23 11:25:48)

In reply to a post by teshy:

However, the minimum contract length is a massive 36 months compared to the 12 months prior to the so-called deadline for signing up. I think there is an option for a full payment upfront for 36 months which lowers the monthly cost.

It would probably be wise to think carefully about one of the long term deals. There is a lot of money being spent by companies trying to ride the wave of FTTP supply. There is every possibility that some companies trying to get into the market will overreach themselves and even that some may go into liquidation. If I understand the mechanics of that correctly, those who have paid up front become unsecured creditors and will get a refund of whatever share of their payment is left after the liquidators and secured creditors have made sure that they have extracted their protected share of the remaining assets. Quite possibly the ordinary customer would only receive a few pence in the pound of the outstanding credit.

It would probably be wise to think carefully about one of the long term deals.

The length of the minimum contract and their marketing techiques have completely put me off from signing up with them.

So it should[put you off]

Edited by Taras (Wed 20-Dec-23 17:22:10)