What to expect when we’re in your area

Our engineers are hard at work building the network that’ll bring ultrafast broadband to your local community. But have you ever wondered what they’re doing when they’re in your area? If so, read on to find out what to expect when we’re building our full-fibre network.

Planning the build

Plenty of surveying and design goes into planning a fibre network build – usually starting around 5 months before we expect work to start building our network in your area. During this time, you might see some surveyors out and about wearing hi-vis vests but no physical work will be carried out just yet.

Meanwhile, we’ll be discussing plans with representatives from your local council including posting notices of any streetworks and roadworks. This is so we can coordinate with any other companies and minimise disruption to the streets we’re working in. We’ll also liaise with community groups, both in person and online, so you’re kept informed of what we’re doing and when.

Just before we start physically working on the street, we’ll be back out again to complete another survey of the locations. At this stage, you’ll see us marking the roads and pavements with an assortment of symbols – these are nothing to be concerned about, they just highlight where there are utilities underground our engineers should be aware of, where the fibre boxes will be installed and any other points to note so we can complete the build as quickly and safely as possible.

The Lothian Broadband contractors

We pride ourselves on using local contractors – nobody knows the streets in your area better, and it’s what helps us build quickly and limit the impact while we’re completing the unavoidable works.

Building the full-fibre network

Before we break ground in any street, local residents will receive a letter from our engineering teams to explain when to expect the works, what we’re doing and how long everything will take.

As a rule, we complete the build as fast as possible – while a little disruption is unavoidable, we limit this as much as we can.

A few things happen while the work is being completed:

• We’ll place our barriers around the areas we’re working in so they’re clearly signposted
• A channel will be created where we plan to lay the fibre – this channel is roughly 30cm deep, and we’re careful to avoid other utilities in the ground, thanks to the marks we painted earlier
• The fibre is laid, then the channel is refilled to current regulations & requirements
• Black boxes are installed (these house the fibre that will later be connected into your home)
• Street side cabinets are installed which is where we connect all the fibre together

You’re digging right outside my house and I can’t get my car out – what can I do?

If there’s a car in your driveway and we’re about to start work outside your home, instead of blocking you in, our engineers will knock on your door to let you know and give you the chance to move your car before we have to start digging the ground.

In any case, we move quickly along the street so we will have moved on from your home within an hour or two.

Want to be one of the first people in your area to get full-fibre broadband installed? Check availability in your area and we’ll be in touch!