As Openreach continues a massive upgrade of the UK’s telecommunications infrastructure from analogue copper to digital fiber-optic, a record 10 million homes and businesses are now switched over.

However, September marks another key milestone – the official ‘Stop Sell’ of older analogue services to the market. From this month, no new copper telephone lines may be ordered*, as Openreach seeks to retire the old-style copper service that goes back to the early 1900s. The stop sell affects a wide range of services – including landlines, traditional broadband, alarms lines and many more.

The £15bn investment represents a great leap forward for the UK – but what does it mean for businesses with existing copper?

Will my existing copper line be turned off?

Not yet! Existing analogue services are expected to be allowed to continue into 2025. However, the lifespan of these is now rapidly reaching its end, and Openreach advises businesses should be preparing to replace these to avoid any risk of loss of service.

What should I be replacing my old copper line with?

If full-fibre is already available in your area, take full advantage of the increased speed and reliability.

For those still on the schedule to be completed, SoGEA broadband options which eliminate the existing line rental in preparation for the fibre switchover are already available for millions of properties. These may remove your old line number, so bear this in mind before you make the important jump to the new service.

What if nothing else is available in my area?

If you’re one of a small proportion of exemptions (sites where no Fibre or SoGEA services are available) ordering a reactivated copper line may still be permitted, at an increased cost.

Alternatively, customers may consider 4G or satellite broadband as an alternative. A new SOTAP (fixed line) option is expected to be available from March 2024, eliminating virtually all new copper service orders nationwide.

What do I do about Service (X) that my business needs?

If you’re unsure about any aspect of your telecoms or connectivity provision, and how it is affected by the stop sell, please contact our team for assistance.

Alternatively, check out Lineal’s recent webinar on the ‘Big Switch Off’:

More details on Openreach’s build plans for 25 million properties across the UK by December 2026 can be found online here: https://www.openreach.com/fibre-broadband/where-when-building-ultrafast-full-fibre-broadband

Openreach’s progression to phase out the PSTN network as “End of Life” and cease it by 2025 has picked up speed, with new test switch off locations revealed.

The network subsidiary of BT have continued their transfer of customers away from legacy analogue Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to a new fully digital network. The rollout aims to shift all clients to phone lines operating on the Internet Protocol (IP) route by 2025.

A list of services being decommissioned include analogue phone lines, ADSL and FTTC ‘superfast’ broadband connections, ISDN phone lines and other services such as traffic lights, motorway signs, analogue fax and alarms lines.

The IP routing system is in correlation with the nation-wide shift to fibre to the premise (FTTP) broadband to around 15 million homes and businesses that will rely on fibre optic cabling for the entire journey from the exchange.

Although 2025 feels a long time away, many businesses have already made the switch to an all-digital model with their communications setup moving to the cloud, calls being conducted over IP routing and enabling the opportunity for advanced video calling.

Lineal are here to make this migration over to a digital future as smooth as possible. Check with us to assess which analogue phone line services your business or organisation still uses and to find out whether your area is part of a published FTTP roll out in the near future.

Additionally, Openreach have announced 86 new copper network switch-off locations covering approximately 500,000 UK premises. This marks a rapid expansion from the original two test locations of Mildenhall and Salisbury where legacy PTSN services and its associated WLR hardware were removed from the commercial market.

James Lilley, director of managed customer migrations at Openreach stated that “ultimately, the plan is to withdraw all services that rely on the old PSTN by December 2025 and, from that point on, communications providers will own the delivery of voice services. We are upgrading the UK’s digital infrastructure as we build our full-fibre network to 25 million homes and businesses by 2026”.

To learn more about how Lineal can help your business or organisation’s migration to the digital future, follow the link for details or drop us a message on [email protected]

New customers will face a fine of up to £50 if they decline to return their BT router at the end of the contract, British Telecom have announced.

BT operates a scheme to recycle old routers, which will soon become compulsory, in an effort to reduce electrical waste and cut the volume of unrecycled broadband routers being sent to landfill.

Customers may voluntarily return their old router by following the instructions published here.

Entry-level Broadband routers from many major providers are locked to a single Internet Service Provider (ISP), which often causes spare routers to pile up in cupboards when customers switch broadband supplier.

The move follows a pattern of UK companies trying to bolster their green credentials, in the wake of Extinction Rebellion and other environmental movements gathering increased public support.

As subsidiaries, the BBC reports that the scheme will also ‘eventually’ apply to EE and Plusnet broadband customers.

Increasing numbers of local councils in the UK now offer direct recycling of small electrical items, reflecting a noticeable rise in the value of copper and other useful materials – giving home users few excuses not to attempt to recycle their old router.

For IT support & expertise – please contact our team today.