GPO/BT drop cable help please!

[anthonytomo]

My brother has just moved into a new house. Unfortunately the previous owner, or one of his 'enemies' has decided to cut through the telephone drop cable (underground to be exact). We know about law/regulations with regards to fixing this ourselves but want to give it a go. Been searching around the internet a lot and keep finding articles talking About 2 core drop cables and perhaps even 4. The problem we have is my brothers seems to have 3 colours and I am now stumped as to what each one does. Can anybody shed some light please? Here is a photo of what he's been left with!

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• anthonytomo
• 21 May 2014
• 1

 

[cajar]

What you have isn't dropwire, it's a UG feed like you said, it's 2pr, orange/white, green/black. The black is chopped at the neck of the cable. If it's connected elsewhere, you should have 50v / dial tone on the orange/white.

A pedantic point but BT stuff isn't called drop cable. The overhead wires to houses are called dropwires and the bigger ones serving other poles are aerial cable. Just annoying to see virgin/ntl jargon used for it all the time.

 

[anthonytomo]

Thanks for the reply. So it's actually 2 pair cable and the black has been cut right back, almost inside the outer sheath. Whoever cut it has got right in there, can't even see it! Right, so I just need to connect the orange and the white to A and B terminals on the new master socket? Am I right in thinking that in theory this should be a particular way around but it doesn't really matter? Thanks again.

 

[plugwash]

That's right.

 

[bernardgreen]

If it's connected elsewhere, you should have 50v / dial tone on the orange/white.

Assuming it is connected to a activated PSTN port on the local telephone exchange there will be 50 volts. Dial tone is only applied when a telephone allows enough current to flow for the exchange to recognise that the telephone has been picked up. ( off hook ).

Not all incoming telephone like cables are telephone cables, not all "telephone" cables are used for telephone purposes.

 

[anthonytomo]

Just out of interest, he has only just moved in, and as if yet has no service provider. We are trying to fix this before he applies so it goes as smith as possible. Because he has no service at the moment, will we be able to tell if its fixed? Ie. will we hear any kind if time at all if we take the phone off the hook?

Thanks for your replies by the way, very helpful.

 

[bernardgreen]

If he has not got a service contract yet then he need do nothing.

Any work needed to repair / replace / install new cables will be done by OpenReach as part of the fee paid for a new service.

 

[anthonytomo]

Ok. He is looking at a package through EE. I have contacted them, explained the situation and they said a service engineer will have to come out to repair it and that will be £60. If no work is needed (so we fix it) then he wouldn't need to pay anything and just sign up as usual and a new number will be allocated to this address. Does this sound right, and therefore we might as well try to sort it out?

 

[bernardgreen]

A recent new line for a BT subscriber involved stringing a 30 yard overhead span from pole to a chimney, then a second span from that chimney to a gable wall of a separate building. Then the install of the NTE 5 etc etc, all included in the application fee.

He should tell EE ( ? ) that if they want his business they can fix the cabling.

If you do try and fix an NTE 5 OpenReach working for EE may claim the damage was a result of your actions and that would make it chargeable. As it stands the previous owner is the most likely culprit who should be chased for any repair costs.

 

[cajar]

Openreach's idea of 'not requiring any work' is if they can just transfer accounts. As soon as it goes onto a technicians schedule that boat sails. No brucie points for putting your own socket on as the guy will put his own on anyway. Better to leave it if your not sure, cos underground fed properties are a different ball game to overhead dropwire - a disconnected cable is easy for an experienced guy to fit a socket to, but a cable that's been cut too short by someone trying to diy can end up with dig costs in the thousands.

One young lady paid £100 to have her wall plastered along with the BT underground feed inside it. Engineers told her they can only install new cable if the DP is external, as hers was underground, she'd have to use the existing cable by removing the plaster. She called sky to check, the call centre bunny confirmed the engineers were wrong so reappointed it with stern instructions. When the job came out this time a survey officer measured up and quoted £5k to replace the cable as tarmac excavation was required. She eventually chiseled out the plaster round the existing cable and a normal technician was able to connect it.