Partner Visit - Overhead FTTP Install

[ovi75]

This month Virgin completed the installation of a brand new fibre network (not the old coax one) in our village. I quickly signed up and was given an install date of the 30th of Dec. 

I received a call yesterday to say the partner engineer will be coming tomorrow to do the outside work. This involved an overhead fibre optic cable to be run over the road and attached to my house, but it should not delay the installation. They confirmed the partner visit should be between 12-1.

20 minutes after the call I receive a message that my final install date had been delayed to the 13th Jan. Hmm 20 minutes after they confirmed it would not be delayed.

So today is the day of the partner outside work I waited until 1:30 before I called customer services to find out if the partner engineer had been delayed. I was told that the partner engineer visit was all day?! Ok I asked why they had given me a time slot and they said sorry but they did not know. But they promised that the partner engineer would be here today. Well it's past 4 pm, dark and no sign of the partner engineer so I guess there is no chance they will turn up and run overhead cables in the dark.

I have never had to deal with Virgin Media before and my first impressions are not good.

It appears the customer service team don't really care what they tell the customer because everything is subcontracted nobody takes any responsibility or really knows what is going on. 

About to call them again but my hopes are not high.

[Cardiffman282]

VM do indeed subcontract not just installations but also its offshore customer service. Comms between all parties are therefore as bad as you would expect. 

Keep careful records of all contact with VM with a view to automatic compensation https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/costs-and-billing/automat...

[ovi75]

Just off the phone to be told that I will get a text if the work is delayed! It's nearly 5 pm so I will wait for the text. 

[ovi75]

@RedWine345 you are correct, no contact from them at all. So from all the comments, I think the external partner install visit is not passed to the customer on purpose so they do what they think is easier without taking customers' requirements into account.

What I find poor is the expectation set by VM, if they had told me external work would be done without notice as the customer does not need to be involved and should be completed at least 3 days before rather than telling me something that was just incorrect.

[MasterOfArts1]

yeah mate the same with most companies from housing association's, factors, energy companies & even ISPS. A lot of work goes out to tender these days which has pros & cons.

I am pleased to confirm FTTP compared to FTTC is great. As much as a good old copper coax is a magnificent system for conductivity etc for antenna systems etc, copper does pick up a fair bit of noise. Fibre optic cables in comparison to even DOC 3.1 etc is blown away, even via the good old PPPoE.

Enjoy your new infrastructure, one thing I would recommend though.... invest in your own router, WIFI6, 6E or 7 👍

[ovi75]

Already have Unifi UDM-Pro with APs, just a shame the 5x Hub does not work in modem mode.

[NigelGoodwin]

I'm watching this thread with great interest - the overhead fibre system here has very recently gone live - so recently as no one has it yet. I ordered mine the morning I got the email from VM (which impressed me, as it was Tuesday morning, and the guy was only fitting the boxes low on the poles on the Saturday, the email came at 07:05 on Tue 19th Dec.). So I ordered it, and arranged for install on 11th Jan, as it's my day off, the first available date was the 9th Jan.

I spoke to the guy who was fitting the boxes on the poles, and queried why they were so low down, to be told another team would be along later with a cherry picker to move them to the top of the poles - so I presume this is the pre-install team, who will also run a fibre from pole to house using the cherry picker?.

My details on VM say pre-install is by 10th Jan, and install on the 11th - so it'll be interesting to see if that actually happens.

[ovi75]

Hi Nigel,

I have a clear view of the pole and noticed that they first install the fiber box halfway down the poll. I think they then test and terminate the fiber and move the box to the top of the poll. The poll for my installation now has the fiber at the top of the poll. This is a great video showing how openreach and zen do it, I am guessing its the same. FTTP Install Zen/Openreach

[NigelGoodwin]

As I mentioned, I spoke to the guy who was fitting the boxes and testing them - to be told another team come along with a cherry picker to move them up to the top of the pole. Did they run the fibre to your house when they moved the box up the pole?.

Incidentally, the guy I spoke to was a self employed private contractor, he mentioned this as he said he didn't want to take his £15,000 tester up a pole in the dark, and he'd hate to drop it 😄 He did the testing and terminating, the next team just physically move the box up the pole - and perhaps plug a fibre in for the feed to the house.

[ovi75]

Just a quick update. The subcontractors turned up and ran the overhead fibre on Friday. It only took about 25 minutes and they were done. Leading up to this, I spoke to customer services multiple times who cut me off twice and told me they would need to dig up the road and install a metal pole. This would be about 6 weeks!, I finally spoke to someone in the UK in the pre-install team who sent out a field engineer the following day. That engineer arrived bang on time and rang the subcontractors who arrived later that day and did the overhead external work. The subcontracts informed me because the fibre was on a metal telegraph pole they needed a cherry picker to do the installation, that was the only reason for the delay. It shows the customer service contact centre has no idea about fibre XGS-PON installs and thinks everything is coax DOCSIS as well as no idea how to read notes. Internal installation is due Saturday so we will see how that goes....