Is getting FTTH installed usually a long drawn out process?

I placed my order for FTTH on 22/7, on 4/8 they would do the outside work and i'd be live on 15/8. on the 24th an Openreach guy arrived unannounced and did a survey, he said a contractor would need to be called in to do a bit of digging. On the same day I saw a digger do a couple of neighbours houses, they installed a cable and the cable is still sitting outside their homes, no one has ever came back.

I've phoned BT several times and you get told the same thing

"It is with the planning team now and because they have left no notes I have emailed the manager and i'll have an update for you on XXXX" which is usually another 2-3 days, you phone back 2-3 days later and get the same thing, I've been told this line 4 times now.

They are supposed to come today to do the outside work but this has been cancelled and no one seems to know when any of this is going to be done.

Is this the norm with FTTH? I am thinking about cancelling the order truth be told as the left-hand doesn't seem to know what the left hand is doing let alone the right. I am guessing we must have different definitions of what "Fibre Available To Order" means

I'm not sure what you would gain by cancelling?

Fairly normal TBH. If you get really concerned/ frustrated then email the CEO often exhibits a quick response.

Well the contractors arrived this morning to do more digging at neighbours houses http://imgur.com/a/n3PUT I was a nosey b*stard and went over to the neighbours who are getting this work done today, they had been able to order FTTP since December, I asked them when did they order? May they tell me, imagine that May. It was supposed to be up and running by start of June. And this is only part 1 completed, the Openreach guy still has to come to do outside work then inside work.

And BT tell you this will all be done in 2-3 weeks when you order. If they had of told me this at the start I would not have bothered and frankly, I don't think it should be listed as ready to order.

The first BT Engineer work is done in about an hour due to all they do is install the black tubing from (in your case) the chamber to your house wall to the CSP box.

They then blow the fibre cable consisting the 4 smaller fibre strands down the black tubing, then join the chamber end to the DP and the other end gets wrapped round in the CSP tray, they do a light test at the CSP end and that's it.

About a week or two later (or maybe a day or two layer) the second BT Engineer arrives and installs the ONT and what ever else is being installed and they then drill a hole in the wall and push through the premade white fibre cable, which is cut to size and joint to the chosen fibre in the CSP tray, mine was the blue strand I think, this took just under an hour to complete.

The BT Engineer will ask you to connect up your Router (my case it was the Smart Hub) where they asked me to go to speedtest.net where they took a photo of the speed, maybe the last couple of steps was due to I got my local MP and the CEO and Chairman of BT involved.

But that was all it took.

I think you was just unlucky, we were also unlucky due to we had build issues at our Splitter Node which took a month or two to get fixed.

But if that build issue wasn't there it would of been all installed and ready to go in a week or two.

But BT can do both jobs (external and internal work) in the same or next day due to we had both work done in a couple of days.

Paul

Thanks yeah, its just getting to that stage thats the issue.

In reply to a post by falko89:

Thanks yeah, its just getting to that stage thats the issue.

It is worse when everyone else has had their Build Issue removed from their line and mine stuck with it on even when there was no longer a build issue.

The guy across the road from me had his case handler at BT resolve the issue in 5 mins, where as mine took 3 or so weeks to remove ours.

It took a further few weeks to finally get the TAG removed, then they was very fast in getting it done, i.e. 2 days later for external work and the day after that for internal work and it was BT who gave me those dates.

So yeah, once it gets to that stage it will / should be quick if no more issues arise.

Word of warning, do not cancel the upgrade to fibre, you will loose your allocated fibre strand at the splitter / DP, a bit like on FTTC the port will go to somebody else.

Paul

There's a fair bit of the new connectorised stuff going in now, so no splicing or manifolds etc.

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

There's a fair bit of the new connectorised stuff going in now, so no splicing or manifolds etc.

Yeah a few roads from me has both the Manifold and the new connectorised block on the pole.

Not too sure how that worked.

Paul

Well guys an update. They are "were" coming to start my work on Tuesday. Fantastic. But I'm think I'm cursed or this isn't supposed to happen.

The landlord called yesterday and informs me he intends to sell our house ASAP. So after all the letters to my MP and open reach, we finally get our wish now I'll not benefit from it. The smart hub arrived today. I can't see any option but to cancel my order until we find somewhere else to live.