Openreach extend UK pilot of future Ethernet EAD 2.0 and Cablelink products

Network access provider Openreach (BT) has notified UK broadband ISPs that they’ve extended the customer pilot phase of their future Ethernet Access Direct (EAD) v2.0 and Cablelink Service Connect (CSC) products, which are used to supply high-capacity business data links (potentially reaching speeds of 100Gbps in the near future).

The pilot was already extended once earlier this year and will now run for a little bit longer until 30th November 2026. “There is no change to the approved scope of the pilot,” said Openreach. The extension is intended solely to provide additional time for pilot activities already approved within the first two phases. But network operators will need to get any pilot orders in before 5pm on 12th October for CSC and 2nd November for EAD 2.0.

The EAD product is one of the operator’s most familiar Ethernet services and provides point-to-point data connectivity between sites (leased line). The service can currently be used to build and extend customer networks, develop new infrastructure, and meet network backhaul (capacity) requirements up to 10Gbps.

As previously reported, EAD 2.0 is expected to support various improvements when it launches, such as new intermediary speed tiers (e.g. 2Gbps, 3Gbps), lower port costs, lower space and power costs, greater resilience, the ability to remotely upgrade bandwidths (assuming ISPs have the right optical kit installed) and it will seek to adopt a passive demarcation device with an inbuilt reflector (they currently use an active NTE that needs power).

So far as we can tell, EAD 2.0 is still set for a full commercial launch in December 2026. The complementary Cablelink Service Connect (CSC) product is also being piloted alongside this. Cablelinks are traditionally what Openreach use to provide data capacity for their full fibre and leased line (Ethernet) connections.

We don’t know as much about CSC, but it will eventually be able to support speeds up to 100Gbps for network operators (useful for future 8Gbps FTTP broadband products), although speeds that high aren’t due to enter the pilot phase until May 2027 (here). Openreach currently has separate Cablelink products to support their leased line and broadband (GEA) products, but they intend to consolidate these.

Existing EAD and Cablelink services will continue to be supplied and supported once the new EAD 2.0 and CSC products launch. Ofcom’s recent Telecoms Access Review 2026 (TAR) also made clear that the products “should be initially priced on a fair and reasonable basis“. The regulator said that post-pilot they would be “likely” to include EAD 2.0 under their conditions for operators with significant market power (i.e. it would become subject to the same sort of charge controls as EAD).