Can You Choose Where the Engineer Puts the ONT? Your Rights on Fibre Installation Day
A reader in Kent rang us with a question nobody in the office could answer with confidence: what rights do you have to ask the engineer to put the fibre box somewhere other than where the cable comes in? The answer turns out to be more useful than a yes or a no. There is no statutory right, but BT's own contract makes the location of equipment your decision, Openreach's own process treats the entry point as something the engineer agrees with you, and consumer law binds whatever your provider promised. This guide sets out what you can insist on, what you can ask for, what you cannot demand, whether the box can go upstairs or in the garage, what changes if your network is not Openreach, and exactly what to say to get it where you want it.
The short version
- No law says where the ONT goes. Your rights come from the contract with your provider, and BT's contract says the location of equipment is decided by you or someone you authorise.
- Openreach's own process is on your side. The engineer "will agree with you" where the hole is drilled, and you are told to pick a spot for Wi-Fi coverage in advance.
- What your provider said before you signed is binding. Section 50 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Ask in writing beforehand.
- Upstairs is usually an external run. A cupboard is fine for the ONT, not the router. The router is what decides your Wi-Fi.
- You can refuse the proposed spot. But a failed appointment you caused is not compensated and may be charged.
Reading this for something else? If you want to know what the ONT is, what its lights mean and what happens when one changes colour, our ONT guide covers it. If the engineer came and could not finish, that page explains your position. If the install needs new ducting or a long external run, excess construction charges are covered separately. If you want the connection in a garden office or outbuilding, that is its own guide. This page is about where the box goes inside your home, and who decides.
Can you choose where the engineer puts the ONT?
Direct answer: you can ask, and both the operator's process and the provider's contract expect you to. Openreach's installation checklist says the engineer will "agree with you on where a hole should be drilled", and its Northern Ireland version says plainly that "you can tell the engineer where you'd like them to drill". BT's broadband terms say the responsible adult present at installation must be "someone authorised by you to make decisions regarding the location and installation of equipment". What you cannot do is override the engineer on safety, feasibility or time.
It helps to know what a full fibre install actually is. The engineer brings the fibre from a pole or an underground duct to a small junction box on an external wall, which Openreach says measures about 15cm by 13cm. From there a much thinner cable goes through a hole in the wall, which Openreach says is 12mm wide, to the ONT inside, a box about 13cm by 11cm that turns light into data for your router. The hole is the entry point. The ONT sits wherever that thin internal cable ends. So the reader's question splits into two: where does the cable come in, and how far from that hole can the box be?
Openreach's own words are worth quoting, because they are more generous than most people expect. On preparation: "you should have a think about where you want your router inside. It's got to be near a double power socket and a location best suited for WiFi coverage. We definitely wouldn't suggest a dark cupboard under the stairs." On the day: the engineer will "discuss the best route for the fibre cable" and "agree where a small hole should be drilled to bring the cable inside". That is the operator describing its own process as a conversation in which you have a say, and BT's contract describing the person on your side of it as the decision maker on location.
Do you have a legal right to say where it goes?
Direct answer: not a statutory one. No Ofcom rule governs equipment placement, and Openreach's page says it does not hold your order, so your rights sit in the contract with your provider. That contract has three things in it that matter here: what the provider's own terms say about installation, and two terms put there by the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Start with the provider's terms, because they are the part most people never read. BT's broadband terms, alongside the location wording above, allow BT to charge a missed appointment fee if you change or cancel with less than three working days' notice. Sky's terms say that if you request an engineer installation Sky will confirm the charge, if any, when you order, that "Sky will not install fibre optic broadband services where extensive construction over and above standard needs is required", and that "Openreach may provide installation services on Sky's behalf". Every provider that uses Openreach has an equivalent clause somewhere, and the phrase to look for is standard installation, because that is the line between what is included and what is chargeable.
Then the Act. Section 50 says every contract to supply a service is treated as including, as a term, anything said or written to the consumer, by or on behalf of the trader, about the service, if the consumer took it into account when deciding to enter the contract or when making a decision about the service afterwards. Qualifications given at the same time count too, and the term can be changed only if you agree. In plain terms: if the sales agent told you the engineer would put the box in the living room and you signed on that basis, the living room is a term of your contract. If the provider's installation page says you can choose, that is a term. If nothing was said, there is no term, which is why the single most useful thing you can do is ask, in writing, before the appointment. And because Sky's own terms say Openreach installs on Sky's behalf, what the engineer does is done on behalf of the trader for the purposes of the Act.
Section 49 adds that every service contract includes a term that the trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill, and section 57 says liability under either section cannot be excluded. An ONT fitted where it cannot be powered, or in a place that plainly ignores what was agreed, is a section 49 question, and section 54 gives you the remedies of repeat performance or a price reduction. None of this gives you a right to dictate. It gives you a right to hold the provider to what it said, and to a competent job.
| What it is | Where it comes from | |
|---|---|---|
| You can insist on | Anything the provider said or wrote about placement before you signed. A competent install. Your permission before any drilling. Being the decision maker on location, or nominating one. A repeat performance or price reduction if the job was not done with care and skill. | Consumer Rights Act 2015, sections 49, 50, 54 and 57. BT broadband terms. Openreach permission to work form. |
| You can ask for | The entry hole on the wall you choose. The external cable run round the building, or up it, to reach that wall. The ONT some distance from the hole, along skirting or up a wall. A return visit for complex work. A later relocation. | Openreach installation checklist: route discussed, hole agreed with you, complex work may need a follow-up. |
| You cannot demand | A route the engineer judges unsafe or likely to damage the fibre. Cabling chased into walls or under floors. Construction over and above standard needs. Work beyond the appointment on the day. A relocation at no charge, unless the provider agreed one. | Engineer's discretion on safety and feasibility; Sky and BT terms on non-standard work and charges. |
Does the ONT have to be at the entry point?
Direct answer: no, on two counts. The ONT is fitted where the internal cable ends, and Openreach publishes no maximum length for that cable. And the hole itself need not be on the wall nearest the pole or duct, because the junction box goes on any external wall and the cable can be run round the outside to reach it.
The reader's worry, that the box must go on the wall where the cable comes in, is the default rather than the rule. Left to routine, an engineer brings the cable through the nearest convenient wall and fits the ONT beside the hole, which is why so many end up in hallways. But the internal fibre can be run along skirting boards, up a wall or through to an adjacent room, clipped as it goes, and the ONT fitted at the far end. How far is a matter of the engineer's judgement, the cable on the van, and whether the route can be done without damaging the fibre or the property.
The better answer is often to move the hole rather than the box. External cable is designed to be outside; the internal cable is not designed to be pulled round corners. If the room you want the ONT in has an external wall, ask for the cable to be run round to that wall and brought in there. The engineer will want it clipped securely to the wall, not to a drainpipe, and will avoid anything that moves. Openreach's checklist says the engineer will discuss the route and agree the hole with you. A longer external run is more work, and the engineer may decline it if it cannot be done safely within the appointment, in which case ask whether it can be complex work on a return visit and what your provider would charge.
Two things are worth knowing about limits. A figure of ten metres for the internal run circulates on forums, usually attributed to what an engineer said, and it does not appear on Openreach's public page. Treat any number an engineer quotes as their working practice and ask what a longer run would involve. The only placement number Openreach does publish is in its standard contract with housing developers, which says the network termination "should be located within 2 metres of the duct entry point into the premises" and that "charges may apply for any alternative arrangements". That is a new-build rule for developers, not for you, but it tells you how the operator thinks: near the entry is standard, further is extra.
What goes on your walls, in Openreach's own dimensions
From Openreach's installation checklists, checked 6 September 2026. The ONT and the junction box are also screwed to the wall, so there are small fixing holes as well as the entry hole.
Outside
15cm x 13cm
The external junction box, on the wall you agree.
Through the wall
12mm
One hole, where you and the engineer agree.
Inside
13cm x 11cm
The ONT, near a double socket, with the router beside it.
Where do people actually want it, and can they have it?
Direct answer: the five places people ask for are upstairs, the living room, a cupboard, the garage and the spot where the old phone socket was. Each has a different answer, and the table says which.
| You want it | Usually possible? | How, and what to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Upstairs, in an office or bedroom | Often, by an external run | The cable goes up the outside of the house to a hole at first floor level. Needs safe working at height on the day. Tell the provider in advance so the job is planned for it. |
| The living room, by the TV | Yes, if it has an external wall | Ask for the hole on that wall. If it has no external wall, take the ONT in the hall and run an Ethernet lead to the router by the TV. |
| A cupboard, out of sight | Yes for the ONT, no for the router | Openreach's cupboard warning is about the router's Wi-Fi. An ONT in a cupboard with a socket is fine if the router sits elsewhere on an Ethernet lead. |
| The garage | If it is part of the house, has power and is dry | Fine for the ONT. Poor for the router. A detached garage or outbuilding is a different job with its own safety rules; see our garden office guide. |
| Where the old phone socket was | Sometimes | Ask whether the existing copper entry hole can be reused. Engineers cannot always, and the copper socket usually stays on the wall. Do not count on it. |
| A flat | Limited | The fibre arrives via the building's riser, so the entry point is largely fixed and the ONT goes near it. Placement inside the flat is then an Ethernet question. |
Three small practicalities the table leaves out. The ONT needs its own plug and the router needs another, which is why Openreach asks for a double socket; if you will have a digital phone line with a battery back-up unit, that is a third plug and a little more wall space. The ONT and the junction box are screwed to the wall, so the drilling you are consenting to includes small fixing holes as well as the 12mm entry hole, which matters if you rent. And the engineer will want the ONT somewhere it will not be knocked or pulled, because the fibre is glass.
What if the engineer says your spot is not possible?
Direct answer: ask why, and ask what would make it possible. The reasons are usually one of four, and each has a different answer.
- Safety. The route crosses a hazard, needs work at height they cannot do today, or the wall cannot be drilled where you want.
- The fibre. The run would bend it too sharply, leave it exposed to damage, or exceed the cable they carry.
- The building. You want it chased into a wall, under a floor, or through a structure they do not touch.
- Time. It is possible but not in this appointment.
- Safety. Accept it. Ask for the nearest safe alternative.
- The fibre. Ask whether an external run to a different entry point solves it. It often does.
- The building. Accept it, and plan to run Ethernet from the ONT to the router yourself.
- Time. Ask for the standard install today and complex work on a return visit, and ask your provider what that costs.
The word to listen for is complex. Openreach's page says that in some cases "the work may be more complex and require a follow-up appointment", and Sky's terms say Sky will not install where construction "over and above standard needs" is required. An engineer who says your route is possible but not today is telling you it falls into that category, and the right response is to get the standard install done so you are online, and have your provider book the rest.
Can you refuse the proposed position?
Direct answer: yes. The engineer needs your permission to drill, and Openreach asks you to sign a permission to work form before drilling or digging. Refuse the only position on offer and the install stops. That is your right. It is rarely your interest, and it can cost you.
If you refuse, the order is likely to be marked as not completed and rebooked, and the delay is yours. Ofcom's automatic compensation scheme pays for delayed starts caused by the provider, not for appointments that failed because the customer declined the work, and BT's terms allow a missed appointment fee where an appointment is cancelled with less than three working days' notice, so check what your own provider's terms say about an appointment that fails on the day for a customer-side reason. Refusal is a lever to use before the day rather than on it. Ring the provider, say where you want the box and why, ask them to note it on the appointment so the engineer sees it, and get the reply in writing. That is also the moment section 50 does its work.
Does the router have to sit next to the ONT?
Direct answer: that is how Openreach will fit it, and its guidance says the two "should be positioned close together and near the double power sockets you prepared earlier". But the link between them is an ordinary Ethernet lead, and an Ethernet lead works over long distances, so the ONT's position matters less than people think once the install is done.
This is the quiet answer to most placement worries, and it is also the key to the cupboard question. Openreach's advice against "a dark cupboard under the stairs" is advice about the router, whose Wi-Fi is what you actually use; the Northern Ireland version of the same guidance says the router needs "a good location for your hub so you can enjoy the best speeds". The ONT is a small box that needs power and a wall. If it ends up in the hall or a cupboard, a longer Ethernet lead, clipped along the skirting or run under a door, puts the router in the living room where the signal is needed. Two cautions. Tell your provider's support team if you do this, because they will assume the router is beside the ONT when they diagnose a fault. And do not confuse the two cables: the Ethernet lead is yours to extend, the fibre is not. If the place you want the router has no easy Ethernet route, a mesh Wi-Fi system is the alternative, and our router guide covers what each provider supplies.
Can you move it yourself later, or have it moved?
Direct answer: not yourself, ever. The fibre is terminated inside the ONT, the unit is fixed to the wall, the cable is not something to pull, bend sharply or re-route, and the equipment belongs to the network operator. A relocation is a job your provider books with the network, and whether it is charged is the provider's call.
The fibre is glass. It is spliced at the junction box and terminated at the ONT, and breaking it is a chargeable repair rather than something you can fix. So the route to a different position after the day is through your provider, who can book a relocation visit; providers do agree them where the original position gives poor coverage, and some charge for them. There is no published national price, so ask your provider what a relocation costs before you accept the first position, because the answer changes how hard you should push on the day.
What if your network is not Openreach?
Direct answer: the same shape, with the engineer sent by the network rather than by Openreach. Your contract is still with the provider, section 50 still binds what it told you, and the questions to ask before the day are the same. What changes is who publishes the process and, in a block of flats, how fixed the entry point is.
Several networks build in Kent and across the country alongside Openreach, and each publishes its own installation guidance. GoFibre, for instance, describes the engineer drilling a small hole of about 10mm to bring the fibre in, fitting an ONT inside, and talking you through the options on the day if the install "turns out to be a bit trickier than expected". Networks that build street by street, such as CityFibre, use a similar junction box on the outside wall and a thin internal cable to the ONT, so the same placement conversation applies. Networks that wire whole buildings, such as Hyperoptic and Community Fibre, bring the fibre to the block first and then to each flat, which means the entry point into your flat is largely decided by where the riser arrives, and the placement question inside the flat becomes an Ethernet question. Virgin Media installs its own service with its own engineers and the same principles apply to its equipment. Whoever the network is, ask your provider for its installation page before the day, read what it says about placement, and ask in writing for what you want.
What should you do before the day, and what should you say?
Direct answer: decide, prepare, ask in writing, and if you rent, get the landlord's permission. Then use the two scripts below, one for the provider and one for the doorstep.
Before, during and after
1. Decide where the router should live. Central, off the floor, not in a cupboard. That decides where you want the ONT, or at least where the Ethernet lead needs to reach.
2. Prepare a double power socket there, and a third if you will have a digital phone line with battery back-up. Openreach says both boxes need power.
3. Tell your provider in writing. Which room, which wall, and whether the cable can come in on that wall. Ask them to note it on the appointment so the engineer sees it, and to confirm. That confirmation is a contract term.
4. If you rent, get the landlord's written permission for the drilling, including the fixing holes, and say where. Openreach will not drill without it. Our four-nation guide has a letter to send.
5. On the day, walk the route with the engineer. Say what you want and why. If they say no, ask which of the four reasons, and what would make it possible.
6. Afterwards, photograph it. The junction box, the hole, the ONT and the cable run. If something was not as agreed, that is your evidence, and the complaint goes to your provider, with the ombudsman after six weeks.
Script 1: To your provider, before the day
"I have a full fibre installation booked for [date]. I would like the ONT fitted in [room], on [the front / rear / side] wall, which is an external wall, with the cable brought in on that wall. Please add this to the appointment notes so the engineer has it, and confirm back to me in writing. If that position is outside a standard installation, please tell me now what it would cost, and what a later relocation would cost, so I can decide before the day."
Script 2: On the doorstep
"Before we start, I'd like to walk the route with you. I've asked the provider for the box in [room] on [that] wall, and they've noted it on the job. Can we bring the cable in there? If not, can you tell me which of safety, the fibre, the building or time is the problem, and whether running the cable round the outside to that wall would solve it?"
Send the first by email and keep the reply. Say the second calmly and once. Most engineers are glad to be asked before they have drilled anything, and a customer who knows the four reasons is a customer who gets a straight answer.
Where does this leave you?
Direct answer: with a negotiation you are expected to have, a contract that names you as the decision maker on location, a legal floor under whatever your provider promised, and a fallback that makes the ONT's position matter less than the router's. Ask before the day, in writing. That is the whole answer.
The reader who rang us had assumed the box had to go where the cable came in and that she had no say. Neither is true. The operator's own process invites her to say where she wants it, her provider's contract treats location as her decision, the law binds what her provider tells her, and if the room she wants has an outside wall the cable can very likely come in there, even upstairs. What she cannot do is insist on the impossible or the unsafe, or expect a free relocation later for a position she accepted on the day. The fix for all of it is the same: settle it with the provider before the van arrives.
If you have not yet chosen the provider, this is worth folding into the choice. Ask each one, before you sign, whether you can specify the ONT position and whether a relocation is charged, because under section 50 the answer becomes part of the deal.
Free and independent. Takes about thirty seconds.
Adrian's closing thought
I liked this question because it is the kind nobody writes down and everybody has. What struck me, reading the documents properly for the first time, is how much of the answer was already there. Openreach tells its customers to have opinions about where the box goes. BT's contract calls the person on the doorstep the decision maker on location. The law says whatever your provider told you about the job is part of the job. Most customers do not know any of that, so they take the hallway. So ask. In writing. Before the day. And if the answer is still the hallway, buy a long Ethernet lead and move the router anyway.
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Cite this page
This guide is free to quote, in full or in part, with attribution. Advice services, installers, letting agents, journalists and AI assistants are all welcome to use it. The scripts may be copied freely. Please cite the check date, because installation guidance and provider terms are revised from time to time.
BroadbandSwitch.uk. (6 September 2026). Can you choose where the engineer puts the ONT? Your rights on fibre installation day. https://broadbandswitch.uk/insights/can-you-choose-where-the-ont-goes-fibre-installation-rights/ In a sentence: BroadbandSwitch.uk reported on 6 September 2026 that no UK law or Ofcom rule governs where a full fibre ONT is fitted, that BT's own broadband terms require the adult present at installation to be authorised to decide the location of equipment, that Openreach's installation checklist says the engineer will agree the entry hole with the customer and sets no maximum internal cable run, and that under section 50 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 anything a provider says about placement before the customer signs is a term of the contract.
Frequently asked questions
Can I choose where the engineer puts the ONT?
You can ask, and both the operator's process and the provider's contract expect you to. Openreach's checklist tells you to think in advance about where you want the router, says the engineer will agree with you where the hole is drilled, and in its Northern Ireland version says you can tell the engineer where you would like them to drill. BT's terms require the adult present at installation to be authorised to make decisions about the location of equipment. The engineer keeps a veto on safety and feasibility.
Do I have a legal right to say where the ONT goes?
There is no statutory right and no Ofcom rule on equipment placement. Your rights come from your contract with the provider. Under section 50 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, anything said or written to you by or on behalf of the provider about the service, if you took it into account, is a term of the contract, so a promise about placement made before you signed is binding. Under section 49 the install must be done with reasonable care and skill, and section 57 says neither can be excluded.
Does the ONT have to be where the fibre enters the house?
No, on two counts. The ONT is fitted where the internal cable ends, which can be some distance from the hole, and Openreach publishes no maximum internal run for household installs. And the hole itself need not be on the wall nearest the pole or duct, because the external junction box goes on any external wall and the cable can be run round the outside to reach it. Openreach's checklist says the engineer will discuss the route and agree the hole with you.
Can the ONT go upstairs?
Often, yes, and the usual way is an external run. The engineer fixes the junction box on the outside wall and runs the cable up the outside of the house to a hole drilled at first floor level, which keeps the fragile internal cable short. It depends on the engineer being able to work safely at that height on the day, so tell your provider in advance so the job is planned for it. If it cannot be done today, it may be complex work for a return visit.
Can the ONT go in a cupboard, or in a garage?
The ONT can, the router should not. Openreach's advice against a dark cupboard under the stairs is about the router, because a router in a cupboard gives poor Wi-Fi. An ONT in a cupboard with a power socket is fine if the router sits somewhere better on an Ethernet lead. A garage is possible if it is part of the house structure, has power and is dry; a detached garage or outbuilding is a different job, covered in our garden office guide.
Is there a limit on how far the ONT can be from the entry point?
Not one Openreach has published for household installs. A figure of ten metres circulates on forums, but it does not appear on Openreach's public installation page, which sets no internal cable limit. The only placement number Openreach publishes is in its contract with housing developers, where the network termination should be within 2 metres of the duct entry and alternatives may be charged. Treat any limit an engineer quotes as their working practice, and ask what a longer run would involve.
Can I refuse the installation if I do not like the proposed position?
Yes. The engineer needs your permission to drill, and Openreach asks you to sign a permission to work form first. But an appointment that fails for a customer-side reason is not one anyone compensates, and BT's terms allow a missed appointment fee where an appointment is cancelled with less than three working days' notice. Refusal is a lever to use before the day, by settling the position with your provider in writing, not on the doorstep.
Can I move the ONT myself, or have it moved later?
Not yourself, ever. The fibre is terminated inside the ONT, the unit is fixed to the wall, the cable must not be pulled, bent sharply or re-routed, and the equipment belongs to the network operator; breaking the fibre is a chargeable repair. Your provider can book a relocation visit, and providers do agree them where coverage is poor. Whether it is charged is the provider's decision, so ask before accepting the first position.
Does the router have to sit next to the ONT?
Openreach's guidance says the ONT and router should be positioned close together and near a double power socket, and that is how the engineer will set it up. The link between them is an ordinary Ethernet lead, which works over long distances, so a router can be moved to a better spot on a longer cable. Tell your provider's support team if you do this, because they will assume the two are together when they diagnose a fault.
What if the engineer puts it somewhere I did not agree, or damages something?
Raise it with your provider, not Openreach. The contract is with the provider, Openreach's page says it does not hold your order, and Sky's terms say Openreach installs on Sky's behalf, which is the position for every provider that uses Openreach. Under the Consumer Rights Act a service must be performed with reasonable care and skill, with repeat performance or a price reduction if it was not. Photograph the install and note what was agreed, and go to the ombudsman after six weeks if the provider does not resolve it.
I rent: do I need the landlord's permission for where the ONT goes?
Yes, for the drilling. Openreach's checklist says that if you rent you need your landlord's permission for any drilling inside or outside, and the engineer will not proceed without it. That includes the small fixing holes for the ONT itself and the junction box outside, not only the 12mm entry hole. Get it in writing before the day and say where. Our four-nation guide to landlord consent covers how to ask and what a landlord may reasonably refuse.
What if my network is not Openreach?
The same shape applies, with the engineer coming from the network rather than from Openreach. Altnets such as GoFibre describe drilling a small hole, fitting an ONT inside, and talking you through options if the route is tricky. In a block of flats served by a building-level network the fibre arrives via the riser and the entry point is largely fixed. Your contract is still with your provider, section 50 still binds what it told you, and the questions to ask before the day are the same.
References
- BT. (n.d.). BT broadband service terms. Retrieved 6 September 2026, from https://www.bt.com/products/static/terms/broadband.html
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, c. 15, ss. 49, 50, 54 and 57. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/49
- Consumer Rights Act 2015: Explanatory notes, section 57. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/57/notes
- GoFibre. (n.d.). Full fibre broadband installation guide. Retrieved 6 September 2026, from https://gofibre.co.uk/full-fibre-installation/
- Harper Macleod. (2025, December 4). Key provisions of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2026, from https://www.harpermacleod.co.uk/insights/key-provisions-of-the-consumer-rights-act-2015/
- Openreach. (n.d.). Full Fibre broadband installation guide (Northern Ireland). Retrieved 6 September 2026, from https://www.openreach.com/help-and-support/full-fibre-broadband-installation-checklist-northern-ireland
- Openreach. (n.d.). What to expect during your Full Fibre installation. Retrieved 6 September 2026, from https://www.openreach.com/help-and-support/full-fibre-broadband-installation-checklist
- Openreach NewSites. (2018, January 4). Contract and wayleave letter: Birstall Community Centre, Leicester [Attachment published via Contracts Finder]. Retrieved 6 September 2026, from https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/f598bab4-5573-425e-88a1-3da8eff6dd61
- Sky. (n.d.). Sky Talk and Sky Broadband: Contract terms and conditions. Retrieved 6 September 2026, from https://static.skyassets.com/contentstack/assets/blt7f2b03fd02c7fe60/blt035edec8411eee8f/63ef4605bc8ae610d2fda5cb/download?disposition=inline
Written by Adrian James, Broadband Editor at BroadbandSwitch.uk (LinkedIn). Reviewed by Dr Alex J. Martin-Smith (LinkedIn). Published 7 September 2026, last verified 7 September 2026. This guide describes Openreach's published installation process and the terms of two providers as examples; other networks and providers publish their own, and the same principles apply. It is information, not legal advice. What your provider agreed with you, and what its terms say about chargeable work, govern your own installation.