Getting enough Fibre: An Update on the Openreach Stop Sell on 5 September 2023

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As announced in 2017, Openreach will completely disconnect over 10 million phone lines and broadband lines that rely on copper by the end of December 2025. For businesses, it is important to know that this applies to those lines that form the WLR (Wholesale Line Rental) product family (i.e. WLR3 and classic, ISDN 2, ISDN 30), and any broadband that is transmitted over WLR analogue lines (i.e. FTTC and any remaining SMPF ADSL/copper broadband). These will all be replaced either partially or completely with new fibre lines (FTTP, SOGEA, SOGfast), therefore removing many of the traditional services most people use to make voice-calls.

While this deadline is more than two years away, there is a more imminent date that has wide-ranging implications: Openreach is initiating a ‘Stop Sell’ on all WLR and related broadband products on 5 September this year—less than a week away. Given that all 10+ million phone and broadband lines must be replaced by December 2025, households and businesses run the risk of running out of time to migrate. This could lead to increased costs to migrate, not migrating to the right solution, or even loss of service. 

In this article, we explain how the Stop Sell may affect your business in the short term, and what you can do to mitigate the associated risks.

How will the Stop Sell Work?

There are two main elements to Openreach’s Stop Sell happening at the same time. 

The national PSTN (WLR product family) Stop Sell on 5 September will withdraw the ability for anyone to order, upgrade or move any WLR-based phone line or broadband product in advance of their national switch-off in December 2025. Anyone wanting a new service, to move services or add more capacity to an existing service will have to use a new fibre broadband service (FTTP, SOGEA, SOGFast), IP voice, or 4G/5G mobile instead.

Openreach is also taking the opportunity to withdraw all copper-based products (WLR product family and MPF products used by many other communication providers and ISPs) in areas where they are rolling out their new fibre products, FTTP, on an area-by-area basis. 

This list of areas is known as the FTTP Priority Exchanges. As FTTP is being implemented in exchange areas, a Stop Sell will come into effect when FTTP coverage reaches 75% of all premises, meaning that they will no longer be able to buy any new copper-based services. 551 of these areas have been identified thus far, and some are already implementing the Stop Sell earlier than its official start date due to a high availability of FTTP. This impacts over 10% of the UK and is increasing every quarter.

If you are in one of these FTTP Priority Exchange areas, you are still able to use your existing analogue services until your Communication Provider (CP) migrates you, however you will face limitations on how you can make certain changes, such as moving home or changing suppliers. Order restrictions will also be applied in these areas which will prioritise the use of FTTP products (with certain exceptions).

Both these Stop Sells will have the most impact on service providers grounded in a strong use of regular (WLR and SMPF) phone and broadband lines, such as BT, Zen Internet, and others. However, Openreach has tried to mitigate any disruption done to these providers by spending the last few years deploying new fibre broadband services (FTTP, SOGEA, SOGFast) as alternatives to the copper-based broadband products being withdrawn.

How will you be Affected?

To reiterate, for the national Stop Sell, you will no longer be able to order, move or amend any WLR product family phone line or broadband service anywhere in the UK from 5 September 2023. 

For the FTTP Priority Exchanges, once the Stop Sell goes into effect in your area, you will no longer be able to increase your supply of products compatible with copper or analogue lines, including those from services providers such as Sky and TalkTalk that use their own equipment rather than BT’s Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), nor will any additions or extensions be possible for existing copper or analogue lines. This will also create a halt to any transfers to an alternative service provider, or changes to bandwidth.

However, while it is important to be aware of supply restrictions following the Stop Sell, you should also identify all products that are impacted by the restrictions placed on these phone lines. We recommend that you have a migration plan and risk assessment in place and identify replacement services well before the 2025 PSTN switch-off.

The obvious impact is to the telecommunications industry, but there will be many other affected devices/services that are integral to the day-to-day running of certain other industries. For those operating in retail environments, these include kiosks, CCTV, and chip and pin machines. In the health and science industries, the upgrade will impact medical equipment, test labs, and telecare services. At the infrastructure level, it will affect devices used to monitor electricity, gas, and water, as well as systems used for traffic management.

How to Prepare your Business

Though the list of systems and services impacted by the Stop Sell and subsequent switch-off may seem extensive, there are a number of ways you and your organisation can prepare. 

Primarily, you need to make sure that your devices are IP ready and can be transferred easily to your replacement service. If they are compatible, your new service can continue to support most services offered by your organisation, and any voice calls can be carried out through its VoIP function.

What you should note, however, is that in the event of a power-outage, your new service will be disrupted in a way that copper lines would not, thus you should consider investing in emergency battery back-up packs, or make it clear to your employees and customers throughout the transition that they may need back-up batteries or a power generator in the case of an emergency—and/or using mobile phones for voice calls.

How Cambridge Management Consulting can Help your Business

Although the PSTN switch-off will not go into complete effect for at least another two years, this does not mean your business should not act now. Openreach’s national Stop Sell will begin on 5 September 2023 and this will place certain restrictions on products and services. By starting now, your business still has time to make key decisions and considerations, and you can mitigate all of the potential risks well in advance.

If you lack the in-house expertise and knowledge for the necessary assessments and migration plans, we can help. Cambridge Management Consulting employs experts with decades of experience in senior roles in Tier 1 Telcos, AltNets, and Enterprises to help you with these very factors and considerations. Clive Quantrill, our Senior Partner for Telecoms Strategy and Transformation, is an expert in this area and works closely on projects and issues connected to the PSTN Switch-Off.

To get in contact with Clive for a consultation on how your organisation can make a seamless transition, please use the form below.