With the January 2027 deadline looming, the UK’s leading broadband provider Openreach has revealed that it has expanded its copper stop-sell programme to a further 112 communications exchange areas, putting more than 619,000 additional premises on the path to full-fibre and new digital broadband.
The BT-owned broadband company has regarded the shift from copper to full-fibre networks as “every bit as significant as the move from analogue to digital and black and white TV to colour”.
The programme was first mooted in 2019, with legacy network skills and parts increasingly difficult to come by, and with digital services – such as voice over IP (VoIP), video conferencing and other apps – becoming more popular and effective. By retiring analogue phone lines, Openreach said that it would create a simplified network to meet the enhanced needs of an increasingly digital society.
In practical terms, BT has been in the process of transitioning more than 14 million traditional lines across the UK onto digital services. The stop-sell process is triggered when a majority (75%) of premises connected to a particular BT comms exchange has been able to get a full-fibre connection. Those who then want to switch, upgrade or regrade their broadband or phone service are transitioned into taking digital service over Openreach’s full-fibre network.
Following the decision to shut down the PSTN, Openreach has been testing processes for migrating customers to fibre services and, ultimately, withdrawing legacy copper services and the wholesale line rental products that rely on them. Openreach has already given communications providers – such as BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone, which all use its network – long-term notice that it will no longer be selling legacy analogue products and services in these circumstances.
Despite the general progress in the programme, in May 2024, BT Group revised its timetable for moving all customers off the PSTN from its original date of the end of 2025 to January 2027. The new deadline followed a series of improvements to the programme that BT assured would better protect vulnerable customers and those with additional needs, including telecare users. BT added that its revised approach will result in a single switch for the majority of customers – both businesses and consumers.
The new stop sell expansion covers a further 112 new exchange locations, encompassing 619,724 premises across the UK, where the business plans to halt the sale of traditional copper-based phone and broadband services. This takes the total number of premises covered by Openreach’s stop-sell rules to around 16.4 million. Openreach calculates that by 5 November 2026, stop-sell rules will have been activated in 1663 exchanges across the UK.
“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,” said James Lilley, Openreach’s managed customer migrations director commenting on the move.
“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.”
