Openreach Remove ADSL and FTTC from Broadband Checker in UK FTTP Areas UPDATE
Some of ISPreview’s readers have spotted that the broadband availability checker on Openreach’s UK site has stopped displaying results for older ADSL and FTTC (VDSL2 / SOGEA) technologies, albeit only in areas that now have access to full fibre (FTTP) lines. This occurs even if the older services aren’t yet on a “stop sell” due to existing switch-off programmes.
The move makes sense as it aligns with Openreach’s overarching move toward the gradual retirement of legacy copper-based broadband services and the desire to push everybody over to full fibre networks once they become available. This will help to ease the pressure on the operator as copper-to-fibre migrations become more urgent.
The downside is that this may lead to some consumer confusion about what is and is not available at their property (e.g. FTTC may still be available, even if FTTP is present). Not to mention that local FTTP availability doesn’t always translate to a deliverable service, due to issues with local pole capacity and problems/obstructions when reaching specific properties. In the latter sense, having knowledge that an alternative still exists would be helpful, especially if there are no other gigabit-capable broadband options in the area.
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Consumers can of course still conduct checks using the BT Wholesale Checker and some retail ISPs do show all of the available product options, even in FTTP enabled areas on Openreach’s network. But we should point out that quite a few ISPs – particularly larger players – have already transitioned their own checkers to an FTTP-only focus.
Credits to ‘Some Edinburgh Guy‘ on our forum for noticing the change (here).
UPDATE 25th Nov 2025 @ 11:19am
Openreach have confirmed to ISPreview that they’ve updated their fibre checker to make Full Fibre “more prominent wherever it’s available“. But much as we said above, the operator was keen to remind that they can still offer other options (e.g. SOGEA / FTTC) where available and necessary.
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Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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I noticed that ADSL has been removed from my area today as Openreach are in the middle of installing full fibre to the estate I live on.
Tried an FTTC property. ADSL (“copper broadband” as they called it) is also not shown in this case, and FTTP is shown with Openreach’s current estimate for deployment.
That is stupid.
so it say it is not possible to get FTTC, but also can’t get FTTP because it is not available,
This company is the one that supplies most of the U.K broadband network, doomed, we are.
FTTC *is* available at the address I used to test. The point is that Openreach are removing the legacy options for those customers too.
But remember that the Openreach checker is a PR exercise intended to push you towards the best available option, it doesn’t reflect the services that are actually orderable. i.e. ADSL is still available to anyone not in a stop sell area or whose exchange has not yet closed down.
@Ivor, sorry, I read it wrong, you put “Tried an FTTC property” at the start, my fault.
I chat to someone online who have been fighting with BT/Openreach and anyone else who will listen to them for a while. They are on ADSL, very close to the exchange, EE wants to move them to FTTC, but FTTC is not available where she is, but EE/Bt, what ever they are these days still insist in them going to FTTC or FTTP, but again FTTP is not available there. They have already increased the price because she won’t change.
Last week I was chatting to them, and they say they are getting to the stage of telling EE to shove it, cutting it all off and going for a mobile service. May suit them better anyway, they only have a laptop and a phone.
I said, tell them to go ahead and when they find out they can’t, it will be their problem. She lives in a cul-de-sac with only a few houses and from what she has been telling me, only 3 house have internet.
Seems like Openreach don’t have a clue.
Given that only mobile networks have genuine x3 competition for infrastructure and investment intent, the 4G and soon 5G mobile broadband are a better route to appropriate speed and service.
They know that LEO satellite is coming fast so they must use their incumbent advantage.
mine has updated and now says fibre only.
this is a good thing.
Not true. Still showing FTTP, FTTC, ADSL
https://i.ibb.co/sJbXWF9F/Screenshot.png
It seems to have been having a bit of a Yo-Yo today, one moment showing the FTTC etc. results and others not. We’re currently unsure quite why, and await Openreach’s clarification.
It seems the only option I have is FTTP “We have no plans to build Full Fibre to this property yet” – selecting copper broadband shows nothing available at all (previously I had ADSL available)
Guess it’s lucky I have altnet FTTP.
Full fibre shown only for my place,
Up to 1600 Mbps download speed
Up to 115 Mbps upload speed
So far behind compared to others. So you can have super-duper speed downloading, as long as you don’t want it uploading.
Before anyone say what would people do with fast uploading, that is not the point and you know it.
Makes no odds to me, not that bothered about super-duper speedy broadband, but some people it may and just shows how far behind out of reach is.
country network, oh dear god.
The chance of eventually getting FTTP is extremely low. I have checked with Openreach and EE/BT and there is nothing planned for 2026. I have asked Openreach, BT and EE over the years and the best they can offer is FTTC then around 400m of copper half buried and overhead. After years of slow speed they sold me 60mbit/s which it only reaches occasionally on average 35 to 40mbit/s is the norm. My digital services like house alarm and video camera system, solar panels and battery do need good Broadband but sadly that is intermittent.
My BT Availability checker states FTTC Unavailable but SOGEA is. No mention of ADSL/ADSL. Does say there is a Stop Sell in place for copper lines unless for an exceptional reason.
Mad really when we was on ADSL2+ we had the fastest speed available since the exchange is at the end of the street FTTC was good when I first got it (65meg) but slowly dwindled down and eventually got capped to 40meg for some reason? Loving FTTP now.
BT can’t get FTTP to my home as it is on a private road. Others can. More dissembling by BT.
Funny, the copper broadband has reappeared for my prem on the Openreach fibre checker
The checker is yo-yoing a little bit. Try clearing cache and cookies for the Openreach domain, it should fix that bug if it comes back [it did for me, and clearing all cookies and cache for the site made it stop doing that]
Last week, the Openreach Fibre Checker said that GEA-FTTP was available at my address.
This week, the checker says that that my postcode is invalid!
(The Royal Mail and the Ordnance Survey UPRN checker have no such problem, hapilly accepting the postcode that I’ve had since the 1970’s.)
The checker was having some technical issues the last day or two, presumably from the updates mentioned in the news article and from updating their database tracking each postcodes’ access to FTTP.
Looking upward to Amazon Leo driving broadband price point competitiveness.
Satellite Broadband without poles and backhaul constraints.
Because nothing says cheap like launching equipment into space, right?
When I at the splitter with a four port connection how does the Lazer light enter this Unit. Unless it’s classified as a modem then it would accept Microwave 5GHz wavelength from the Cabinet.
So how does a splitter receive it’s signal from the Cabinet
Optical to Electrical to Optical x4
So like a demultiplexor splitting the high bandwidth into four lower bandwidth signals.