Openreach accelerates copper retirement across 600,000 more UK premises

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Openreach has announced a further 112 new exchange locations, covering more than 600,000 new premises (619,724) across the UK, where the business plans to halt the sale of traditional copper-based phone and broadband services to encourage people to upgrade to new digital services over an ultrafast Full Fibre connection

The business is giving Communication Providers (CPs) like Sky, BT, TalkTalk and Vodafone, that use its network, a year’s notice that it will no longer be selling legacy analogue products and services where Full Fibre becomes available to a majority (>75%) of premises in these new exchange locations.  

Stop Sell is triggered when 75% of premises served by an exchange can access Full Fibre broadband. From that point, service providers such as BT, Sky and Vodafone can no longer sell new copper-based broadband and phone services in those areas. Customers looking to switch provider, upgrade their package or make changes to their existing service will typically move onto modern digital alternatives, such as Full Fibre, helping support the UK's transition away from the legacy copper network.

By November (November 5th), ‘stop sell’ rules will have been activated in 1663 exchanges across the UK – meaning around 16.4 million premises are under active Stop Sell – i.e.  served by exchanges where Full Fibre is available to a majority of premises and copper products cannot be sold.

James Lilley, Openreach’s Managed Customer Migrations Director, said: “Our stop sell programme is a key step in accelerating the UK’s move to a full fibre future. As ageing copper networks become less able to meet modern communications needs, our focus is on helping customers move to faster, more reliable digital technologies.”

“Retiring legacy copper services where fibre is widely available will support the industry-wide migration to modern networks, reduce the cost and complexity of maintaining old and new infrastructure side by side, and help ensure customers are ready for the closure of the PSTN in less than four months’ time, when everyone will need a digital phone service.”

Full Fibre is a game changing technology will become the backbone of our economy for decades to come, supporting every aspect of our public services, businesses, industries, and daily lives. Already, our Full Fibre network is available to more than 23.5 million premises.

People can visit our online postcode checker to see if they can already order a Full Fibre service or alternatively, or check by contacting their service provider.

 Learn more about digital migration and how the UK’s telephone network is changing HERE

 Latest (Tranche 26) 112 new Exchanges to be notified for Stop Sell.