So, I ordered EE broadband on 14th February 2026
Had engineer visit to check out property to start work.
All green/good to go 👍
I get a knock on the door in early march. Engineers from openreach is outside to fit the new fibre line.
I go out for the day, he’s outside. Doesn’t need entry.
I come home and he’s finished.
I thought job was done.
A few days later more engineers knock on my door.
Say they’re there to find a blocked duct and locate it.
Advised they could dig etc if they had permissions (I signed these via email the week prior to first engineer visit)
Long story short. They found a block in the duct at street side and just outside my driveway which meets another properties land owned by an estate.
They advise me they can’t dig.
They don’t have permission yet.
I advise them of a DEED OF EASEMENT and give copies to my ISP and openreach permissions team.
They had my landlords permission, landowners permission by deed of easement and my permission. That’s all they needed. Also the councils which they gain quite easily daily.
Roll on 3 months and I still don’t have broadband installed.
Openreach telling me they don’t have permission from landowners and they have sent permission wayleave forms in the post three times and none have been returned.
I had spoken to the estates who own the land and they advised me they don’t fill in wayleave permission forms for utilities for their lands (as they own a lot) - instead they make people pay (a lot of money) for these DEED OF EASEMENT court orders which grants the same / if not more, permissions to feed utilities and use land / dig / etc to give the permission.
Openreach wouldn’t accept the court document.
I then had to reach out to openreach’s CEO and I got a response the day after.
Executive PA picked it up and passed it to the high escalations department who evidently sent openreach engineers out within 2 days to unblock the duct on the land AND street side. Whilst sending the engineer to fit my broadband the exact same day following the fitting of the fibre cable.
Without gaining permission via their own wayleave forms - instead accepting the court document which it was designed for in the first place and completing the work for me to have broadband at the property.
Litterally it took multiple complaints to EE (got nowhere)
Lots of emails back and forth between me and the permissions team at Openreach just outright refusing my court document I needed for Openreach to actually do what they’re paid for.
The DEED OF EASEMENT court document was all they needed and my signed permission. That was it.
And it took 3 months of stress, working from home on 4g mobile data and me physically having to involve the CEO to resolve it.
EE didn’t do a thing to help
Neither did openreach until I got the ceo involved.
I expect I should be due some compensation in some form, considerably.
Any advice?
Thanks.