Ofcom has cleared another major regulatory hurdle for the retirement of the UK’s copper broadband network, allowing Openreach greater pricing flexibility from 1 April 2029 once ultrafast coverage reaches 90 percent of premises in qualifying exchange areas.
Credit Freepik
The decision comes as full fibre reaches 82 percent of UK homes, Openreach expands its FTTP network to 23.4 million premises, and fibre take-up and broadband ARPU improve. Together, the figures show that the UK broadband market is moving from large-scale fibre construction towards customer migration, network utilisation and eventual copper shutdown, Natalie Black, Ofcom’s Group Director for Infrastructure and Connectivity, at Connected Britain, said.
Here are the key facts behind the transition.
1. Ofcom Lowers Copper Retirement Threshold to 90%
Under the existing framework, Openreach generally needs ultrafast broadband — speeds above 300 Mbit/s — to cover 100 percent of premises in an exchange area before the second stage of copper deregulation can be triggered.
Ofcom will now allow Openreach to exclude up to 10 percent of premises, effectively reducing the coverage requirement to 90 percent from 1 April 2029, subject to the other regulatory conditions being satisfied.
The change is intended to make copper retirement commercially achievable without requiring Openreach to reach every difficult or exceptionally expensive property before progressing.
2. Full Fibre Already Reaches 82% of UK Homes
The decision reflects how far Britain’s fibre transformation has progressed.
Nearly 25 million UK homes, or 82 percent, have access to full fibre, while around 27 million, or 89 percent, can access gigabit-capable broadband. Around 47 percent of premises where full fibre is available are taking a fibre service.
Ofcom argues that moving customers away from legacy infrastructure is essential to realise the benefits of fibre investment and eliminate the cost of operating copper and fibre networks simultaneously.
3. Openreach FTTP Network Reaches 23.4 Million Premises
Openreach’s own fibre footprint reached 23.4 million premises by June 2026, following the addition of another 514,000 premises during the quarter.
The company is targeting 25 million premises by December 2026 and has a longer-term ambition to reach as many as 30 million premises by 2030.
BT Q1 FY27 results and Openreach fibre update
The expanding footprint makes retirement of the parallel copper infrastructure increasingly important to Openreach’s network economics.
4. Openreach Invested £3.17 Billion in FY26
Openreach capital expenditure increased 12 percent to £3.171 billion in FY2025-26, compared with £2.838 billion in the previous financial year, reflecting continued FTTP construction and customer connections.
Openreach generated £6.19 billion in revenue, up 1 percent, while adjusted EBITDA increased 5 percent to £4.225 billion.
At BT Group level, capital expenditure excluding spectrum is expected to fall to around £4.2 billion-£4.3 billion in FY27 as the peak period of FTTP construction begins to moderate.
The transition therefore increasingly shifts the strategic focus from simply building fibre to monetising the fibre already deployed.
5. FTTP Connections Reach 9.4 Million as Take-Up Hits 40%
Openreach had 9.4 million connected FTTP premises by June 2026 after adding a record 574,000 net connections during the quarter.
FTTP take-up reached a record 40 percent, compared with 36 percent a year earlier.
Higher take-up is critical because every migration increases utilisation of Openreach’s fibre assets while bringing the company closer to the point where maintaining its legacy copper infrastructure becomes unnecessary.
6. Openreach Broadband ARPU Rises 7% to £17.70
Improving fibre penetration is also supporting Openreach’s financial performance.
Broadband ARPU increased 7 percent year on year to £17.70 during the June 2026 quarter, helped by higher FTTP penetration, customers adopting faster broadband packages and pricing.
That compares with average broadband ARPU of £16.70 in FY26, itself 4 percent higher, and £16.00 in FY25.
Rising wholesale ARPU alongside increasing FTTP take-up strengthens the business case for moving customers from legacy copper connections to fibre.
7. Fibre Now Generates More Than Half of BT Broadband Revenue
BT has reached another important commercial milestone: fibre accounted for more than half of its broadband revenue for the first time during the June 2026 quarter.
BT’s retail FTTP base increased by 1.1 million connections year on year to 4.8 million, comprising approximately 4.5 million Consumer connections and 300,000 Business connections.
FTTP now represents 54 percent of BT Consumer’s broadband base, demonstrating that fibre has moved from being a growth technology to the dominant access technology within BT’s consumer broadband operation.
8. BT Broadband Churn Remains Low at 1.1%
Despite strong competition in the UK broadband market, BT Consumer broadband churn remained stable at 1.1 percent in the June quarter.
Consumer broadband ARPU stood at £40.90, down 2 percent year on year, mainly because of lower voice revenue. Broadband customers increased by 1,000, while postpaid mobile customers rose by 13,000 and TV customers increased by 9,000.
Stable churn is significant because BT and Openreach must migrate millions of customers onto fibre without creating an opportunity for competitors to capture a disproportionate share of those users.
9. Openreach Is Still Losing Hundreds of Thousands of Broadband Lines
Openreach nevertheless faces considerable infrastructure competition.
Its broadband base fell by 192,000 lines during the June 2026 quarter, and BT expects Openreach broadband line losses of approximately 800,000 during FY27, following a decline of 825,000 in FY26.
This is one reason Ofcom has sought to balance faster copper retirement against competition. Alternative fibre operators need sufficient opportunity to win customers as households migrate away from legacy networks.
Several consultation respondents argued that rapid migration caused by higher copper wholesale prices could favour Openreach FTTP before alternative networks have sufficient opportunity to compete.
10. Consumer Price Protection Will Continue During Copper Migration
Ofcom’s decision does not give Openreach unrestricted freedom to increase broadband wholesale prices.
Where FTTP is unavailable, existing charge controls on copper-based broadband will remain. Where copper charge controls are removed, regulated protection shifts to the FTTP 80/20 anchor product.
Ofcom acknowledges that some customers remaining on copper could face higher retail prices once wholesale pricing flexibility begins, particularly vulnerable consumers who may require longer to migrate. The 1 April 2029 implementation date is partly intended to give Openreach and broadband providers additional time to manage these migrations.
UK Broadband Enters the Fibre Monetisation Phase
Ofcom’s copper decision signals an important change in the economics of UK broadband.
Openreach has invested £3.17 billion in FY26, expanded FTTP to 23.4 million premises, connected 9.4 million, achieved 40 percent fibre take-up and lifted broadband ARPU 7 percent to £17.70. Meanwhile, fibre now generates more than half of BT’s broadband revenue.
The challenge is that Openreach is simultaneously losing broadband lines to competing networks, while some customers — particularly vulnerable and harder-to-connect households — remain dependent on legacy infrastructure.
The 90 percent threshold from April 2029 therefore represents a compromise: accelerate migration sufficiently to improve the economics of fibre investment while retaining price protections and allowing infrastructure competition to develop.
The process will not end in 2029. Ofcom says it will consider the conditions for the final stage of copper deregulation ahead of its 2031-36 market review, with its current thinking suggesting that full deregulation could begin from 2031.
BABURAJAN KIZHAKEDATH