Another frequently-searched phrase according to Google is “how to fix cut underground phone line”
It Happens Frequently – Don’t Worry.
Only last night I was contacted by a home-owner. His builders had unexpectedly met a cable when doing some groundwork. The situation was the usual “we are holding the builders up/we need to get out internet back on/what are these wires?/how do I joint them?” mild panic.
Technically, You Have Damaged Openreach’s Infrastructure.
(“Wait a minute! You said “don’t worry” – now you are trying to panic me!”) Not so. I just need to make this absolutely clear. The official line is that you must call in Openreach to fix it.
Therefore, anything in this blog from this point on should be read as hypothetical.
It is written from the basis that, due to a fundamental change in responsibility, you were allowed to fix it yourself. Currently, only Openreach should carry out repairs.
(Meanwhile, do independent engineers carry out unofficial repairs on Openreach’s damaged cables? I understand that they do. 😉 )
What Would Openreach Charge? How Fast Can They Attend?
At least £130.00 to turn up. Then an hourly rate of approximately £85.00, plus parts (£50.00?). You may wait upwards of five days to get a visit. There is no “fixed fee” repair, so costs are not predictable. Yikes.
What Would an Independent Engineer Charge (Hypothetically)?
Possibly around 30 to 50% less. Furthermore, they might be able to respond quickly.
How Is The Damage Repaired?
Openreach may use a “mechanical joint closure” (A what?)
One of these…
They are two halves of a very strong plastic “Easter Egg” with a hole at each end. Furthermore, the two halves equipped with multiple high-grade flexible seals. Finally, they are clamped together very firmly. Therefore, they make a highly-waterproof chamber. However, the wires themselves will have first be jointed by jelly crimps and tested (of course).
What If I Wanted To Repair The Damage Myself (Unofficially)?
First Trace Your Wires
Identify each pair of wires – this is easier said than done. Internal wires which have a clear colour identification as a pair, (blue/white-white/blue). However, underground cables will have “solid” colours only (blue-white, orange-white, green-white, brown-white, grey-white). The job suddenly got more difficult.
The basic way of proving which solid white colour wire goes with which solid coloured wire is by simply seeing which ones are twisted together when viewed in a suitable length. Yes, really. This is the time-honoured professional cable-jointer’s method. However, if the cables have been truly mangled, and you can’t strip any more of the sheath back (or don’t have the length of spare cable to do it),don’t worry. Fortunately, there are alternative ways of finding which pair is the one that is carrying your service.
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Use the detachable front-plate of your master socket to attach the most likely pair of wires to. If you plug in a phone and hear dial tone – success!
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Use a multi-meter set to DC voltage to check for the 50V DC across the live pair.
Joint The Wires.
Use jelly crimps and try and joint all of them. Check in your premises for dial tone. N.B. This is essential – your broadband will work on one wire but slowly, forever. Make sure both are connected by checking for dial tone. Simply looking at the green light on your broadband router won’t be sufficient.
Find a Suitable Joint Enclosure
The MJC, Openreach-type joints occasionally pop up on eBay. Tyco Electronics produce one that suits the 5-pair cable feeding houses perfectly. Try them direct in Swindon.
Here’s the MJC, with cables jointed, ready to be snapped shut.
Alternatively, the resin-sealed underground electrical joints used by electricians can be adapted to work, so I understand. They are used reliably on highway lighting, where they are exposed to all sorts of potential damp and pressure. Furthermore, they are more readily available. It’s absolutely vital that the jelly crimps are encased in something totally moisture-proof. If you can imagine them suddenly being encased in the very middle of a hard butterscotch-type sweet, you’ve got some idea of how effective they are.
Apart from the Openreach-specification MJC joints mentioned above, I can’t think of anything else, apart from a resin-fill joint, that will offer the same degree of protection. Heat-shrink tubing may not be 100% impermeable if it fails to seal around the cable sheath ends. I’ve dug these up deliberately and found them wide open. Most of all, don’t even think about using yards of insulation and gaffer tape. Water will always find a way if there’s a weakness.
Re-Test For A Dial Tone Before You Fill In The Hole.
It’s a little too late, but it saves having to dig again, and risk hitting the cable.
An Even Better Way?
Call in your local independent (probably ex-BT) engineer to do the job for you, as they will be well familiar with the question “How to Fix Cut Underground Phone Line” . If you are looking for an engineer, please drop me a line, as I network with many across the UK. If you are in the North East, it might be me. Please get in touch!
Thanks for the Interesting post. I’ve a question related to the underground duct that carries the wire from the Openreach footway chamber up to my house:
If it’s damaged but there are no issues with the BT service who is responsible for repairing it? The scenario is city fibre are in my street and are pulling string up from the footway chambers to our houses, ready for when we want ftop connections. They can’t pull one for me because the duct is blocked somewhere under my front lawn. I’m waiting to hear back from them but wanted your opinion.
Thanks
An interesting question! My simply “binary”/”engineer’s mental flow-chart” answer is as follows:- it’s their hardware, so their responsibility, unless there is clear evidence that it has been damaged by another party. Therefore, if you have dug 3 metre footings for your 1/125th scale model of Nelson’s Column in your garden, (and this is clearly provable), then I guess that you would be deemed culpable. Otherwise, it’s up to City Fibre to coordinate with Openreach to solve the problem.
Thanks for your kind words. I hope that this helps.
We are having a conservatory replaced by a sun room – I have done the demolition. The armoured telephone cable was under the previous slab but there seems to have been some earlier damage before this was laid because one length has insulating tape around it and at another point there is a double turn so there are 3 wires side by side, much insulating tape and the cable is obviously thinner in amongst all this. This must have been functioning OK for 20 years and we have no problem with broadband speeds. I must relay it on a different route now, there is not enough slack to remove the damaged section(s). The cable diameter seems to be about 11.5mm. We are loath to relay it without repairs. We have, as yet, no idea what the inner cable diameter is and would like to order up joints before we start playing with it any more. Can you please advise what to buy. Thanks in advance!
Hello,
Some underground cables seem to stagger on, regardless of damage.
You will need a “MJC”, or “mechanical joint closure”, plus some jelly crimps. Google is your friend.
If you need some professional help, let me have your postcode via an email. Rob.
If I transfer my broadband and phone from BT to SKY can I insist on having a brand new cable going to the nearest Pole? The reason I ask is, we are on an Exchange only line that is over a mile long! We have always had problems from day 1. Outside our building where the cable goes underground, there are 3 cables. Some time back, years in fact, we had an engineer out as we had a lot of trouble with the line. he was backwards and forwards umpteen times to and from the exchange, he told us out of the 3 lines only 1 was any good, and that one wasnt much better than the other 2, but it worked. Now the cable speeds are higher, our line doesnt seem to be able to cope with it, and keeps dropping out, this happens every few days. The longest the line has stayed on for at any one time is 6 days.
Apologies for bluntness, but it you are paying for a service, (often with a guaranteed minimum speed), then it’s up to the provider to deliver the service. Full stop.
If you are continually getting low speeds and drop-out, ask your provider to monitor this at their end.
Be aware that they will point the finger back at you, saying that it’s your (their!) router/phone/wiring. The default response for their line test is “no fault”. I have had them say this to me when there is no dial tone (no connection) at the premises!
Perseverance and persistence are required, I’m afraid. Some of Openreach’s cables are decaying. You may be wise to call them out to your premises first (via your provider) to perform a “pair quality test”. If this shows poor results, then you have a strong case with your provider.
The justification for putting new cables in the ground has to be good, however, as it’s an expensive activity.
I hope that this helps.
Rob
Hi Rob, Hope you can advise
We have just moved into our new 40 year old house.Tthe telephone cable surfaces to our house approximately 20cm from our house and is connected to its connection box, apart from it being a trip hazard I plan to have block paving layed, currently its tarmac, my worry is that the cable is quite close to the surface not allowing me to lay block paving. would open reach be accountable to relay this cable?
Hello,
>would open reach be accountable to relay this cable?
Well, you could try…. 🙂
It’s often a frustrating experience dealing with them. They may ask you to apply via your provider, in which case it gets even more (potentially) frustrating and time-consuming.
They do have, however, a page on their site called “moving our equipment” with a response form. You could always try that.
My recommendation would be to find a local independent engineer to sever and re-joint the cable, using a direct-buried joint and cable identical as those used by Openreach and other companies. These are readily available.
If you need to find a engineer, let me have your postcode and I’ll see who is close.
I hope that this helps.
Rob.
Thanks Rob, I have filled in the request to move doc, but as you have said in other replies, it will probably be an expensive cost to me.
My location is LL29 7SP
Got that, thanks. I have made some enquiries about a local engineer. They seem to get scarce the further you go west along the A55.
I have found an engineer who may be able to help.. Drop me your details off-line (info@telecomgreen.co.uk), and I will forward them.
Any assistance in getting my Google Review rating to 100 would be welcomed, of course. It currently stands at 81.
Hi Rob, a tree branch came down yesterday evening in our garden and cut through the phone cable that strings from a pole on the street to a pole in our garden. We have called Openreach through our service provider. Are we liable for this or is it considered an unavoidable act and is it then Openreach’s responsibility? If we are liable, any idea of what we can expect the charge for reinstatement to be? It’s already cost us in having to go to a hotel to work today as no internet at home. Plus the line supplies not just us but our four neighbours.
Thanks for any info and advice.
I really don’t know how this one might play out – if the tree had grown through the cable due to poor control of tree growth, then Openreach would probably be in their rights to charge. If this is an “Act of God” event, then I would suspect that Openreach would treat it as “fair wear and tear”. Meanwhile, I have asked a forum of experienced (and mainly ex-BT) engineers what they think. If/when I get answers, I will let you know.
Some initial comments:-
“If its their tree it’s chargeable, if not their tree shouldn’t be charged
they would view it as the owner of the tree is responsible for maintaining said tree so any damage would be classed as chargeable, they could argue it but bear in mind they’d be arguing with people who’s brain cells are measured in single digits”
What’s your postcode, by the way? There are some engineers adept at carrying out repairs to cables.