BT Openreach And Tower Blocks - Whose Responsibility?

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Office of Communications should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Office of Communications,

I live in a 1960's tower block owned by Manchester City Council, managed by an Arms Length Management Organisation who in turn have appointed a less than encompassing Tenant Management Organisation.

BT Openreach have had cause to arrange a visit and they have told me that my slow fibre speeds are due to the age and quality of wiring coming down the riser in my tower block from the 14th floor. I duly asked them whether they would fix it and they told me that it was not their responsibility and instead that it was my Landlords. If that was the case, we'd be waiting for kingdom come as most of us don't even have showers (yes, in 2019 and there is a legal loophole on old buildings would you believe!)

I was told that I might have a chance at getting nearer the top speeds promised (62mbps down and 19mbps up) on my fibre if I lived near the bottom but that anything over 35mbps was "optimistic". My friend, just outside of the housing estate and a 5 minute walk away gets 70mbps down. I have seen the wiring in the communal (locked) cupboard and there are no fancy pieces of equipment, it looks like a worn out white fibre optic Christmas tree with lines clipped on with crocodile clips.

It was my understanding that BT Openreach manage their network from anywhere outside of the Subscriber's front door (whatever their dwelling is, so a room in a houseshare = outside of their bedroom door (presuming services were installed in the bedroom) or, in my case, outside of my flat's front door).

Last year, an Engineer told me that Openreach would not pay to upgrade our wiring (obvious conflicting with what the most recent Engineer has told me).

Since Openreach love to have a monopoly and don't have a Subscriber facing enquiries line (when the cats are inapproachable, the mice will play), I am duly asking the question to you as the Regulator. Also, what are my rights (since I pay Line Rental) in getting Openreach to do anything, if, as I suspect, it is their responsibility. Do you have any contact numbers for Openreach that go through to a human being too please.

Thanks and Kind Regards.

Yours faithfully,

CCCBS

Information Requests, Office of Communications

Dear CCCBS,

Thank you for your request for information. We do not recognise your request as valid because you have not provided a real name. We refer you to the ICO guidance, in particular paragraph 25 regarding the definition of a ‘real name’: https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio....

Therefore, we will not currently respond to your request under Freedom of Information. We are happy to receive FOI requests under a real name.

Should you wish to log details of your concerns about a telecoms company with Ofcom, we would encourage you to call Ofcom’s Consumer Contact Team on 020 7981 3040 or 0300 123 3333.

Yours sincerely,

Information Requests

show quoted sections

Dear Information Requests,

OK, my name is John Spencer.

Many thanks.

Yours sincerely,

CCCBS

Dear Information Requests,

My name is Joseph Appleby.

Many thanks.

Yours sincerely,

CCCBS