no longer building for full fibre FTTP?

[shakey1981]

@ClaireD1 same as me 

[shakey1981]

just had it confired by email there was a delay assumed it was because i signed up to be notified of any changes 

[chrisjp]

"I was made aware of the copper switch off scheduled for January 2027."

There is no copper switch off in Jan 2027. It's the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) that is being switched off. All telephone services will from then on have to be over broadband. But that broadband will continue to be carried over copper wires in places where there is no full fibre service - which are quite common outside urban areas.
This confusion over the "copper switch off" has been largely caused by BT saying in their advertising that they are "retiring outdated copper" and a lot of the media talking about "ripping out all the old copper lines".
This isn't going to happen anytime soon.

[ClaireD1]

Thanks for the confirmation that FTTC will still be available 

you are right BT have made it confusing!

[gwowders]

I had a similar story.

• My current status used to be "We're building in your area"
• An Openreach team was recently outside my house so I spoke to them and they confirmed that it was available on the pole at the end of my drive (and up the entire road).
• I called BT and they said "yep, expect it to be available to buy shortly"
• A few days later I had a notification (I was signed up the "notify me" mailing list) saying that sometimes large infrastructure projects hit snags and that this was now delayed
• My new status is "We have no plans to build in your area"

It's incredibly frustrating to know that it's so close and yet so far... Has anyone had this only for it to become available to buy soon after??

[ClaireD1]

That is frustrating 

I have only got to “ we are planning …”

but now it’s back to “we have no plans to build in your area”

so it’s FTTC for me until who knows!

[chrisjp]

For all the criticism of it, FTTC can be quite adequate for a lot of people's broadband use. I'm not especially close the cabinet supplying me, but still get around 70Mbps broadband, which is quite sufficient to stream TV and surf the web.
I do recognise however that this might not be adequate for households with multiple users and a lot of gaming!

[pddco]

@chrisjp Certainly agree that there’s nothing wrong with FTTC. But think you’re downplaying its suitability somewhat. When UHD streaming is around 25Mbps or less ( depending on  codecs) and low latency web browsing is around 10Mbps, and gaming more about latency than raw speed, I would suggest that 70Mbps is more than most would ever need. Marketing hype would say faster being better. But as video codecs become more efficient, and with more powerful local client processing becoming the norm,  bit rates needed will likely reduce. Yes one would have to wait a bit longer to download a 5GB file @ 70Mbps than at 500, but meanwhile one could do something worthwhile, like make a cup of tea. 

[ClaireD1]

FTTC is perfectly adequate for my needs. My issues was the conflicting advice being given online and by internet providers about the copper switch off in January 2027. My internet provider told me that if I wasn’t connected to full fibre when the switch off happens I would not be able to get broadband and would have to use a 4G router! 
this community has been a life saver as I now know that it’s just the landline being impacted which I don’t have. Hopefully at some point my road will get full fibre but as long as I can still get online that’s all that matters 

[licquorice]

Why does everyone think the copper network is being switched off in 2027? It isn't, it's the analogue phone system that is being switched off, not the copper network. FTTC will be around for many years.