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Why hasn’t BT Openreach fixed my broadband?

Why hasn’t BT Openreach fixed my broadband? 

Latest news for Why Hasn’t BT Openreach Fixed My Broadband?BT Openreach will release statements explaining why repairs due to take place have fallen behind schedule as a result of bad weather and an unusually high volume of repair work caused by the elements.

When this happens, BT normally issues what’s called an MBORC notice.

Van in flood - Highways Agency / Flickr

What is a BT Openreach MBORC notice?

MBORC stands for Matters Beyond Our Reasonable Control, and a notice is issued whenever unexpected events have a serious impact on BT Openreach’s ability to make repairs or meet installation deadlines for new services.

MBORC notices are issued to broadband and phone providers so they can accurately predict repair times or warn their customers that immediate repairs are not possible.

Why does BT Openreach declare an MBORC notice?

MBORC is most often declared after severe weather, with 2012 experiencing the worst flooding since 2007, which caused problems across the network. 

Attacks on the network – usually attempted copper cable theft – can also cause BT Openreach to issue an MBORC notice if they affect a significant area or will require major repair work. 

Latest news for Why Hasn’t BT Openreach Fixed My Broadband?

News stories for Why hasn’t BT Openreach fixed my broadband?

Copper delay down to 15 days despite snow melt

Openreach engineers have beaten their own targets for installing new copper phone and broadband services despite new floods from melting snow.

There’s an average waiting time of 15 days across the UK for Openreach to install a new copper-based service, which is better than their most optimistic expectations.

That’s despite an ‘exceptionally high’ level of new repairs caused by melting snow, just as Openreach cleared the last areas of emergency status from 2012’s flooding.

Marketing director Rob Lee said: “Although conditions continue to challenge us, we have been making good progress against our plans and our new resourcing levels have been paying dividends with record completion rates as we work hard to bring down the work stack and improve on provision lead times.

“The forecast is for more wet and windy weather across the country in the coming weeks and we will continue to monitor the situation.”

January 2013 saw Openreach engineers complete more than 625,000 jobs – 100,000 more than in January 2012.

Februrary 4, 2013

Last round of flood repair jobs from 2012 cleared 

This morning Openreach was happily able to declare the last round of flood repair jobs done and dusted.

Repairs in the Bournemouth, Exeter, Newport/Worcester, North Wales, Southampton
and Swansea areas were finally ticked off the list, meaning that Openreach engineers have finally cleared up the last the damage done by the winter 2012 floods.

Now that the army of Openreach workers has finished clearing up the mess mother nature left, normal network repair and maintainence jobs can resume.

February 1, 2013

Central Downs sees flood repairs madness recede

Winter flooding repairs in Sussex have been reduced to a trickle as the Central Downs returns to normal. 

BT Openreach engineers are now able to focus on new installations in the area.

The good news leaves six of the 73 mangement areas tackling flood repairs from late 2012, with three in southern England and three in Wales.

January 30, 2013

Broadlands, Peterborough and West Downs narrow BT’s gap to normality

Three more Openreach engineering regions have been taken off the emergency repairs list.

Just seven of the last-mile infrastructure provider’s 73 management areas are now tackling flood repairs from the soggy butt-end of 2012.

Openreach said: “In these areas our network apparatus and our underground infrastructure remain heavily impacted by the extremely high rainfall and extensive flooding.”

The continuing hard work puts Openreach on target to meet its nationwide copper installation targets in February for all but a few parts of the UK.

January 25, 2013

Truro relieved of flood damage repair alert 

Britain’s chilly burst may have the Daily Express excited, but it hasn’t stopped BT’s engineers fixing flood damage in Truro.

BT Openreach’s southern-most area is no longer under an MBORC (Matters Beyond our Reasonable Control) status.

The area admittedly escaped the worst of the snow, and the remaining 10 flood-stricken areas may prove tougher to tackle in the freeze.

January 24, 2013

Mid Wales/Shrewsbury and Swindon escape emergency before snow starts 

Normal installation and repair activities have resumed for two more Openreach regions ahead of January’s cold snap.

The relief of MBORC (Matters Beyond Our Reasonable Control) leaves 11 areas still tackling serious repairs from 2012’s high rainfall and flooding.

BT’s intensive efforts to return to normal are likely to slow down as the UK copes with up to a week of snow and freezing temperatures, but Openreach hasn’t altered its plans to get most areas in order by early February.

January 18, 2013

More relief for flood-battered BT sites

Emergency repair status has been removed from North East Scotland, Northumberland/Wearside, and Stoke/Chester.

The MBORC (Matters Beyond Our Reasonable Control) badge is still attached to 13 UK areas where there are a lot of serious repairs to tackle.

BT Openreach said it hopes to return these areas to a normal status as quickly as possible, when it can refocus attention on connecting up new customers with reasonable lead times.

January 16, 2013

Flood faults continue to recede for BT’s engineers

Aylesbury, Colchester/Ipswich, Durham/Teesside, Hemel Hempstead and West London have come off Openreach’s engineering critical list.

With flood repairs under control, engineers can now focus on reducing copper install and repair times.

There remain 16 BT management areas where network apparatus and our underground infrastructure have been heavily impacted by the extremely high rainfall and extensive flooding.

January 11, 2012

Five regions back to normal repair and installation working after Christmas floods

BT teams in Bristol,North London, South Yorkshire/Chesterfield, Derby/Nottingham, Birmingham/Black Country are no longer bound by emergency flood repairs.

Telecoms infrastructure provider BT Openreach has lifted Matters Beyond Our Reasonable Control (MBORC) orders yesterday (January 9).

Engineers are still tackling flood damage in 21 others, as the UK faces a seasonal cold snap in the second half of January.

January 10, 2013

Copper install waits should hit 13 days nationwide by March

Flood-struck UK areas will start to reach normal BT engineer visit levels by early February and recover fully by March.

London will be the first BT Openreach region to get back to normal, with North Wales and the North Midlands last to catch up.

BT Openreach expects the whole of the UK to have a 13-day lead time for new copper phone and broadband services by the end of February 2013.

Rob Lee, Openreach’s marketing director, wrote: “Repair intakes over the last three weeks have been c21k higher than anticipated in the winter plan.

“With the current weather outlook, and seasonal trends, we expect to receive an additional 3,000 faults per week over the coming weeks, after which we have assumed a return to planned levels of intake.”

By February 8, Openreach expects lead times to be in a good place for London (9-13 days), the North West (10-14 days), Scotland (12-16 days), the North East (13-18 days), and Wessex (13-17 days).

The worst-hit areas will still be around a week behind: North Wales/North Midlands (25-29 days), East Anglia (19-23 days), South East (exc. London) (22-26 days) and South Wales/South Midlands (20-24 days).

January 8, 2013

Long recovery for North Wales/North Midlands, the South East England and East Anglia 

The worst-flooded areas of the UK won’t be back to normal BT repair and installation times until early March, BT Openreach has admitted.

The UK telecoms infrastructure giant says most of the UK should get to a 13-day average callout wait by February 6.

North Wales/North Midlands, the South East (excluding London) and East Anglia face so many repairs that they won’t hit Openreach’s target until around four weeks later.

In an update for ISPs, Openreach marketing director Rob Lee said: “Despite the dreadful weather of the last three weeks we are managing to hold provision lead times for copper services at around 20 working days on average across the UK.

“However, our efforts to reduce this sharply over the next few weeks are challenged by the need to restore service for the unusually high number of your customers who are experiencing issues as a result of the unprecedented levels of fault intake during this period.”

January 4, 2012

Record floods face BT engineers with over 40,000 New Year repairs 

A soggy Christmas saw BT’s busiest-ever weekend and emergencies declared for almost a third of the UK.

Around 90 flood warnings in place around the UK saw BT Openreach suffer more fault reports over a weekend than ever before.

Matters Beyond Our Reasonable Control emergencies were declared in 18 new areas in a single week before Christmas, with more after the New Year weekend – see below for the current list of MBORC areas.

Despite predicting a busy January, Openreach’s marketing director, Rob Lee, said he expects to reduce the lead time for installing new copper broadband services to 19 days by early February.

“We will continue to monitor the situation in all of these areas and will remove MBORC as soon as service can be restored to levels they were at immediately before the very recent poor weather,” he added.

“At this time, we do not anticipate the need to declare MBORC in any further areas associated with the recent bad weather.” 

January 2, 2013

Coventry, East Downs, Humber, Taunton and Stoke/Chester out of trouble 

Busy engineers have brought five more Openreach regions out of emergency status.

Openreach said: “We will continue to monitor recovery actions in the remaining six areas and will remove MBORC from these as soon as service can be restored to the levels they were at immediately before the recent poor weather. ” 

MBORC remains in force for Central Downs, North Wales, Newport/Worcester, Swansea, Swindon, Truro.

December 14, 2012

Derby, Nottingham and Exeter excused from red alert 

BT Openreach has tackled the emergency backlog for two regions in less than a fortnight after November’s floods.

Exeter and the Derby and Nottingham region were both declared MBORC (Measures Beyond Our Reasonable Control) on November 30 due to a surge in fault reports.

Engineers have now tackled enough jobs to take them off the emergency list, leaving 11 areas (see below).

December 13, 2012

Broadband loss in Central and East Downs

More weather woes incoming as BT announces that services have been lost in the Central and East Downs.

BT this afternoon declared MBORC (Measures Beyond Our Reasonable Control) alerts for the areas and added them to its emergency repairs list.

This takes the total number of areas affected to 13, with Coventry, Derby/Nottingham, Exeter, Humber, Newport/Worcester, North Wales, Stoke/Chester, Swansea, Swindon, Taunton and Truro all still suffering.

BT is working on restoring normal services to these areas as soon as possible. Customers have been warned to expect waits of up to three weeks for repairs and new installations as the weather worsens.

Good progress has been made in affected areas however, with just 30,000 jobs – down from 140,000 a week before – currently outstanding.

December 7, 2012

Up to three week repair delays by Christmas

BT Openreach has warned that customers can expect to wait up to three weeks for repairs and new installations as it faces heavy winter weather.

The UK’s major telecom infrastructure provider is working towards lead times of 14-20 days in the southern UK, and 14-20 days in the northern half of the country, but adds that ‘the glide-path now points at the higher end of these ranges’.

As well as expecting heavy weather and dealing with the aftermath of November’s widespread flooding, many Openreach staff who have been working flat out for much of the year are calling in their annual leave.

The good news is that by tackling 140,000 faults last week, and 136,000 the week before, Openreach only faces 30,000 outstanding jobs.

Openreach’s latest update adds: “From the record breaking completions in recent weeks, our resource plans are really delivering.

“In the last 18 months we have grown our field force capability by about 22 per cent, which is over 3,000 more people.

“January is traditionally a very bumpy month and trends show that regional weather spikes are likely to raise challenges in the field.”

Despite this, Openreach expects to reduce lead times to 13 working days by early February, and reduce its repair stack to around 19,000.

December 6, 2012 

Floods take Coventry, Swansea and others offline

Despite BT braving the elements in the face of recent severe weather (the third time this year) it’s been forced to declare that broadband and phone services in 11 areas has now been compromised.

A statement from BT reveals that repairs need to be made in Coventry, Derby/Nottingham, Exeter, Humber, Newport/Worcester, North Wales, Stoke/Chester, Swansea, Swindon, Taunton and Truro.

The MBORC (Measures Beyond Our Reasonable Control) status in these areas was declared from 14:00 today.

BT said its “closely monitoring these recovery actions and will remove MBORC as soon as service can be restored.”

As if having your home flooded, local roads closed due to falling trees and losing your home phone and broadband wasn’t enough, this will likely impact on the rollout of Openreach’s work elsewhere on getting FTTC and FTTP lines connected.

Progress on this has already been hampered this year by several bouts of extreme weather as well as the DCMS-EU red tape tussle over BDUK.

When we hear more from BT we’ll update you.

November 30, 2012

Defying the deluge 

BT Openreach engineers have held their own despite getting a thousand times their normal rate of fault reports in this week’s floods.

The UK faced 100 flood warnings on Friday, with Wales and the Midlands heavily impacted, but Openreach’s flood backlog remained within expectations at around 23,600.

The average lead time for repairs dropped by five days to 16 days, and engineers tackled 135,315 jobs – their second-highest completion rate of the year.

The weekly BT Openreach service update added: ” There is no doubt that this week’s storms have had a major impact, with fault intake yesterday close to 1000 higher than normal, however, despite the deluge, we are holding firm at a manageable level.

“We will monitor the situation closely over the weekend, with the numerous flood and gale warnings in place it will be another challenge to overcome.”

November 24, 2012

Final three emergency areas cleared by BT

The final three areas where broadband and phone services were affected by the recent wet weather have been cleared.

Openreach engineers have restored servicers to residents in and around Durham, Northumberland and Southampton. The final ‘MBORC’ (Measures Beyond Our Reasonable Control) areas where lifted at 1pm this afternoon, according to the latest information from Openreach.

Engineers have worked round the clock to get people connected ever since the first round of floods struck the UK this year.

These three areas were the last to clear, signally the end of Openreach’s mammoth backlog for 2012 – pending any further freak weather or storms before New Year’s Eve.

November 14, 2012

Just three of 73 areas still tackling outsized BT repairs backlog 

Durham, Northumberland and Southampton are the last three areas of the UK facing an unusual BT work list.

BT Openreach has lifted emergency status from Central Scotland, North East Scotland, North Wales and Stoke & Chester.

Engineering teams broke their work record for a second week in succession, completing 133,600 jobs last week and bringing Openreach 45,623 jobs ahead of its predictions.

The UK’s largest telecom infrastructure provider expects to have around 25,000 jobs on its books by the end of this week, and has reduced the average wait time for an engineer visit, across the UK, to 26 days.

November 9, 2012

Emergency cleared in East Midlands and SE Scots 

The red alert light has been switched off for BT engineers in Leicester, Northampton and South East Scotland.

With BT Openreach’s new recruits helping to complete a record 131,000 jobs in a week, the company relieved three areas from Matters Beyond Our Reasonable Control status.

Openreach – responsible for BT’s poles, cables, ducts and exchanges – now has just seven of its 73 admin regions under MBORC.

November 2, 2012

Storm relief for Manchester and Midlands 

BT Openreach has shrunk its list of areas needing special attention down to just 10, with parts of the Midlands and Manchester given the all-clear.

Repair and maintenance work levels in Birmingham & Black Country, Derby & Nottingham, North Manchester and South Manchester have returned to normal or near-normal.

Openreach added: “We continue to monitor the remaining areas [see below] regularly with a view to removing these remaining declarations as soon as normal or near-normal work stack levels have been reached.”

October 22, 2012

September hangover for Openreach repair teams 

As BT Openreach’s repair log faces an uncertain Autumn, the UK’s biggest telecoms infrastructure provider has declared a green light in 11 areas of Scotland, Wales and northern England.

‘Matters beyond our reasonable control’ – Openreach-ese for Red Alert – has been lifted from Aylesbury, Bradford & The Dales, Cumbria, Highlands and Islands, Lancashire, Leeds & West Yorkshire, Merseyside, Mid Wales and Shrewsbury, North Lincoln, South Yorkshire and Chesterfield, York.

But September’s stormy weather is still causing a hangover of unfinished repairs in 14 areas – detailed below – but new engineers hired over the Summer are now arriving in the field, giving Openreach more capacity to tackle the backlog and get on with its fibre broadband rollout.

October 15, 2012

Northumberland and Wearside go under

In addition to vast swathes of the country losing broadband and voice calls as a result of the recent downpours, Northumberland and Wearside have been declared by BT as areas under MBORC (Matters Beyond Our Reasonable Control) status.

This status is declared by BT whenever a loss of service can be attributed to the elements or any ‘act of God’ – in other words, the phones are down and BT will do everything it can to get them up and running as soon as it can.

Last Friday saw the same status declared all up and down the country, hitting the following areas: Durham & Tees Valley, York, Bradford & the Dales, Leeds & West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Chesterfield, North Lincoln, Cumbria, North Manchester, South Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire, Derby & Nottingham, Leicester, Birmingham & Black Country, Mid Wales & Shrewsbury, Stoke & Chester, NE Scotland, Central Scotland, SE Scotland, Aylesbury, Northampton and Southampton.

Today BT has announced that North Wales and the Highlands and Islands region of Scotland still remain under MBORC status as repairs continue to be made. More updates on this as and when we hear it.

October 1, 2012

23 regions hit by British weather 

Just when it looked like Openreach had got on top of its repair backlog, the British weather struck back with a vengeance, and flooding has forced the company to declare emergencies across 23 of its 73 admin regions.

In an update for communications providers, Openreach said: “We are doing all we can to make the necessary repairs, but we will need time to complete all of the work, particularly where overhead cables and poles need replacement.

“We have a number of plans in place to reduce the increased fault levels and the weather outlook for next week is more settled, so we’re hopeful of making a swift recovery.”

September 28, 2012

Wolverhampton, Tayside and Fife cleared 

Openreach’s ‘matters beyond our control’ status has been lifted from the Wolverhampton and Tayside & Fife regions after months of emergency repairs caused by bad weather.

The company said it’s approaching normal repair levels nationwide, and hopes to lift the last remaining MBORC alerts in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland, and North Wales.

September 21, 2012

Scotland’s Highlands, Islands, Tayside and Fife blasted 

Severe storms, heavy rain and lightning strikes have lead to emergency conditions being declared for the Highlands & Islands and Tayside & Fife regions in Scotland.

BT Openreach said the workload for the regions is 200 per cent above the expected levels, with widespread damage to the network and a massive rise in fault reports.

August 28, 2012

Openreach hires 600 extra staff 

Engineers tackling this summer’s ongoing repair crisis will get help by the end of the year after Openreach announced it is to hire an extra 600 staff to help with the fibre broadband rollout.

With 400 new engineering staff already under recruitment this year, Openreach said it would have more flexibility to react to service requirements and peaks in demand for fibre broadband.

August 23, 2012

Storms stop BT repair teams in their tracks 

A flurry of storms last weekend hasn’t prevented Openreach from lifting emergency status in South East Scotland, leaving just Wolverhampton and North Wales on red alert for repairs.

With repairs still a priority across the network, the average time for provisioning a new connection is still 18 days, with wide variations, but Openreach said it expects to continue making good progress on its backlog of repairs.

August 10, 2012

BT restores service to northern Scotland, Mid-Wales and the north of England

Continued mild weather saw MBORC status lifted from nine areas of the UK at 5pm on August 1.

These are Highlands and Islands, North East Scotland, Northumberland and Wearside, Durham and Tees Valley, Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Shrewsbury, and Mid-Wales.

August 2, 2012

Brighton, Portsmouth, Leeds and West Yorkshire get their broadband back 

BT Openreach has lifted emergency MBORC notices in Brighton, Portsmouth, Leeds and West Yorkshire, following several days of good weather.

Provision lead times remain around 18-19 working days on average across the country, but with wide variations, from seven days in London, 10 days in the North West, and 31 working days in the North Wales and Midlands region.

July 26, 2012

Image: Highways Agency / Flickr

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