Full Fibre Upgrade
Full Fibre Upgrade
Bringing You Faster and Reliable Communications from Plum Communications
Background
In 2013 BT Openreach announced plans to upgrade its copper wire network in the UK to full fibre. It was a huge project which would involve replacing all copper wires in the ground or overhead with new fibre cables and was expected to be completed by 2025.
Whilst the work would be deployed nationally, the completion would be staggered across the UK with the eventual aim of withdrawing service over the copper network completely by 2025 although the new target date for completion is December 2026.
BT Openreach provides infrastructure to Plum Communications and other internet and voice providers in the UK. The project will impact all UK consumers, businesses, and organisations.
Full Fibre Installation
BT Openreach are installing Full Fibre to twenty-five million homes and businesses by December 2026 and the new digital network represents the UK’s largest ever upgrade to broadband and telephone lines.
Full Fibre
The new Full Fibre network connects homes and businesses across the UK to exchanges with a single fibre cable which can support speeds ten times faster than current technologies. Full fibre networks have 70-80% fewer faults than the current technology which uses fibre cables and copper cables. The result is less buffering, reduced downtime, and future proofing.
What are the Benefits of Full Fibre?
Businesses will have access to faster internet speeds without having to instal dedicated point to point circuits. Those who do not choose ethernet leased lines and particularly smaller businesses will choose fibre to the premises circuits which will be as affordable as the current fibre to cabinet services with options to increase speed up to 1Gbps. This will enable businesses to upgrade their telephone and conference systems, move applications and data to the cloud and make it technically possible to work from anywhere.
Consumers can stream HD TV on multiple devices at the same time without buffering or interruptions. Working from home will be possible, reducing the number of commuting miles. Increased reliability will give peace of mind to vulnerable and elderly people who need to be able to make emergency calls, and it will be possible to deliver public health care, education, and other services remotely.
Legacy Services
Traditional copper internet was carried over the voice line, but full fibre does not have dependency on a voice line and by default will be supplied as internet only. It is possible to use VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) which mean calls will be carried digitally rather than over copper wires. If you need to retain your voice service, it will be converted to an IP service. In most cases it will be possible to retain the existing number, however you may require a new handset or an adaptor.
Fax services, payphones, alarm lines, lift lines, card machines and monitoring services will need to be reviewed and transitioned to IP services.
Legacy telephone lines are powered from the exchange which means for single lines no power is required for basic telephones in the premises. On an IP system power will be required for the terminating equipment, network equipment and the handset device. If telephone service is required in emergencies and in event of power cut it may be necessary to instal a back-up power supply with batteries.
Switching Off the Old Copper Network
When full fibre has been installed in an exchange area and 75% of customers are able to order full fibre a stop sale will be announced and it will no longer be possible to order new legacy services and those running on copper lines, which includes standard ADSL and FTTC broadband, analogue telephone lines, ISDN2 and ISDN30. During the next two years following the stop sale customers would be expected to migrate their services to alternative digital products and then there would be a cease of all the old legacy services at the exchange.
Customers may order these new services at any time they become available and do not need to wait for the stop sale to be announced to upgrade.
Key Points
When 75% of the homes and businesses connected to a particular exchange can order Full Fibre it will not be possible to order old copper products if Full Fibre is available at the premises, this includes FTTC, ADSL, analogue lines, and ISDN.
BT Openreach have already stopped providing copper products in Salisbury and Wiltshire and have announced a further 550 locations, where they will new supply of copper products between now and August 2022.
From September 2023 it will only be possible to order digital phone services across the UK.
Where it is not possible to receive Full Fibre at the premises customers will be able to retain existing copper products until full fibre is available.
Vulnerable customers or customers with critical equipment that might not work should contact their service provider for guidance.
Plum Communications will assist with your full fibre journey
Step One - Contact Plum Communications
Register with Plum Communications so we can update you on progress and availability in your area.
Step Two - Review of current services
Plum provide a full range of handsets to suit your needs.
Step Three - Review of customer requirements
We will conduct a short online interview to determine your future requirements so we can recommend appropriate services for you.
Step Four - Report of available services
Plum Communications will run searches to determine fibre and other service availability in your location(s) .
Step Five - Plan for upgrade
Most systems include some level of reporting, for more complex needs we have add on services available to report on individual users and whole company activity.
Step Six - Implementation
Plum Communications will implement your agreed plan and provide you with regular progress updates.
Step Seven - Audit and review
Following completion of the project Plum Communications will carry out an audit and review to confirm the work has been completed to plan.