Openreach continues analogue upgrade
October 5, 2020
By Colin Mann
UK digital network infrastructure provider Openreach is announcing a further 51 exchange locations across the UK, covering around 0.51 million premises, where it is planning to stop selling its legacy analogue services and instead focus on providing people with a modern, futureproof Full Fibre connection.
This brings the total number of exchange locations where it plans to stop selling legacy analogue services in the next 12 months to 169, This will take the cumulative overall total homes passed (combining with the previously-announced 118 exchanges) to 1.8 million by October 2021.
In June 2020, Openreach gave 12-months’ notice that it would no longer be selling copper-based products in 118 exchange areas across the UK including Salisbury – an early pilot where legacy copper-based products will no longer be available from December 2020.
“We’re stepping up our plans to stop selling our legacy analogue services and instead focus on providing people with a modern, future-proof full fibre connection that can deliver all manner of new digital services over the top,” advised Mark Logan, Director, Products at Openreach.
“Our recently-updated target to build full fibre broadband to 4.5 million homes and businesses by end of March 2021, up from 4 million, is part of our accelerated build plan and has enabled migration efforts to also be brought forward.”
“Full Fibre or ‘Fibre to the Premises’ technology (FTTP) will be available to more than 75 per cent of homes in these 51 new locations by October 2021, as it makes no sense – both operationally and commercially, to keep the old and new network running side-by-side,” he concluded.