Site displaying only CityFibre prices in BTW/CityFinre area

Have been a happy Zen customer since 2014 (ADSL then switched to BTW FTTP in Jan 2018)

Regularly keep an eye on the Zen site as only by doing this did I learn last year I could get 100 bps down and 18 up for the same price as I was paying for 76 Mbps down and 18 up.

So imagine my delight yesterday evening when I ran a check on my address to find I could on the face of it get 300 Mbps down and 47 up for cheaper than I'm currently paying (I currently pay £38.99 and the price came up at £32.99, who wouldn't snap up a bargain like that from a a company they've been happy to deal with and recommend for years.

Couldn't order through the portal so rang sales this morning.


Staff member was a delight to deal with as always and was going to go ahead with the order which would involve a £9.99 fee, I asked if this could be waived due to being a long term customer and the site indicating free activation, she agreed and put me on hold.

She came back and said she was unaware of the new pricing and was checking with her Manager, I said I had no issue with committing to a new contract a was very happy with Zen but the increased speed and reduced cost would be welcome.

She put me on hold again and then came back with the bad news, the price quoted was for service provision over Ctyfibre only and that the equivalent on BTW would be £49.99 a month.

Oh and if I wanted to proceed with CityFibre install that would be £49 too, I politely declined and thanked her for her time.

Am working from home still and don’t really want another fibre coming in and another ONT install.

Seriously, what’s going on Zen?

Hope something changes as might have to look at Andrews and Arnold when my contract is up in March.

In reply to a post by techguy:

Seriously, what’s going on Zen?

They have two suppliers they buy 'wholesale' from. One is cheaper. No different from any other shop or business.

You'd be quids in after a year. What's not to like.

If you're price sensitive why are A&A an option?

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

In reply to a post by techguy:

Seriously, what’s going on Zen?

They have two suppliers they buy 'wholesale' from. One is cheaper. No different from any other shop or business.

You'd be quids in after a year. What's not to like.

Because I'll have yet another ONT or have to have two appointments, one for CityFibre install and one for OpenReach to come and reclaim their ONT as while I maybe a technology enthusiast (the day job would be pretty tedious if I weren't) I don't want to live in a comms room/meet-me room

Besides, I'm choosing Zen as my supplier and have the infrastructure in place, why should I go through the hassle mentioned above just because iit's cheaper for them to use fibre provided by someone else?

Other providers using CityFibre offer symmetric FTTP, this is assymetrical as per the BT Wholesale Service.


IMy point of posting here is I believe this to be a bug on the site which does not mention at all CityFibre.

Edited by techguy (Fri 12-Nov-21 10:04:01)

In reply to a post by jpm:

If you're price sensitive why are A&A an option?

After getting a quote from them for 160/30 at £45 a month, they aren't

Openreach won’t reclaim their ONT. It simply stays with the premises even if it’s not being used actively. You don’t need to keep it powered on, but leave it connected to the fibre.

In reply to a post by techguy:

Other providers using CityFibre offer symmetric FTTP, this is assymetrical as per the BT Wholesale Service.

I'm pretty sure where Zen sells over CityFibre its symmetrical. There's clearly been a breakdown in communications somewhere. I'd be back on the dog to them to ask if they do have CityFibre in your street (but you'd know that, there will be a toby box outside) and if they do is it actually symmetric?

In reply to a post by techguy:

Because I'll have yet another ONT or have to have two appointments, one for CityFibre install and one for OpenReach to come and reclaim their ONT as while I maybe a technology enthusiast (the day job would be pretty tedious if I weren't) I don't want to live in a comms room/meet-me room

The OpenReach ONT remains linked to the property. It doesn't get returned or taken with an occupant when they move house.
It should stay on the wall unpowered when not in use. Think of it as a modern master socket. The newest ONT's are actually smaller than a master socket.

Besides, I'm choosing Zen as my supplier and have the infrastructure in place, why should I go through the hassle mentioned above just because iit's cheaper for them to use fibre provided by someone else?

I could understand the complaint if they were switching you from OpenReach to Cityfibre on the same speeds, terms and prices
You don't go through that hassle because it's cheaper for them though.
You go through that hassle because it's cheaper for you.

Other providers using CityFibre offer symmetric FTTP, this is assymetrical as per the BT Wholesale Service.

All Cityfibre is symmetrical, including Zen over Cityfibre.

Any provider not offering symmetrical on Cityfibre is manually rate limiting the upstream. I'm not aware of any asymmetrical providers on Cityfibre.

Post deleted by Davey_H

In reply to a post by techguy:

IMy point of posting here is I believe this to be a bug on the site which does not mention at all CityFibre.

Correct.

Yesterday (Thu), Zen added new Cityfibre cities to their coverage (eg Inverness) and in doing so, have slightly messed up their availability checker for Cityfibre areas. Basically all FTTP services - whether Openreach or Cityfibre based - are shown as assymetric (despite Cityfibre being symmetric) and the only way to tell whether a service is Openreach or Cityfibre based, is by the pricing shown.

For example in an Openreach FTTP only address this is what their checker churns out (correctly):

https://i.postimg.cc/gkHP5xLh/Zen-FTTP-Openreach.jpg

But for a Cityfibre enabled address

https://i.postimg.cc/gjcK2t4m/Zen-FTTP-Cityfibre.jpg

Worth pointing out that before Thursday, Zen were selling 900/900 on Cityfibre for £40/m and this has now been increased to £47.99/m. Another big giveaway is that Cityfibre based services can only be ordered via phone, whilst Openreach can be ordered online as well as over the phone.

Hope this makes things clearer.