Openreach (BT) has begun the process of reviewing its position on compliance with its “place of residenceThis could lead to them taking further contractual action against alternative UK broadband networks (altnets) that are struggling to meet the necessary 90% performance threshold, which could ultimately include restrictions on network access.
To give this some context, Openreach’s regulated Access to physical infrastructure (PIA) product, which allows competitors to run their own fibre broadband cables over or through Openreach’s existing masts and cable ducts, includes a “mandatory requirement“for related contractors to record their”place of residence” when working on or in their network.
REMARK: Openreach does not disclose compliance rates among its own engineers.
Openreach does this out of concern that a company researching or installing new cables using their network could accidentally damage other cables (Openreach’s or an altnet’s), so they need information that will help them to knock-on problems from that damage to be resolved quickly. Basically, who works on their network and when they work matters from the perspective of service quality, security and public accountability.
Such a report will typically include the name of the contractor present on site, their telephone number, details of the activity carried out (e.g. an above ground survey), the date and time the contractor was present on site (this may be up to 7 days prior to the day of submission), postcode, street name and, if available, the number of the street works permit or notice.
Description of Openreach’s whereabouts
Recording the whereabouts of your contractor when working on or in our network is important and necessary to ensure the integrity of our network and to quickly determine if unauthorized personnel have access to our network, for example in the event of cable theft.
This also allows audits to be carried out and provides both you and us with an audit trail in the event of damage or a highway breach. The completion of Whereabouts also allows us to monitor and carry out checks to confirm that the contractor’s employees are accredited for the work they carry out and must have their identification with them at all times.
This is an important process, although it may often seem more about assigning responsibility and keeping associated records than about network attacks or preventing cable theft (i.e. criminals aren’t going to fill out a form to make your life as an operator easier ) – see our previous summary. Furthermore, it is usually not the engineers themselves who submit the whereabouts data, unless the altnet has custom tools to interface with Openreach’s mapping tool.
Last year, CityFibre was named as one of the altnets struggling most with compliance, indicating that about half of the tasks they completed by the end of October 2023 were not place of residence information (here). CF later informed ISPreview that their compliance with closed courses (NOIs / Notice of Intent) was 54%, but these types of figures also come with other caveats.
Altnets typically only need to fill out whereabouts information when accessing the network on a primary (NOI). If that company is installing in more than one channel in the same area using PIA, further whereabouts information is not required as the equipment is all being installed at the same time (i.e. there is little point in logging four visits if there has only been one).
However, because a PIA user only records one visit, the Openreach systems show one visit but may show more than one piece of infrastructure installed. This gives the incorrect impression that there is significant non-compliance. Openreach acknowledged this problem at the time. CityFibre also indicated that its own calculations averaged more than 71% compliance by 2023 (the OTA is said to have suggested that anything above 70% is good), although Openreach’s rules target 90%.
A CityFibre spokesperson told ISPreview in January 2024:
“BT Openreach’s whereabouts report, from which this data is taken, is fundamentally flawed as it significantly under-reports compliance. We have shared this concern with Openreach as we believe our compliance is over 70%, a level the OTA has suggested is ‘good’.”
In any case, Openreach has been working with their PIA partners (altnets) for some time to find solutions to low compliance issues, which is a vexing area because altnets often perceive Openreach’s own position – which is both as a supplier and a competitor to them occurs. – as potentially conflicting (here). But ultimately it is a commercial decision for Openreach to decide how to enforce the contracts they have with other operators (any competitive issues that might arise from this would be a matter for Ofcom).
What’s new?
The latest change is that Openreach recently informally contacted altnets that are still below the agreed 90% threshold for whereabouts compliance, in the hope of understanding what they are doing to improve that. For the time being, the focus seems to be on a more cooperative approach. But if compliance remains below 90% by September 2024, they will submit a formal request for an improvement plan to related providers.
The aim appears to be to get providers above the 90% threshold by the end of 2024, and if that doesn’t happen Openreach reserves the right to take further contractual action (if necessary). But it is understood that the network operator is (with good reason – see below) opposed to an enforcement approach, and in any event it has not yet decided exactly how it will enforce it.
However, in extreme cases, some altnets may face restrictions that could hinder their access to Openreach’s network in certain areas. But the risk for Openreach doing this is that it could lead to a bigger clash, which Ofcom could drag down by becoming a competition issue (hence why strict enforcement is something best avoided).
Katie Milligan, Chief Commercial Officer at Openreach, said:
“We continue to work closely with the industry, the OTA and Ofcom to ensure all work on our network is properly recorded and carried out safely and securely.”
At the same time, it’s VERY important to note that this isn’t just one of those simplistic Openreach vs altnets style issues. In fact, quite a few altnets are already achieving strong compliance with the whereabouts rules and a fair number of the complaints are often leveled by them against other altnets, who have poor compliance and thus cause problems for more than just Openreach (for example we see quite a few complaints from other altnets about CityFibre).
So for now the approach is a softer approach of encouragement and collaboration, which will hopefully find some fair and balanced solutions to improve compliance (Openreach may need to make some changes on their end too). But we’ll be watching in early 2025 to see what happens and whether this effort doesn’t produce the desired results.