Whole-of-market fibre
A busy pub in Prescot was told fibre was unavailable at the premises. It was available. Just not from the supplier who said no.
The situation
A busy pub in Prescot wanted a proper fibre connection. Card payments, card machines behind the bar, a card reader on the floor at busy times, guest Wi-Fi, the jukebox, the CCTV and the booking phone were all fighting over a connection that was not up to it.
They had been told, on the basis of an Openreach availability check, that fibre was not available at the premises. As far as they knew that was the end of it. It is a conclusion a lot of businesses reach, and it is frequently wrong.
What we did
Most availability checkers query one network. If Openreach infrastructure does not reach a premises, or the record says it does not, the answer comes back as unavailable and the conversation stops there.
Openreach is not the only supplier of fibre in the UK. There are alternative network providers building their own infrastructure, wholesale carriers with different footprints, and routes that never appear on a single-network postcode check. A negative result from one checker tells you about that one network, not about your building.
We can approach the whole market rather than a single carrier, so we checked the premises properly.
The outcome
The pub has fibre broadband at a premises it had been told could not have it. Payments, guest Wi-Fi and the phones now share a connection built for the job, on a busy site where a card machine failing on a Saturday night costs real money.
The lesson generalises. If you have been told fibre is not available at your address, that is worth a second opinion from someone who can see more than one network.
Questions
Not necessarily. Most availability checks query a single network, usually Openreach. If that network does not reach your premises the answer comes back as unavailable, but alternative network providers and wholesale carriers have their own infrastructure and different footprints. A negative result from one checker describes one network, not your building.
We can approach the whole market rather than a single carrier. That means checking a premises against multiple networks instead of a single database, and knowing which alternative providers actually build in a given area.
It can be better, and it is often cheaper for the same speed. What matters is the specification you are buying, the service level behind it and who supports it, rather than whose name is on the duct. We will tell you plainly what each available route delivers.
Not usually. We plan the changeover so the existing connection stays live until the new one is tested and working, then move you across at a time that suits the business rather than the installer.
Tell us what is happening and we will tell you honestly what can be done, and how quickly.
