Copper urgency required

On 9 September, Ofcom announced that Openreach can start raising wholesale prices for copper connections from April 2029, once fibre and ultra-fast coverage exceeds 90%. That is encouraging, but the timing still lack urgency. It comes around two years after BT plans to retire its PSTN network and leaves another three years before copper pricing can properly support the pace of migration.

The UK needs an extensive full-fibre, or near-equivalent, network that is both available and widely used. Customer migration must accelerate not only to improve consumer connectivity, but also to allow BT to realise savings that could further strengthen investment in network resilience, security and capacity.

Compared with several other European operators, the UK is again lagging in both its plans and timetable. Any routes to accelerate this transition need to be front of mind, despite the separation of Openreach creating a barrier to a more holistic approach for the UK. How the UK telecoms market became an industry follower is a fascinating case study, especially given its leading role in market liberalisation in the early 1990s.

By comparison, Telefónica completed the switch-off of its copper network in May 2024 and has suggested that decommissioning copper has generated around 25% energy savings, as well as lower property and maintenance costs. Telefónica is also actively extracting its legacy copper, which is likely to be completed before BT begins recovery at scale. When Telefónica finishes the extraction, it will have benefited from monetising 350,000 tonnes of copper cable. Let’s hope BT at least benefits from the rise in copper prices to over $14,700 per tonne.