Brackley man left stunned after £100,000 quote to install full fibre broadband

Secondary school teacher Robert Nixon moved into his recently-built home on Manor Road around eight months ago.

Robert says that when he moved into his house, he was told by the estate agent and property developer that full fibre broadband would be available to him upon completion of the building.

According to Robert, neighbours on his road were able to choose from a range of broadband services, including Gigaclear’s full fibre packages.

However, Robert says that both Gigaclear and Swish Fibre internet providers have refused to work on his home, and he is currently forced to use a mobile broadband router to access the internet.

After the setbacks from other companies, Robert approached BT’s Openreach, who said they could do the broadband installation.

However, Robert was shocked when he was quoted a cost of £100,000 by a broadband installer working on behalf of Openreach last week.

Robert said: “I survive on a single teacher’s salary, I obviously cannot pay £100,000, which is almost half the value of my house, to access modern broadband.

“We haven’t even got basic copper broadband at the moment. It is an essential service that my home should’ve been connected to from day one.”

Robert says he has contacted the MP for South Northamptonshire, Sarah Bool, and spoken with councillors from West Northamptonshire Council about the issue, but it has still not been resolved.

He added: “The West Northamptonshire local plan makes clear that ‘new development[s]’ should be connected to full fibre broadband without the need for ‘post developmental works’.

“The council is clear in their local plan that new homes should have access to full fibre broadband so it is disappointing that they don’t appear willing to lift a finger to assist us with this matter, especially when our council tax is being hiked in April.”

As part of West Northamptonshire Council local plan for up to the year 2041, it states that ‘all new development should ensure appropriate infrastructure is provided during construction that is sufficient to enable all development to be connected to full fibre broadband without any post development.’

Speaking about Robert’s £100,000 quote for full fibre broadband installation, a spokesperson for Openreach said: “We work with developers all over the UK to provide the best telecoms infrastructure for new sites, big and small.

“For sites of 20 or more commercial units, we provide full fibre network free of charge; we have a very competitive rate card for smaller developments.

“This site was registered with us in 2023 and we quoted £8,000 plus VAT for the installation of full fibre. The developer decided not to accept our quote and the case was closed.

“We don’t have a record of a quote for £100,000 for retro-fitted full fibre or a fibre network on demand but would be happy to speak with Mr Nixon about the options at his new home.”