Original article ISPreview UK:Read More
Network access provider Openreach (BT) appears to have closed access to all underground structures within the Aldershot exchange (ACM) area in Hampshire (England), which occurred yesterday after they identified “suspected toxic gases” within the local underground network.
The move means that Openreach’s engineers, including those working for rival broadband and phone networks that share some of the same infrastructure, are currently prevented from doing any telecoms work (e.g. network expansion, major repairs etc.) in underground structures within this area. Suffice to say, the safety of engineers must come first.
The restrictions do not currently impact engineering work on their above ground and overhead network (telecoms poles and street cabinets), which means that some new service provisions and general repairs should be able to proceed. Openreach are currently in the process of investigating the area to identify exactly what type of gas is involved and hopefully also its source, which will then inform their next steps.
Regular readers of ISPreview may well point to the huge disruption that was caused by an underground petrol leak in the village of Bramley (Surrey), which has taken several years to tackle (here). The hope is that the situation in the town of Aldershot won’t be anything like as protracted and serious as that (hopefully it’s isolated to a small area and is a temporary issue), which does seem unlikely as Bramley was particularly extreme.
ISPreview has asked Openreach if they’re able to provide an update and will report back shortly.