Openreach Improve UK Broadband Speed Flexibility for Legacy Copper Line Migrations
Network access provider Openreach (BT) has made it easier for UK ISPs to migrate customers on legacy broadband services, such as those supplied over their Wholesale Line Rental (WLR) and FTTC (GEA) products. In short, it’s now possible to migrate such lines under their Equinox discounts to SOGEA equivalents at any connection speed.
Just to recap. Openreach’s Single Order Generic Ethernet Access (SOGEA) products are modern standalone (data-only) variants of their older Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) broadband service, which was originally sold alongside legacy line rental products (WLR); these are currently being withdrawn as part of efforts to switch-off the old telephone line based services (PSTN / WLR).
Openreach already has an Equinox (discount scheme) Legacy Regrades framework for migrations from WLR + GEA‑FTTC to SOGEA lines running, but these have previously only been treated as eligible where the migration is at the same broadband speed. But this same‑speed restriction no longer reflects how broadband ISPs manage end customer migrations in practice and so Openreach have made it flexible for any connection speed.
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Following CP feedback, Openreach is confirming that, under the existing terms of the Equinox Legacy Regrades Amendment, migrations from WLR+GEA‑FTTC to SOGEA are now eligible for Legacy Regrade treatment regardless of SOGEA speed, provided all other conditions of the Legacy Regrades framework are met.
As a result, CPs that have signed the Equinox Legacy Regrades Amendment may treat migrations from WLR+GEA‑FTTC to SOGEA at any speed as Legacy Regrades and exclude them from the calculation of Fibre Only performance under Equinox.
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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“has made it easier for UK ISPs to migrate customers on legacy broadband services”. Yet as much I am told by Openreach and my ISP that I can get full fibre, the reality is Openreach hasn’t got the poles sorted yet! It’s embarrassing!
This article is about migrating WLR+FTTC to SOGEA. That is, copper to copper.
WLR (which includes the analogue PSTN) is being switched off in Jan 2027. Without this migration, anyone left on a legacy copper service will be disconnected.
SOGEA is a data-only copper broadband connection. A voice service (if required) is provided as digital voice over the top: you plug your phone handset into the router.
Not likely to sort it if nobody orders