Targeted Attack Hits Ogi’s Full Fibre Broadband Network in Wales

Broadband ISP Ogi, which is deploying a multi-Gigabit capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across parts of South Wales, has informed ISPreview that the police have been called in after their new network suffered “extensive” damage in a “targeted attack” that left some customers disconnected.

Just to recap. Ogi’s new network has already covered a total of 100,000 premises – most of them residential – in Wales up to the end of 2023 (up from 60k on 30th June 2023) and they’re also now home to a total of over 10,000 customers (up from 6,000).

Unfortunately, in recent months, we’ve seen a number of fixed line network operators face attacks against their infrastructure. The latest example comes from Ogi in West Wales, which sadly suffered “extensive” damage late on Friday night, involving overhead and chamber sites (sub-duct and fibre) in the Pembroke Dock area.

Engineers have since been working to restore over 600m of the network across several sites in the town – effectively rebuilding major parts of the newly installed network. The incident left a number of customers without broadband and phone services for most of the weekend, although they’re in the process of restoring service today.

The provider is limited in what they can reveal now that a criminal investigation has been launched into the incident by Dyfed Powys Police, but we did get this statement.

Justin Leese, Ogi’s Chief Technology and Operations Officer, told ISPreview:

“Our Network Operations Team prepares for every eventuality, yet the extent of the damage here was unimaginable. Teams from across Network, Service Operations and Delivery departments mobilised quickly to restore service – effectively rebuilding parts of the local network, in less than 48 hours – a huge achievement.

A blatant attack to vital infrastructure, this criminal damage left customers vulnerable, putting lives at risk – it is unacceptable.

I’d like to also thank local people for their support. Despite being without service for most of the weekend, people were hugely supportive of our teams on the ground – with their anger being firmly directed at the culprit(s) of this crime.”

Attacks against UK telecoms infrastructure tend to be considered as a serious crime and one that has, in the recent past, resulted in various individuals being jailed. Some of the most common damage tends to involve the theft of old copper telecoms cable from Openreach’s national network, but in the last couple of months we’ve also targeted attacks that seem intended to cause significant damage (here and here).

People who commit such acts rarely seem to have any regard for the residents and businesses that end up being disrupted by such activity, which can also impact the ability of vulnerable individuals to contact the emergency services.