Cannot negotiate with Openreach, England
The change from FTTC (hybrid broadband) to FTTP (fibre-optic (f-o) cable all the way to one's property is arranged by one's Internet Service Provider (ISP. For me, this is Plusnet - a BT Group company.
Like most ISPs (except Virgin Broadband, and those linked to companies owning minor (aka Alt) f-o networks), Plusnet are contracted to the f-o network being installed in England by the BT Group company Openreach.
Customers of ISPs linked to Openreach cannot discuss the switch to f-o which has been confirmed for their address with Openreach. Only with their ISP.
My switch needs a new, and very different, route for the new f-o cable from the pole in our road to the point on our property where the new line with be taken through the outside wall, from a f-o junction box fixed to the external brickwork to an Optical Network Termination (ONT: an optical to digital signal converter/modem) on the inside.
We need the ONT to be, like our existing ADSL master phone socket, close to our router so we can connect our PC, as now, by LAN cable - not wirelessly.
To achieve this, the new cable needs to be attached initially to our house in a different position from the old copper line, and follow a very different route to arrive, far more neatly and directly, to a point on the outside wall of our home office where our router and PC are, and are close to that point,
All that Plusnet will say is that Openreach "normally" follows the route of the old phone line to the property. I have pointed out several times that this is inappropriate. for our switch.
This new route will involve possibly two sharp, tight, right angle bends around brickwork corners. Various sources of information mention this as being unsuitable for standard drop-wire f-o cable. But it is stressed that it is not an insuperable problem. It needs an installer with the skills and equipment to splice the relatively rigid fibre-optic drop cable to fit the corner so its vital innards are not cracked. If they are cracked, the optical signal will, at best, not pass through the damaged point in a state allowing it to be converted into the electrical digital signal required by routers and PC:s (etc).
So I asked Plusnet to arrange, at our expense if necessary, a pre-installation survey to ensure that Openreach understands our requirements, and sends a suitable team and materials, tools etc.
Plusnet simply repeat the now familiar mantra "Openreach do not do pre-installation surveys". I have given them evidence that they do - for commercial properties/multi-occupancy houses/ blocks of flats, etc. But this evidence falls on apparently deaf ears.
MY QUESTIONS
Does Openreach (via Plusnet) have the legal right to refuse my logical and necessary request, which is accompanied by an offer to meet any costs charged to Plusnet for fulfilling it?
If they do not, have such a right, how can I put pressure on Plusnet?
If Plusnet/Openreach are within their legal/contractual obligations by refusing me a pre-installation survey, is there an independent firm which I can approach to carry out one for me? There must surely be some electrical installation firms which understand f-o cable installations?