The end of copper phone lines.

[Chippy_Tea]

A heads up to those that may be unaware, your copper phone network will soon be no more (see below) everyone is moving to Fibre to the Property (FTTP) and a digital voice service, I recently moved from Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) to Fibre to the Property (FTTP) on a capped 150 Mbps package its fast and stable and I didn't bother with the option for a voice service as i never used my landline, if you are interested talk to your ISP you can get some good deals now as its being rolled out, i am getting rock steady only paying £2 more a month on a fixed two year deal.

The copper switch off in the UK is the process of replacing the old copper phone network with a new fibre network. The switch off is scheduled to be completed by December 2025, with the copper network fully retired by 2027

 

[Rwilts]

I have had FTTH for a couple of years - All good except you loose your landline when the internet goes down (over simplistic description , but you get the idea)

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I have had FTTH for a couple of years - All good except you loose your landline when the internet goes down (over simplistic description , but you get the idea)

I have used a free call blocker provided by my ISP on my landline for a couple of years and the only people that called once it was set up was our parents so there was no reason to keep it after the switch to FTTP they now ring our mobiles instead.

 

[SMP Brewery]

I currently pay £5/ pm for broadband 16mbs work from home and have no problem streaming hdr with atmos, can’t see the need for anymore. I like my copper

 

[Chippy_Tea]

We started to struggle before moving to fibre to the cabinet as my lad games and watches everything on his laptop I am online most of the time I rarely watch TV and swmbo is online a lot, I would have kept FTTC but as it's going to be switched off and you can get a good deal moving early to FTTP we pulled the trigger.

 

[MashBag]

"everyone" is a bit optimistic
We have lost copper, would certainly like fttp but can only get ethernet last mile so 15mbps. No gaming so quick enough.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Slightly misleading. The copper network will still exist for many decades (fibre to the cabinet, then existing copper network for the last mile) alongside FTTP.

It's the old analogue phone network that is being turned off. The phone network will soon be digital only (IE,, over your internet connection) over existing copper and fibre cables

So a power cut will knock out your router, which means no phone calls (unless you plug in a battery backup etc)

 

[MashBag]

Backup broadband is cheaper and more useful than batteries ime.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Backup broadband is cheaper and more useful than batteries ime.

How does that work in a power cut?

 

[MashBag]

Brilliantly.

 

[MashBag]

Also works, in a field, in a car, in a blackspot.

Myfi from 5. Brilliant. Had one for years. Long before anyone came up with the idea of router & chips

 

[Agentgonzo]

Also works, in a field, in a car, in a blackspot.

Myfi from 5. Brilliant. Had one for years. Long before anyone came up with the idea of router & chips

It's also not broadband!!! It's a mobile.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

"everyone" is a bit optimistic

I agree maybe everyone who can have it will be offered it at a price they find it hard to refuse, 50 pence more a week in my case sealed the deal.

 

[Agentgonzo]

I agree maybe everyone who can have it will be offered it at a price they find it hard to refuse, 50 pence more a week in my case sealed the deal.

I wish we had the option of FTTP. We live in a rural setting and there are no plans for FTTP/cable

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Slightly misleading. The copper network will still exist for many decades (fibre to the cabinet, then existing copper network for the last mile) alongside FTTP.

When we got the email to say full fibre was in my area we suddenly noticed our connection speed started to fluctuate some tests showed low teens Mbps which created issues for us, this was strange as our FTTC connection had always had a rock steady 60 Mbps was this a coincidence I think not.


Google search for copper being turned off as full fibre becomes more widespread -

Most UK premises are served by cables in the street from openreach part of BT, who plan to retire their copper network as fibre is rolled out UK wide. In fact, they have already signalled that once an area is served by 75% fibre to the premises then no more copper-based services will be sold. Other providers are less reliant on copper twisted-pair cables in their networks and so for them, there is likely to be less disruption

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I wish we had the option of FTTP. We live in a rural setting and there are no plans for FTTP/cable

FTTC?

 

[Stu]

I wish we had the option of FTTP. We live in a rural setting and there are no plans for FTTP/cable

In fairness, I thought that would be the case here. We've been done!

I think as above, the last mile of copper will exist for many years to come, particularly that which goes underground.

My brother used to live between Debenham and Lavenham in Suffolk, on a farm. He was lucky to get 0.5mbps.

 

[Stu]

FTTC?

FIbre to the Cabinet. Copper to the property.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

FIbre to the Cabinet. Copper to the property.

Sorry I meant could you get FTTC?
We had FTTC before we switched to FTTP.

 

[hop-a-long]

We started to struggle before moving to fibre to the cabinet as my lad games and watches everything on his laptop I am online most of the time I rarely watch TV and swmbo is online a lot, I would have kept FTTC but as it's going to be switched off and you can get a good deal moving early to FTTP we pulled the trigger.

I'm confused, Does the UK have TV internet and phone over the same cable? I mean I know it's possible, but phonecables existed before TV cables. So which ones will be switched off?