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Why is a big portion of London not in Openreach's FTTP build plan yet?

No. December 2026 is the date they want all their traditional phone lines switched off.
Actually it's December 2025 for the PSTN switch-off. Less than 2 years to go.

December 2026 is the target date for 25 million homes and businesses FTTP coverage (about 85%).
I’m not on their plans for a pre-2026 FTTP Build.
That doesn't mean you won't get it before end of 2026. Every few months Openreach announce new batches of exchange areas added to their plans. It's not like they've planned everything already.
 
Actually it's December 2025
Oops, sorry you're right.
I keep typing 2026 Since the plan is to be off by '26, and December 2025 is basically the deadline.

I hate to think how many times I have probably wrote it wrong in this forum now!
 
Actually it's December 2025 for the PSTN switch-off. Less than 2 years to go.

December 2026 is the target date for 25 million homes and businesses FTTP coverage (about 85%).
Is this really gonna happen? So much of that map is blank.

That doesn't mean you won't get it before end of 2026. Every few months Openreach announce new batches of exchange areas added to their plans. It's not like they've planned everything already.
But what if you're in a not colored exchange? First it has to turn black, then orange, then blue, etc. that's at least a 2-year process, no? Probably more. I guess possible by end of 2026 if the exchange gets targeted in the next 6 months.
 
Swift mooch at some London boroughs on TBB indicates 17.4% Openreach FTTP in Brent, 25.2% Harrow, 15.4% Haringey, 11% Barnet for instance.

They can get to the 25 million without doing much more in London. There's a fair amount of altnet coverage in London but said altnets have paused or dramatically slowed build and Openreach will be happy for the contractors being available.

A fair few other metropolitan areas are above 70% full fibre, with Coventry at over 95%, 78% Openreach, 85% CityFibre. Birmingham just over 60%, Manchester over 70%, Leeds 85%. My 'significant rural' metropolitan area is at 82% and rising, Openreach 64%.

I wonder if part of the issue with London is that not enough of the folks that would be doing the civils can afford to live in the city?
 
Is this really gonna happen? So much of that map is blank.
85% is by number of properties, not geographical area.

They've already done 12.5m by 7th Dec 2023, and have been building at more than 3m per year. If they can boost that to 4m per year, then 25m by Dec 2026 is achievable.
But what if you're in a not colored exchange? First it has to turn black, then orange, then blue, etc. that's at least a 2-year process, no? Probably more.
Things can change very quickly. Burnley for example had almost zero FTTP, then was announced as a copper stop-sell, and within a year was mostly covered. (The fact that Brsk have built in almost exactly the same areas is surely no coincidence)
 
85% is by number of properties, not geographical area.

They've already done 12.5m by 7th Dec 2023, and have been building at more than 3m per year. If they can boost that to 4m per year, then 25m by Dec 2026 is achievable.

Things can change very quickly. Burnley for example had almost zero FTTP, then was announced as a copper stop-sell, and within a year was mostly covered. (The fact that Brsk have built in almost exactly the same areas is surely no coincidence)
Probably on a 1m a quarter already (so 4m/year) based on last report and progression.
 
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That's encouraging!

Sorry to digress from topic, but are they going to eventually remove all the last-mile copper infrastructure? Meaning the lines going into people's homes from the cabinets all the way to (and including) the master sockets? I don't imagine it'll be economical for them to do so as the labor will cost a lot more than whatever amount of copper they retrieve. But maybe the government will make them do it?

I'm thinking especially about utility poles that will now have both fiber and copper lines hanging from them, essentially doubling the number of cables in the air.
 
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That's encouraging!

Sorry to digress from topic, but are they going to eventually remove all the last-mile copper infrastructure? Meaning the lines going into people's homes from the cabinets all the way to (and including) the master sockets? I don't imagine it'll be economical for them to do so as the labor will cost a lot more than whatever amount of copper they retrieve. But maybe the government will make them do it?

I'm thinking especially about utility poles that will now have both fiber and copper lines hanging from them, essentially doubling the number of cables in the air.
They don't seem to care much about it. Most installers won't even remove the copper line when they deploy FTTP. But at some point posts will be too busy so they will have to remove them.
 
Anecdotally in Hackney / Islington, I'm stunned at how 'aggressive' the rollout of OR and the altnets are. 90% of the time if you see people in hi-vis and a van, digging up a pavement, it's a contractor sorting a duct or fitting cable. Feels like by the end of this year, there will be a major 'switch on' of FTTP and lots of marketing material flying thru letterboxes.
 
Sorry to digress from topic, but are they going to eventually remove all the last-mile copper infrastructure? Meaning the lines going into people's homes from the cabinets all the way to (and including) the master sockets?
It's very unlikely. Like you say, pole loading is likely to be the main issue, but that will only result in OR copper cables being removed at the time OR FTTP is installed. (In some cases they install "hybrid" cables which carry both, but I doubt they'll do that in copper stop sell areas when there's a no-going-back policy in place).

The thicker backbone cables with 50, 100 or more pairs of copper in them are more valuable, but also much harder to remove without damaging other cables in the same ducts (if not in their own sub-ducts). In the very long term it would be nice for them to do this to free up duct space, but as long as there's even one person on an active copper line, they can't.
 
It's very unlikely. Like you say, pole loading is likely to be the main issue, but that will only result in OR copper cables being removed at the time OR FTTP is installed. (In some cases they install "hybrid" cables which carry both, but I doubt they'll do that in copper stop sell areas when there's a no-going-back policy in place).

The thicker backbone cables with 50, 100 or more pairs of copper in them are more valuable, but also much harder to remove without damaging other cables in the same ducts (if not in their own sub-ducts). In the very long term it would be nice for them to do this to free up duct space, but as long as there's even one person on an active copper line, they can't.
Makes sense. Hopefully they will get rid of them eventually. I just hate seeing these ugly thick copper cables everywhere, it's like a cobweb radiating from every utility pole and then when people don't tidy up the cables on their property it's very unsightly too, at least fiber is thinner. TV antennas too, ugly and the coax cables from them also often running down buildings - why do we even have these things anymore, all TV signal should be delivered via fiber and the spectrum should be refarmed for 5G.

Ok rant over.
 
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Makes sense. Hopefully they will get rid of them eventually. I just hate seeing these ugly thick copper cables everywhere, it's like a cobweb radiating from every utility pole and then when people don't tidy up the cables on their property it's very unsightly too, at least fiber is thinner. TV antennas too, ugly and the coax cables from them also often running down buildings - why do we even have these things anymore, all TV signal should be delivered via fiber and the spectrum should be refarmed for 5G.

Ok rant over.
I hear you! No cables visible on my FTTP installation other than the fibre drop from the pole. :cool:
 
Swift mooch at some London boroughs on TBB indicates 17.4% Openreach FTTP in Brent, 25.2% Harrow, 15.4% Haringey, 11% Barnet for instance.

They can get to the 25 million without doing much more in London. There's a fair amount of altnet coverage in London but said altnets have paused or dramatically slowed build and Openreach will be happy for the contractors being available.

A fair few other metropolitan areas are above 70% full fibre, with Coventry at over 95%, 78% Openreach, 85% CityFibre. Birmingham just over 60%, Manchester over 70%, Leeds 85%. My 'significant rural' metropolitan area is at 82% and rising, Openreach 64%.

I wonder if part of the issue with London is that not enough of the folks that would be doing the civils can afford to live in the city?

Is there any government subsidies for urban areas? That might be part of it.

Given you have access to percentages, what is Openreach's Leicester coverage?
 
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