An ISP cannot force Openreach to repair a line - i.e. usually a good ISP can get things done but there does become a point at which any further repairs become uneconomical

What we don't know is the ISP, some have track records of blaming Openreach rather than exerting any pressure at all to get things fixed.

If this is a line that is 10km long then a good chance Openreach may want to mark it is as not broadband possible

It sounds like Openreach have simply abandoned you as you are not one of their customers

Only the ISPs are the customers of OpenReach and they are required to treat all ISPs equally. It is irrelevant which ISP the OP is with from that perspective. The difference comes down to how persistent the ISP is with OpenReach as some may get more traction than others. But, as MrS says if OpenReach decide it is no longer economical to repair a line then there is nothing the ISP can do. Even once the USO kicks in there will be a limit to the amount OpenReach will be required to spend and anything above that would have to be funded by the customer.

I really think a broadband connection of some sort should be treated in the same way as gas and electricity. Its not acceptable for a company to just wash there hands with a customer and cut off what is now a vital service in this day and age

Hence the USO that is shuffling through Ofcom/Gov procedures.

NOTE: Gas and electric can ask for contributions to deliver to a new premise and are often very keen on recovering costs for repairs inside your property boundary.

One big benefit Gas and Electric has it that they charge per unit, and if we went full utility on broadband charges per GB might be back on the table.

In reply to a post by bobble_bob:

I really think a broadband connection of some sort should be treated in the same way as gas and electricity. Its not acceptable for a company to just wash there hands with a customer and cut off what is now a vital service in this day and age

I would say like water, electricity and phone. Gas is not universally available and for many, easy to live without.

Edited by Michael_Chare (Sat 03-Mar-18 13:37:19)

So don�t let this, essential in your opinion, service be provided by private companies ....

Or maybe part of the USO should be that people can only reside in certain pre designated areas ?

It really isn�t such a black and white issue.

Openreach are not the only supplier that exists. Why not have a go at Virgin not supplying to the address or Gigaclear or Cityfibre? Any company could supply but if it isn't economically viable to do so then what is a private company expected to do?

Having had slow/unstable broadband for over 4 years I symapthise with the OP however as has been pointed out the provision of a line suitable for broadband is not a legal right. Contacting my various ISPs seemed to do nothing and even today I still get quoted a guaranteed speed of 1Mbps from the few ISPs willing to take me on. My speed has increased from that to 4Mbps thanks to constantly reporting faults to my ISP (currently Vodafone) and contacting my MSP (Willie Rennie). Between them they managed to get Openreach to fix a fault on my line that improved the stability a bit. We are still working on getting them to fix the distribution pole so engineers are willing to climb it (4 vseparate engineers refused on safety grounds) as I'm convinced the remaining problems lie in the drop cable from there to my cottage. I regularly have a very noisy phone line and report it to my ISP every time although we have agreed not to call Openreach out to them until they fix the leaning pole (currently in the planning stage).

So my advice is to persevere and as a matter of urgency get in touch with your MP.