The speedy rollout of gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) primarily based broadband ISP networks throughout the UK – occurring through a mass of various networks (Abstract) – is great to see, however we might warning customers to not financial institution their future selection of supplier till AFTER such networks have been deployed and gone stay.
At current over 65% of UK premises can entry a gigabit-capable community (mixture of FTTP and Virgin Media’s HFC), which falls to over 30% when simply “full fibre” (FTTP) suppliers (right here), however that is quickly rising. Suffice to say, in some areas there could be a temptation to see an announcement a couple of future construct and to thus plan your subsequent ISP selection round that.
Nonetheless, it’s essential to recognise that such construct plans and associated dates are tentative, which suggests they’re topic to vary and such change – if it occurs – usually happens close to to when the deployment itself was initially imagined to happen (i.e. on the eleventh hour). As well as, as soon as a brand new community has been constructed, then it might nonetheless take between a number of weeks and as much as 12-18 months earlier than the primary retail ISPs really go stay (varies between operators and areas as a result of numerous various factors).
Over the previous few months’ we’ve seen an up-tick in complaints from readers about this, lots of whom have deliberate to change ISP by wanting on the construct date for a brand new community, whereas on the similar time assuming that this will likely be each correct and reflective of precise service availability. As spotlight above, that is incessantly NOT the case. In some instances, a community operator could even pull out of a construct solely as a result of unexpected issues.
For customers, all of this makes it troublesome to organise your present contract phrases and ISP selection. On the one hand, you need the pliability to change as quickly as the brand new FTTP community goes stay. Alternatively, you may not need to be caught paying costly out-of-contract charges together with your present supplier for too lengthy, or to tie your self right into a slower service on the unsuitable time.
All of this can be a headache, however it’s additionally why we advocate for the cautious method. Wait till the brand new community has been constructed and is stay earlier than you make your determination, lest you end up being caught out. We’d additionally advise avoiding trusting the guarantees of gross sales individuals, who in lots of instances could guarantee you of availability, usually proper up till the second the operator scraps or considerably delays their construct. Belief what exists, not what’s promised.
In areas the place there’s better uncertainty round closing service availability (fairly frequent), then we’d advise briefly transferring to an ISP with reasonably priced shorter-term contracts (e.g. on Openreach there are numerous choices, reminiscent of Pulse8 and Cuckoo Broadband with 1-month phrases), or simply attempt to robust it out with the post-contract costs of your present ISP for a bit longer.
The calculation above is in fact extra of a problem in case you’re concerned in a demand-led group construct venture, the place committing to take a future service (i.e. an expression of curiosity) is a part of what could make that construct commercially viable within the first place. In these instances, you would possibly have to sacrifice somewhat extra to make sure you meet that dedication and may undertake the service as quickly because it goes stay.