Openreach has announced the addition of 238 new areas to its plan for upgrading from copper to fibre, known as the “FTTP Priority Exchange” program. This initiative encompasses approximately 1.69 million premises across the UK. The upgrade aims to phase out copper-based telecommunications and promote faster fibre connections.
Transition from Copper to Fibre
The “stop sell” policy will apply to areas where more than 75% of premises can receive full fibre service. This means that traditional copper-based phone and broadband products will no longer be offered as an option where fibre is available. Openreach’s full fibre services currently reach over 22 million premises, which is over 60% of the UK’s total. The aim is to expand this coverage to 25 million by the end of 2026 and up to 30 million by 2030, depending on regulatory conditions.
Migration Timeline
Openreach has set a target to fully transition from legacy copper services by January 31, 2027. This process involves migrating traditional PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) services to all-digital technologies, such as SOGEA (Single Order Generic Ethernet Access). The first phase of this migration started earlier this year, with a national stop sell on legacy phone services effective since September 5, 2023.
Details of the New Exchange Locations
The latest rollout, known as Tranche 24, includes a diverse range of regions. The following is a summary of some of the key exchanges included in this tranche:
- Farnsfield – Newark-on-Trent
- Quorn – Barrow upon Soar
- Halifax – Strensall
- Greater London – Hillingdon (Harefield)
- Castle Donington
- Aberdeen – Kingswells
- Atherstone
- Wembley – Greater London
- Cambridge – Braintree
- Edinburgh – Wester Hailes
Future Steps
By June 5, 2026, the total number of exchanges under the stop sell program is projected to rise to 1,432, encapsulating approximately 14.2 million premises, or 61% of the full fibre footprint. Openreach’s Managed Customer Migrations Director, James Lilley, emphasized the importance of this transition, highlighting the necessity of moving to a more robust digital infrastructure as older copper systems become less viable.
The company assures that premises lacking FTTP access will continue to receive service from copper-based broadband products until the upgrade is available.
This ongoing effort is part of Openreach’s commitment to enhancing the UK’s telecommunications network, paving the way for a future that relies heavily on fibre connections.
