Announcements > News Articles
Openreach Consults UK Broadband ISPs on Copper Switch-Off
Bowdon:
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2019/03/openreach-consults-uk-broadband-isps-on-copper-switch-off.html
--- Quote ---Openreach (BT) has today officially launched its first major industry consultation on the process of switching from their old legacy copper broadband and phone lines to new ultrafast Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) infrastructure, which includes discussions over how they should “eventually retire the existing copper network.”
--- End quote ---
https://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/8354-openreach-launches-consultation-to-create-road-map-for-shift-to-full-fibre
--- Quote ---Openreach exists to serve multiple providers and with the Fibre First roll-out rapidly approaching a footprint of 1 million premises on its way to 3 million by the end of 2020 it is time for Openreach to consult on how providers would like to migrate customers onto the full fibre network and then eventually how the copper network should be retired.
--- End quote ---
https://news.openreach.co.uk/pressreleases/openreach-rallies-telecoms-providers-to-upgrade-customers-onto-faster-more-reliable-broadband-connections-2850437
--- Quote ---Openreach, the UK’s digital network business, today launched a consultation for the country’s leading broadband and telephone providers to help it upgrade consumers and businesses throughout the country onto next generation ‘full fibre’ broadband connections.
The company is seeking views from its wholesale Communications Provider (CP) customers (businesses such as BT, TalkTalk and Sky) on how best to upgrade their retail customers throughout the UK from copper connections onto faster, more reliable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology, which it is building throughout the country.
--- End quote ---
I think this is a good step forward. I think OR needs to be a lot more pro-active when it comes to full fibre. I know there is an issue when it comes to other ISP's using their copper network for their products, particularly ADSL devices in exchanges. But it can't be used as a reason to stop progress.
I noticed in the first link the author wrote the line "As usual there are some big roadblocks here in terms of both regulation and competition. For example, FTTP is a more expensive service and not all customers will be happy about being forced to pay extra for something that they might not need.". I don't see why it as to be more expensive. Maybe it is expensive from the viewpoint of losing money from the copper line as well as paying out money from putting in fibre. But that shouldn't be passed on to the customer. If CityFibre can put in fibre lines at the fraction of the cost OR do (because they haven't a legecy copper network) then OR need to figure out how to counter balance any immediate financial barrier, because in the long run it will pay off with less physical maintenance. I think for OR one of the biggest issues is the changing focus of its workforce. It'll be steeped in tradition as its been working a similar way on copper for a long time. So a life without copper would be a personal ending of an era for them, more so than for companies like CityFibre, Gigaclear, Hypertonic etc.
Ronski:
When they say more expensive they mean you can't buy a service supplied by FTTP which is as cheap as ADSL, but this would be very easy to sort out. They'd just need to introduce a low speed option for the same price as they sell ADSL.
Bowdon:
I just noticed the first link article updated and he mentions;
--- Quote ---Fourthly, the proposed plan seems to involve Openreach offering a revised “anchor” service at the 40Mbps (10Mbps upload) level for FTTP, which could be used to entice customers off slower copper ADSL2+ broadband lines. This product could be at a regulated price (like the same tier on FTTC today), albeit probably with a “small premium” over slower alternatives to reflect the greater value of FTTP.
--- End quote ---
I think when people realise what FTTP is capable of, especially knowing its a product that isn't going to develop faults as much as copper, and less chance of trying to communicate with a foreign customer service people, I think those reasons alone would be a good incentive ;D
Alex Atkin UK:
--- Quote from: Ronski on March 21, 2019, 03:37:31 PM ---When they say more expensive they mean you can't buy a service supplied by FTTP which is as cheap as ADSL, but this would be very easy to sort out. They'd just need to introduce a low speed option for the same price as they sell ADSL.
--- End quote ---
Its hard to get shareholders to see the big picture, they just want their money back ASAP and no doubt see a cheaper product as a barrier to that rather than the stepping stone it actually should be.
Personally I think a pure fibre rollout could dramatically simplify selling broadband, as an ISP could brand each tier based on usage scenarios. Have a large household who all want to stream Netflix, buy x product. Want your games to download as fast as possible, buy product y. Plus the ability to switch between tiers without the hassle of regrades.
Like you said, if they want to turn off the copper anyway then porting people over for no cost, even if they only have a telephone line, should be a no-brainer. But if there's no profit in it, its a hard sell.
aesmith:
--- Quote from: Ronski on March 21, 2019, 03:37:31 PM ---When they say more expensive they mean you can't buy a service supplied by FTTP which is as cheap as ADSL, but this would be very easy to sort out. They'd just need to introduce a low speed option for the same price as they sell ADSL.
--- End quote ---
If they're really wanting rid of the copper network they need to provide a service for a phone only, although that needn't necessarily be over fibre
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version