Information for people at home or work

Sometimes people need to ask us to relocate our network – for instance, by moving poles, cabinets, cables or jointing chambers that lie on the edge of their land or on nearby land. In these particular cases…

Who pays for what?

BT has a legal right to place apparatus in the public highway and will recover all reasonable expenses incurred in making any alterations requested.

However, there are rare occasions when alterations are not feasible and in such instances you will be informed of the reasons.

In cases where BT apparatus was installed in private land and no challenge was made by the landowner, at that time, as to the tenure of that apparatus and no subsequent challenge has been made up to the point of the current enquiry, the BT apparatus is deemed to be legally installed up to the point where we are advised that the land in which it is placed is private property. When we are subsequently advised of the status of the land then BT will seek to remedy the situation to ensure we comply with The Telecommunications Code, Schedule 2, Paragraph 2 of the Telecommunications Act 1984, as amended by the Communications Act 2003 (The Code) by way of applying to enter into a Wayleave agreement with the landowner. If the landowner does not wish to enter into a Wayleave agreement with BT to retain the apparatus in situ then it will be necessary to formally notice BT under Paragraph 21 of the above mentioned Code.

However, if a landowner is improving the land in question and it is essential to move the apparatus in order to carry out the improvements, then Paragraph 20 of The Code refers. As such, BT is entitled to recover any reasonable expenses that may be incurred in relation to any works required to alter our apparatus as a consequence of improving the land. This right is not limited to apparatus which has the benefit of an existing written agreement (a “Wayleave”). It applies to all apparatus.

To get in touch, please click here.

If you have an objection to the recent placement of an Openreach pole, you need to put this in writing to our Pole Objections department at the address given on the notice attached to the pole, and we will investigate your objection and respond accordingly.

Asking Openreach for other types of alterations

People at home/work can also ask us to move customer-owned wiring on premises where it lies beyond the Openreach Network Termination Point (for example, line extensions within a home or business).

Our External Network Relocation Team will be happy to deal with your request. To get in touch, please click here.

Please note, however, that while Openreach is responsible for maintaining the telecommunications network, we don’t supply domestic telephone, broadband or TV services ourselves.

For all issues relating to new or existing telephone or broadband services, people at home/work should contact the communications provider named on their bill. To find out more about our relationship with your provider visit the Expect Openreach website. However, if you need to report damage or vandalism, you can do so here.

Highway authorities and utilities companies or developers, consultants or architects who want to alter our network should contact their local Network Alterations Team here. 

Our pricing structure

Our pricing structure for moving customer-owned wiring will be based on Time Related Charges (TRCs) as outlined here the pricing pages on this website. A downloadable document explaining our terms and conditions for moving customer-owned wiring can be found below.

If you wish to dispute a charge already raised by the Network Rearrangement Team, we can only accept this in writing. Please write to:

BT plc
PO Box 1296
Openreach Network Rearrangement Team
L69 3AY

Documentation