Openreach stops copper for another million premises in bid to push customers to new digital lines

Engineer upgrading an exchange

Openreach has announced a further 132 new exchange locations, covering a whopping 1.23 million premises 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 a majority (75%) of premises connected to a particular exchange can get ultrafast Full Fibre. Customers who then want to switch, upgrade or re-grade their broadband or phone service will have to take a new digital service over our new Full Fibre network.

 Customers in these exchanges not yet able to get Ultrafast Full Fibre at their premises won't be impacted and can stay on their existing copper-based service until Full Fibre does become available.

 By mid-February (Feb14), ‘stop sell’ rules have been activated in 1281 exchanges across the UK – meaning around 12.5 million premises are under active Stop Sell – i.e.  premises where Full Fibre is available to a majority of premises and copper products cannot be sold – equal to 51 per cent of Openreach’s total full fibre footprint.

 James Lilley, Openreach’s Managed Customer Migrations Director, said: “Our stop sell programme is a vital step in accelerating the UK’s transition to a modern full fibre future. As copper’s ability to support modern communications declines, the immediate focus is getting people onto newer, future proofed technologies.”

 “By phasing out legacy copper-based services in areas where fibre is now widely available, we’re ensuring customers and providers move onto faster, more reliable, digital infrastructure. This approach not only reduces the cost and complexity of having to maintain both old and new networks but also supports the industry-wide migration ahead of the legacy copper-based Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) now just over 12-months away, by which time everyone will need a digital phone line.”

 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 21 million premises, around 60 per cent of the UK, with connecting around one million premises every three months, aiming for 25 million by the end of 2026 and 30 million by 2030, subject to the right regulatory conditions.

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

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