Openreach criticised by dad-of-two, from Brandon, after home full fibre could not be connected due to ‘commercial reasons’

A Suffolk man has aired his frustration with Openreach after being told a full fibre connection to his disabled-use bungalow would not be made due to ‘commercial reasons’.

David Shaw, of Princes Close, Brandon, started to query why his house was not being upgraded at the end in 2023 when he saw it happening all around the town and even to 10 houses at the top of his road.

After, he says, being given several dates that it would be sorted and those passing, he contacted Openreach in January this year.

David said: “Having five in our house, including my disabled daughter and my son who is doing his A-levels, a good and fast internet connection is important.

“But after raising it this last time, they said due to our house being connected to the internet via an underground chamber, for commercial reasons they would not be upgrading our property.”

David’s 19-year-old daughter Bethany has CASK gene mutation, a very rare brain condition, and uses an eye communication tool.

He said: “It is vital to her, as she uses it for communication games, but with even with the best package we have now there is a lot of buffering on it and has an impact on her as it can be very frustrating.”

David even wrote to his MP, Matt Hancock, but said he has had no reply.

He added: “I understand to help us Openreach would have to dig up the road, but what is the solution? It just feels wrong that they are leaving us as a disabled family behind.”

A spokesperson from Openreach said that they appreciated Mr Shaw was keen for full fibre and understood his frustrations.

The spokesperson added: “We are making our network available to as many homes and businesses as quickly as possible, but it’s a huge job. So far, we have reached 145,000 premises in Suffolk but we know there’s more to do.

“In this case, we are using a mix of technologies to build the network. Some local homes receive their full fibre by poles, which are already in place. Others, like where Mr Shaw lives, need the network taking underground and this is more complex and will take longer. Our plans do sometimes change and we are always upfront about that, but we do understand he is disappointed.”