Thank you for clarifying.
I'm sad to hear that its looking very doubtful i can get fibre until FTTP rolls out, which is due between this year and 2026 ( given my area, I assume it will towards the end of the time frame)
that's a long time to go with just adsl which sadly won't be enough for what I need.

in that case I think my only option is to go with 4g which I'm sure will come with its own set of problems. Fingers crossed the speeds are semi decent though. ( id be happy with 20mb+)

thank you for the taking the time to reply though, I get its out of your control and you are doing the right thing for your customers.

From experience, I would suggest using the BT checker three times a day and be ready to order if it shows available.

I had to do it recently, grabbed the opportunity, placed order and then an hour later not available. Someone had moved housae, service terminated and I got te order in quick. Possibly those waiting to move in would have been too busy with te move to worry about ordering at that moment.

Thank you, I think this is my plan for the time being (pretty much checking every hour haha)
if you don't mind me asking, what provider did you go with when a slot did open up? I'm only asking as I'm wondering if some providers take a while to update their site or take a while before requesting the free space, resulting in someone else jumping in before me.

It was actually with PlusNet ...

Not my choice but the elderly person had been with them for years and did not want to change when we renewed the contact for them ... and we just had to wait.

As soon as it was on the BT/OR checker, went to PlusNet website, logged in and ordered.

Thank you, inwill check with them if I'm struggling elsewhere if and when a slot opens. Did you already have adsl with them and just upgraded?
Nice to know this method worked for someone and I'm not wasting my time, hopefully the 4g will do fine to tie me over

As I said we had just renewed a contract - so yes ADSL. And being 200 miles away it was also easier to just recontract rather than new ISP with modem/hub/router. Once FTTC was scheduled, we vistied for a week to ensure we were there at changeover - which did not go well as a sub-con to OR left the old jumpers in! PN got OR round te following day to resolve that.

It worked, but having ADSL and an account already made it a 1minute task, not a 30 minute one. From memory, I did need to call after to get a price resolved.

Brilliant thank you.
in that case I may take out an adsl line in addition to 4g. It'll be a waste of 20 quid a month but at least it may help to have when a slot does open.
I'll see how the 4g does first and if not great then ill sort out getting the adsl line.

thanks again for all your help!

In reply to a post by aquiss:

In reply to a post by Lem1winks:

Thank you, I've looked at Aquiss but sadly they are not currently supporting waiting lists due to lockdown reasons.

Not really for lockdown reasons. We just have seen no movement on anyone who has been on our waiting lists for over 12 months. The timeframe and setting customer expectations are impossible presently.

We are being told BT OR/BTW that no cabinets are getting upgraded now, as focus has moved to FTTP builds and where possible pressure on FTTC cabinets will drop, once areas/customers move over, thus freeing up cabinet space.

We may then be able to look again at offering support.

Couldn’t be a more sure sign that Openreach want out of the copper broadband business. Break fix now.

It makes financial sense for OR; but it's going to be a real a pain for those users caught in the no-FTTC trap.

FTTP coverage over the next 5 years is expected to increase from ~20% to ~80%, but the roll out is lumpy. Looking at individual cabinet areas, many won't see any FTTP at all until late in the programme. Meanwhile, demand for FTTC continues to rise.

4G becomes the necessary stop-gap for those people who can get it.

And some may stay with 4G, and possibly 5G if the upload on that is any good and they need significant upload.