Gigabit broadband ISP Hyperoptic, which has built a full fibre broadband (FTTP / B) network to cover “more than” 1.73 million UK homes in parts of 64 towns and cities (mostly MDUs), has been fined £50,000 by the Westminster Magistrates Court in London after they were found to have carried out unsafe street works.
The successful prosecution was actually pursued by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which occurred after the Council’s Street Works Compliance Inspector witnessed (Jan 2024) operatives working in a manhole in the carriageway on Old Brompton Road (South Kensington) and found several safety issues including “inadequate barriers, no advance warning signs for motorists, no temporary traffic management and leaving manhole exposed to public“.
In addition, it was later discovered that the provider had not even applied for a permit to carry out the work. Following a hearing at the Westminster Magistrates Court, which took place on Wednesday 4th December 2024, Hyperoptic was fined £50,000 and were ordered to pay a £2,000 victim surcharge and £2,500 towards the Council’s legal costs.
The council prosecuted Hyperoptic after having issued them with 7 cautions for previous offences relating to site safety, but the local authority didn’t provide any more detail than that.
Councillor Cem Kemahli, Lead Member Planning and Public Realm, said:
“Keeping our streets clear and safe for residents is our top priority and we will continue to crackdown on companies who don’t take safety seriously.
This is our first successful prosecution of Hyperoptic, which not only put public safety at risk but caused disruption to motorists by ignoring safety measures.
Our network management team are working hard to ensure street works are coordinated to minimise disruption and carried out in the safest possible way. We will not hesitate to take legal action against companies who continue to put members of public at risk.”
Sadly we do occasionally see broadband operators being fined for safety failings, as well as some generally sloppy street works, with some other recent examples this year including nexfibre (here), Openreach (here), Truespeed (here) and Airband (here). But it should be said that these issues often hail from mistakes made by third-party contractors, albeit with the network operator as the responsible party.
We’ve asked Hyperoptic for a comment and will report back when they respond.