The first UK landlines have just been switched off for good.
The UK is gradually phasing out its ageing copper telephone and broadband networks in favour of a fully digital future. This significant transformation is designed to deliver faster and more reliable services, whilst also replacing cables that are over a century old.
Openreach, BT’s infrastructure platform which provides telecoms infrastructure nationwide, has already introduced nationwide “stop sell” measures, setting deadlines for providers including BT, Sky, Plusnet and TalkTalk to end legacy copper-based contracts and transfer customers to full-fibre broadband and Digital Voice services.
Following a “stop sell” announcement, there’s then a fixed period before non-fibre connections are switched off, and it seems this is not merely an empty warning.
The first UK exchange – Deddington in Oxfordshire – has now officially been completely decommissioned and will no longer provide homes with telephone and other services.
Customers previously served by this exchange can now only access the internet and make telephone calls through FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) technology, reports the Mirror.
Deddington is the first of three pilot exchanges to shut down, with Ballyclare in Northern Ireland and Kenton Road in London scheduled to follow by the end of November. It signals the start of Openreach’s strategy to retire approximately 4,600 copper-based exchanges throughout the country as customers transition to fibre-only services.
So why is this all taking place?
Fibre networks provide considerably faster and more dependable speeds-frequently exceeding ten times the performance of copper-whilst Digital Voice subscribers enjoy enhanced call clarity and additional features such as call filtering.
The fibre infrastructure also requires substantially less physical space, utilising lightweight cables and software-based switches rather than the cumbersome hardware necessary for copper systems.
Following the transition, Openreach will ultimately manage merely 1,000 modern “super digital exchanges,” termed Openreach Handover Points (OHPs), serving the whole of the UK.
Within Deddington itself, approximately 1,800 copper lines have been upgraded to full fibre, with operations controlled from the nearby Banbury OHP.
James Lilley, Openreach’s Managed Customer Migrations Director, described the initiative as a substantial undertaking involving the transfer of millions of services. He said that Deddington demonstrates the organisation’s capability to safely and effectively decommission outdated infrastructure.
He said that the digital transformation will ultimately improved things for everyone -suppliers will reduce expenditure through network consolidation, while consumers will experience quicker, more dependable fibre connections capable of scaling for decades ahead.
He said: “It’s not just about switching off old kit-it’s about building a future-proof, simpler network for the UK.”
Deddington represents the initial closure, but additional sites are scheduled, with locations including Wraysbury, Childwall, Glengormley and Staines amongst those next in line.
THESE ARE NEXT 12 EXCHANGES THAT WILL BE CLOSED NEXT:
• Staines
• Thames Ditton
• Baynard
• Wraysbury
• Nazeing
• Langford
• Allestree Park
• Beacon
• Childwall
• Lundin Links
• Carrickfergus
• Glengormley
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