Openreach has halted sales of copper landlines in 112 new locations
BT-owned Openreach has halted the sale of traditional landlines to half a million premises across the UK — with just six months until the old copper phone network will be switched off altogether.
Halting the sale of traditional landlines with new broadband or phone bundles in specific areas is an important milestone in ongoing plans to shift away from this ageing technology in favour of broadband-powered phones.
In total, 112 new exchange locations are included in the latest cull.
The decision will impact all broadband providers that rely on internet infrastructure owned and operated by Openreach, including the likes of BT, EE, Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone, and Plusnet, to name just a few. These brands will no longer offer traditional landlines in areas served by these 112 Openreach-managed exchanges.
Openreach only issues a Stop Sell order when a majority of premises connected to a particular exchange can switch to the newest full-fibre broadband. If over 75% of postcodes can use this future-proofed connection, Openreach will block broadband brands like EE, BT, TalkTalk, Vodafone from offering traditional landlines when Britons living in the affected area want to switch, upgrade or renegotiate a broadband or phone service.
While there's a long list of benefits when switching to a broadband-powered landline, the industry-wide move to these future-proofed phones has proven to be controversial.
Broadband-powered landlines use Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, to connect your calls. If you’ve ever made a call over Wi-Fi or 5G to friends or family using WhatsApp, Skype, or Messenger, then you’re already familiar with VoIP technology. It enables several new features, like the ability to call multiple people at the same time, better call quality, the ability to block numbers, and incoming spam prevention.
In just the first five months of being operational, BT says its VoIP system blocked 17.7 million spam calls.
BT, Virgin Media, and TalkTalk refer to this internet-powered landline as “Digital Voice”, but depending on your provider, they might use a different term. If you're not (yet) able to get fast full-fibre broadband at your home address, you won't be impacted by this new "stop sell" order. You'll be able to continue using traditional copper-based landlines for now.
These phone lines, known as PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) in industry lingo, have served as the backbone of communication across the UK in some form or another for well over 100 years. However, those who rely on these ageing landlines are quickly becoming a minority.
By August 20, Openreach will have imposed Stop Sell rules across some 1,572 exchanges across the UK, meaning there will be around 15.4 million premises impacted by the transition period to newer, broadband-powered handsets.
That's equal to 57% of Openreach’s total full fibre footprint nationwide.
Countdown to the Death of Traditional Copper Landlines
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Openreach ends the sale of copper landlines, first exchange by exchange and then nationwide. From 5 September 2023, BT customers across the UK could no longer buy traditional analogue phone services.
The analogue phone network is retired. By this point, everyone in the UK is expected to use a digital phone line, with calls carried over broadband using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology similar to Skype, FaceTime and Microsoft Teams.
If your property is connected to any of these exchanges, but not yet able to get the next-generation full-fibre broadband, you won't be impacted and can stick to the existing copper-based service until the bolstered internet connection does become available.
Openreach Managed Customer Migrations Director, James Lilley told GB News: “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 six months away, by which time everyone will need a digital phone line."
Openreach says its next-generation full-fibre network is already available in 23.5 million premises across the UK, which represents around 66% of the UK. As part of its ambitions to upgrade its entire network, Openreach is connecting some one million new premises every three months, aiming for 25 million by the end of this year.
Its ultimate ambition is to reach 30 million premises by early next decade.
Unsure if your address has been connected yet? Openreach offers an online postcode checker to see if you can already order a Full Fibre service, or you can check by contacting your service provider.
