Please BANNED Cease charge by Openreach

Do anyones agree with me to banned rip off cease charged passed onto ISPs by Openreach for SoGEA, SoGfast, FTTP.

Most ISP charged up to £45 for cease charge!

Edited by adslmax (Fri 20-Feb-26 02:57:20)

In reply to a post by adslmax:

Do anyones agree with me to banned rip off cease charged passed onto ISPs by Openreach for SoGEA, SoGfast, FTTP.

Most ISP charged up to £45 for cease charge!

I've never-ever had an ISP who has charged me a cease fee!!

I think if an ISP is passing on those charges to you and your unhappy about that then YOU should be focusing your anger at the ISP not Openreach as not all ISPs pass the charge on. If they are ISPs who already charge well over the top for their services then that tells you all you need to know. Alternatively If you believe the extra cost those ISPs are charging each month is worth it you just have to suck up the extra £45 at the end.

I would imagine they were in place to deter people from ordering a new product, then jumping ship before incurred costs for the initial installation could be recouped.

In some cases Openreach are pushed to move heaven and earth to get these services up and running aren’t they. It might seem a little uncharitable if the person having done this very quickly afterwards made this cost recovery as tricky as possible by leaving for a cheaper ISP.

I can see why cancellation charges might be required.

And SoGfast would enter that category as it was a niche product (because of the decision to mount it at the cabinet).

I think customers should pay installation charges that cover the costs of the installation, rather than providers having to recover them through monthly charges or contract duration.

This would ensure people paid attention to the requirements of the installation as it was no longer "free", and hopefully result in pushing back where poor quality installation work was performed as there would be an aspect of "I just paid £80 for that!" attached to shoddy work.

If FTTP providers want to charge a cease fee then it should be to remove the fibre lead-in from the CSP and remove the ONT for reuse/recycling. If customers don't want the equipment removed then there should be no cease charges.

Edited by jpm (Fri 20-Feb-26 11:37:44)

There's also the fact that you're paying for the installation and the router over the period of a 12-24 month contract, but then you continue to pay for them afterwards. In fact, most providers bump the charges *up* at the end of the contract, instead of letting them go down.

This was ruled unacceptable for mobile contracts - when you've paid off the handset, you shouldn't keep paying the premium. The market was not a remedy, and sellers were brought into line.

But for some reason, it's deemed perfectly acceptable for broadband.

See here as I do agree with Martin

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2026/02/aquiss...

In reply to a post by PCJM40:

I've never-ever had an ISP who has charged me a cease fee!!

Yeah like big company BT or PN or EE will never put cease charge!

My previous SoGEA was out of contract as OR or BTw charged me fee £45 to stop the line. Same as my previous SoGfast was out of contract (only 30 days noticed rolling monthly contract) as OR or BTw charged me £43.20 to stop the line.

I suspect it down to greedy BTWholesale (rip off)

In reply to a post by adslmax:

See here as I do agree with Martin

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2026/02/aquiss...

Ain't surprised the ISP who is complaining is one of the few passing on the cease fee and unsurprisingly they are already more expensive that most ISPs who absorb the cease fee.

As I said if ISPs like that float your boat then added another £45 to the overall cost for having their service.

In reply to a post by adslmax:

OR or BTw charged me fee £45 to stop the line.

In reply to a post by adslmax:

OR or BTw charged me £43.20 to stop the line.

Your contract is with your ISP so they are the ones who are forcing you to pay the cease fee.

Edited by PCJM40 (Fri 20-Feb-26 12:51:18)