Ogi in your area: what to expect

Access to ultrafast broadband is quickly becoming a necessity for us all. Some parts of south Wales have traditionally been ‘underserved’ by leading broadband providers and Ogi – an alternative provider (or altnet) – is here to change that. We have identified areas across south Wales that have traditionally found it harder to connect and are making it our job to bring next generation ultrafast fibre technology to those places – often much sooner that planned by the leading providers.

We have already announced our plans to bring ultrafast fibre optic broadband to parts of Bridgend County Borough, Caerphilly County Borough, Monmouthshire, Newport County, Pembrokeshire, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Torfaen and the Vale of Glamorgan with more and more communities being added to the list between now and 2025. Find out more about our plans to power-up south Wales on our community pages.

Building doesn’t always mean digging up roads or pavements. We use existing ducts (channels) underground, or telegraph poles over ground to install our ultrafast fibre optic network wherever possible. It’s about choosing the most reliable and least disruptive ‘building’ option street-by-street.

When existing infrastructure can’t be used, we’ll build our own. This sometimes means we’ll need to dig up roads and pavements and cause short-term disruption.

The time our work takes depends on the size of the area if we are using existing infrastructure or starting from scratch. We will always work as quickly as we can and limit any disruption. If you are ever concerned or want to talk to us, our Customer Care team are here to help. You can contact the team by phoning 029 2002 0550 or email customer.care@ogi.wales.

Work often takes our contractors 2 to 3 days outside each home or business premises – depending on whether we need to dig or work overhead – and you will have access to your property, including driveways, whenever you need it. This includes access for carers and emergency services.

From time-to-time things don’t go to plan. When this happens, we may need to come back at a later date to finish the work or put things right – such as replacing tarmac with like-for-like paving slabs and re-instating grass verges and topsoil. We will always do this as soon as we can, usually within two weeks of completing work.

Our contractors and sub-contractors typically work 8.00am – 5.00pm with some out of hours work needed in an emergency or to help limit disruption. We will always try and let you know if work needs to be carried out outside of usual hours (such as on evenings or weekends) unless it is an emergency.

Sometimes we will need to dig trenches in the road or pavements outside your home or place of work. When we do this, we take before, during and after pictures to make sure our contractors put things back as they were, like-for-like.

This includes relaying paving slabs, re-covering surfaces with tarmac and adding topsoil and seed to green areas to re-instate everything to the way it was before we arrived. Sometimes, weather conditions mean we cannot put things right, right away. When this happens, we will always come back as soon as we can, usually within seven days to put things back as they were.

Work often takes our contractors 2 to 3 days outside each home or business premises – depending on whether we need to dig or work overhead – and you will have access to your property, including driveways, whenever you need it. This includes access for carers and emergency services.

There might be temporary footpaths and road closures for a time, but our contractors will always make sure these are clearly signposted and safe. And we will always let you know before disruption starts. Teams on the ground are happy to help, so if you spot anything wrong please do speak to our contractors or let us know by contacting us by phone 029 2002 0550 or email customer.care@ogi.wales.

Yes. Anybody directly affected by our works will receive a letter from us and our contractors explaining what will be happening and how long this work is likely to take. We work closely with the local authority to make sure our work is carried out to limit disruption.

We work with the local authority to agree the best places for our street cabinets. We have different styles of cabinets for distinct reasons. Our large green cabinets are usually placed in a central position away from houses. These are our exchanges, and act as the hub for our fibre optic broadband network in your town or village.

Our smaller grey cabinets are usually found on or close by to your street. These cabinets act as the junction to homes or businesses accessing our services in and around it.

Our ‘toby’ boxes are the black panels you see on the pavement and usually ‘disappear’ into the background. These boxes are underground storage boxes that connect your home directly to our network – so you could think of them as the last bit of the jigsaw before our ultrafast broadband makes it into your home or business.

Diolch. We’re pleased our teams have made a good impression on you. Please contact our Customer Care team by phoning 029 2002 0550 or email customer.care@ogi.wales with as much information as possible and we will pass this onto the relevant team.

We are sorry things haven’t gone smoothly. Please contact our Customer Care team by phone 029 2002 0550 during office hours or email customer.care@ogi.wales and we will do everything we can to put things right.  

A wayleave is a contract between a landowner (or landlord) and a provider (in this case Ogi or one of our contractors), granting permission to access land or property, to install and/or maintain network infrastructure.

We will contact you, via a company called Trenches Law, if we need access to land you own or have rights to explaining more about the process and how it might affect you.

We need a wayleave agreement in place to install or repair parts of the Ogi network on private land, or inside a property.

Signing the wayleave as soon as you are comfortable with the information helps us plan our build, so the sooner the better for us. However, we want you to be comfortable with it, so take your time and feel free to ask as many questions as you would like, we are here to help.

As wayleaves are a type of contract, they can last anything from a couple of months to few years or more. If you have been sent a wayleave pack, then the duration of the agreement will be detailed in the documentation.

If you have a question about a wayleave you have received, please contact the case handler at Trenches Law. These details can be found on any communications you have received about the wayleave. You should include the reference number, if you have one, on anything you send.