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Homeowners who have bought properties on Cambuslang’s newest estate say the developer has trapped them in a “money-making scheme” by ensuring broadband is only deliverable by a company it owns.

Residents of Castle Gardens say they have been informed that if they wish to secure broadband or a landline for their new homes they must purchase it from FibreNest, which is owned by Persimmon Homes.

The housing developer has installed its own infrastructure on the estate, as opposed to common practice which sees Openreach install cabling that allows a number of broadband companies to service the houses.

FibreNest says it will price match other broadband providers, but residents say they feel duped by Persimmon Homes.

One resident, who did not want to be named because he is awaiting repairs being made to his home by Persimmon, said: “It is purely to make money.

“That other company is owned by Persimmon, so whatever money they make it comes back to them.

“It has not been transparent. They did not say if you buy these houses you will be restricted to whatever service we use.

“It is clearly a money-making scheme. If we pay for FibreNest it goes back to Persimmon in some way. If we say we want BT, for example, BT would have to pay to access the cables so they make more money. It’s win, win for them.

“For homeowners it isn’t just about the money, it’s about choice. I’ve read reviews of FibreNest and they’re far from positive.”

Persimmon says there is nothing stopping broadband providers from serving houses at Castle Gardens, but the Reformer understands external companies would have to pay to rip up roads and lay their own cabling, or pay FibreNest an additional fee to use its infrastructure.

FibreNest was, according to Persimmon, created to ensure house buyers have access to fibre to home broadband and the best speeds available.

It also claims previous customers were disappointed at the delays in accessing broadband when dependent on a third party building communications infrastructure to new- build estates.

But almost six months after the first residents moved in, they still have no access to the internet.

Some people moved into Castle Gardens last October, with 50 houses in the first phase almost complete.

The householder added: “My partner had to change her contract [for her mobile phone] because she was going over her data allowance.

“A few people I know in the estate are a couple of hundred pounds a month on their phone bill. You are using it more and more [because the internet is not live].

Doug Law, managing director at Persimmon Homes West Scotland, said: “We are very sorry that we have not been in a position to provide the ultra-fast 500MB broadband that our FibreNest technology delivers at our Castle Gardens development.

“All customers affected were given a complimentary mobile 50 -100GB 4G device in the interim and will receive complimentary broadband as compensation for the period that they had to wait.

“Unfortunately the delay is due to cabling issues being addressed by Openreach. Repairs to blocked ducts in a 1000m length of underground cabling often require permission from the local authority to open the road and implement traffic management to excavate and remedy the affected section which has protracted the process.

“We are continuing to work with Openreach and the local authority to ensure that we provide whatever assistance is required to aid Openreach in meeting its advised service delivery date of the middle of April.”

He added: “Just like other industry providers (primarily Openreach), providing there is a clear commitment to meet our high standards of delivery in terms of value, speed and service, we would of course be happy to negotiate and agree mutually acceptable wholesale agreements for those providers to deliver their service over our fibre network.”

“We can confirm that we have already commenced discussions with a well-known provider on this matter.”