FTTP installation – Will Openreach install a new duct?

Hi all,

I’m currently on FTTC and I’m looking to order FTTP via an Openreach-based ISP, most likely BT, once it becomes available at my address.

I’m hoping someone can clarify how the installation would work.

At the moment, my BT/Openreach phone line is served via an underground cable. There’s a BT/Openreach manhole in the footpath directly outside my front garden wall. The existing phone line comes from that manhole, passes underground through the front garden wall, and then emerges just inside the garden, marked by the green star on the sketch.

From the BT/Openreach manhole to the green star, the cable is contained within a short length of hose pipe/conduit (it could actually be an existing Duct 100, but I’m not certain). From the green star onwards, the copper phone cable runs exposed along the ground beside the boundary wall separating my property from my neighbour’s until it reaches the front wall of the house, where it enters the property.

My question is about the FTTP installation.

The existing hose pipe/conduit (possibly Duct 100) is only large enough for the current copper phone cable and doesn’t appear to be wide enough to accommodate a fibre cable.

If I order FTTP, would Openreach normally install a new Duct 56 from the BT/Openreach manhole all the way to the house wall, running underground beneath the front garden? Or would they be more likely to reuse the existing route in some other way?

I’ve attached a quick sketch to show the layout. Excuse the messy drawing, but hopefully it gives you an idea of the current setup.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I would guess they might use gabbacom tubing but may need civils to into the footway box. How it gets handled may depend if you get a contractor or Openreach . Is it marked as a 2 stage install?

In reply to a post by witchunt:

I would guess they might use gabbacom tubing but may need civils to into the footway box. How it gets handled may depend if you get a contractor or Openreach . Is it marked as a 2 stage install?

FTTP via Openreach/BT is not available in my area yet, but is available at my Exchange. I'm just investigating/prepping a little early.

Edited by Bobby_Valentino (Fri 31-Jul-26 14:43:32)

Does the Address Checker function of the BT Broadband Availability Checker give any FTTP network service information under the table? Assuming you are in a house, I expect you will see "Single Dwelling Unit Residential UG partial Direct In Ground", which means that Openreach expects your copper service is direct buried on your site.

On a partial DIG site, a new dig to install Duct 56 is one option; that is what happened at our house. However, it is possible that, as witchunt says, Openreach will use Gabocom (blown fibre). My understanding is that Openreach have stopped routinely using blown fibre for underground FTTP installs, and that many engineers are not trained on it. However, others will have far better knowledge of the latest position than I do.

Gabbacom isn’t blown fibre. It is a thin tube, maybe 25/30mm diameter. Once dug in, the installer pokes the connectorised UG fibre down the tube. This goes to the external splice point.

As per Zarjaz post above, I haven’t heard of Openreach using blown fibre on residential FTTP drop cables since their very early ‘legacy’ FTTP installs, well over a decade ago.

They still use it on other products like EAD but that isn’t FTTP.

I haven’t heard of Openreach using blown fibre on residential FTTP drop cables since their very early ‘legacy’ FTTP installs, well over a decade ago.

Yep … I were there.

In reply to a post by David_W2:

Does the Address Checker function of the BT Broadband Availability Checker give any FTTP network service information under the table? Assuming you are in a house, I expect you will see "Single Dwelling Unit Residential UG partial Direct In Ground", which means that Openreach expects your copper service is direct buried on your site.

On a partial DIG site, a new dig to install Duct 56 is one option; that is what happened at our house. However, it is possible that, as witchunt says, Openreach will use Gabocom (blown fibre). My understanding is that Openreach have stopped routinely using blown fibre for underground FTTP installs, and that many engineers are not trained on it. However, others will have far better knowledge of the latest position than I do.

FTTP is not available. Is what is reads currently.

What does your Duct 56 installation look like? Does your new installation of Duct 56 go directly from the BT manhole underground directly through any front garden/front of house area directly to the side of the property wall?

Openreach had previously ducted from the chamber containing the copper DP to our neighbour, as their original Direct In Ground buried cable had been destroyed by a front extension built under previous ownership. To install our FTTP, Openreach's contractors ducted under the footway from where our neighbour's duct teed off to their property to our boundary, then continued in a trench along the edge of our garden to our extension, which was the most sensible location for the customer splice point.

The CBT is one chamber further away from us than the copper DP (which explains why I had not seen the FTTP network installers in our cul-de-sac - the CBT is in the next road).

So, the new duct runs from our extension through our front garden to the existing Openreach ductwork under the footway, which created a ducted route all the way to the underground CBT.

If you propose a sensible route to Openreach and their contractors, they will probably use it.