Posted on
More from News
Some of the UK's broadband infrastructure providers have set out details of how they plan to continue building and maintaining the country's broadband infrastructure during the period of movement restrictions set out by the government in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Full fibre broadband supplier CityFibre, for example, has explained that as the government considers telecommunications operations to be critical for the UK, the firm has been asked to continue to build and maintain its networks. Its field staff and contractors have therefore been designated as 'key workers', making them exempt from the wider restrictions on movement.
The company said the public can expect to see its members of staff continuing to work in towns and cities across the UK as they roll out full fibre networks according to the levels of productivity already agreed with local authorities.
However, CityFibre noted that all staff are required to adhere to social distancing protocols and minimise contact with members of the public. If engineers need to attend a customer site to carry out a survey, installation or repair, they will seek to call in advance and ask two key questions: has anyone on the premises been asked to self-isolate or been diagnosed with COVID-19; and if anyone is experiencing flu-like symptoms.
If the answer to the first of these questions is yes, the work will be placed on hold until a future date. However, if the answer to question two is yes, the work may proceed if additional hygiene precautions are taken.
Meanwhile, the country's biggest broadband infrastructure provider Openreach has issued a status of Matters Beyond Our Reasonable Control, which means the installation of many new phone and broadband provisions will be delayed.
The firm said it will be prioritising only the most essential work and will "absolutely minimise" any activities that require engineers to enter end-customer premises.
In a statement provided to ISPReview.co.uk, the firm continued: "We know that what Openreach does is critical, and connecting people has never been more important. That's why many of our roles have been given 'key worker' status.
"That means we're focusing on the repair and maintenance of connections that support critical national infrastructure, essential public services, vulnerable customers and those without service."
Communications regulator Ofcom has also confirmed it is suspending all existing deadlines for consultations, which include proposals on how to stimulate the deployment of fibre-to-the-premises broadband throughout the UK.
The organisation also said it will be adjusting the Plan of Work for 2020/21 which was published in January. A revised version will be unveiled at the end of April that takes into account disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic and will provide a revised timetable for its work.
Providers have also sought to reassure users that the UK's networks are robust enough to handle the additional demands created by the current movement restrictions, which have resulted in many more people needing connectivity to work from home at peak periods, as well as higher demands on networks due to more people turning to services such as video streaming.
CityFibre, for example, stated: "Our full fibre networks are modern built and capacity rich, this means we can easily sustain increased usage and higher dependency on our infrastructure – even at peak times."
