Zen and Openreach complete full fibre installation by drone

Openreach's drone team was called into action alongside Zen to complete a challenging full fibre installation due to the complicated location of a new build home perched on a hill.

The drone enabled the engineering team to manoeuvre the required cables over gardens, fences and nearby properties to eventually reach the new build and connect the home to full fibre broadband with Zen.

Openreach first used a drone deployment to help install the cable for a new FTTP network near Pontfadog in Mid-Wales in late 2017. A year later the drone team used drones to fly broadband cable across a river to reach a remote property in the Highlands, Scotland.

The use of drones has since become a strategic part of Openreach operations to navigate obstacles on more complex sites and is used as a time saving solution as it can sometimes take days to navigate more difficult terrain using traditional methods.

Dean Burdon, Customer Experience Director, Zen Internet, said: “Often people don’t see what goes on behind the scenes to coordinate a broadband installation.

"While the vast majority can be straight forward and there’s a formula in place for connecting customers, we do often see more complex situations.

"As technology advances, more solutions are deployed to overcome challenges, in this instance, the use of drones by Openreach to navigate over difficult terrain. The concept is simple yet it takes innovation and forward thinking to implement a standard operational procedure.

“The Zen and Openreach teams work closely on a daily basis and this recent drone installation is testament to a lot of coordination between multiple parties so we could connect this customer.”

To find out more view this video report -
https://youtu.be/NP6IB7Pa3pE