Old landlines will be switched off in 84 new UK areas - is your postcode on the list?

UK landline switch off

Ageing copper wires that have kept homes connected for decades are slowly being made redundant with new fibre cables being switched on instead. Along with improving broadband speeds, the move to Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) technology also means a change to the way we all make phone calls.

Instead of using old analogue wires to ring friends and family, homes will move over to something called VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). This service should improve call quality along with adding new features such as Multi Call and call diversion to any other phone number including mobile phones.

This move to new cables is slowly rolling out across the UK and we now know the next areas that will soon only offer FTTP technology to homes in the future.

BT’s Openreach – which supplies broadband infrastructure across the UK – has confirmed that 84 new locations will be switched to FTTP in the next 12 months.

Once in place, Openreach will then halt the sale of legacy analogue products in more than 880,000 premises across the UK. This will affect suppliers including BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone and Plusnet who all use Openreach cables to supply homes with the web.

“Openreach has today announced a further 84 new exchange locations where the business plans to halt the sale of traditional copper based phone and broadband services to encourage people to upgrade to new digital services over an ultrafast Full Fibre connection,” Openreach confirmed.

Here’s the full list of areas where copper cables are being switched off

Aberdeen Portlethen • Aberdeen • Addingham • Alderminster • Appleton Roebuck • Ashington (Northumberland) • Greater Manchester – Wigan • Sheffield • Greater London – Barking and Dagenham • Doncaster • Bishop Auckland • Bridgend • Burnham-on-Sea • Glasgow • Buxton (High Peak) • Carlisle • Gillingham (Kent) • Chesterfield • Trefor • Coalville • Heage • Rippingale • Saintfield • Rugby • Greater Manchester – Manchester • Leicester • Exeter • Flamborough • Ispwich • Grimsby • Rayleigh • Cannock • Houghton-le-Spring • Huddersfield • Ilkeston • Ilkley • Kidsgrove • Luton • Leven • Haywards Heath • Llanbrynmair • Cardiff • Wakefield • Mareham le Fen • Chatham • Moore • Greater Manchester – Tameside • Motherwell • Greater London – Southwark • New Mills • South Cave • North Kelsey • Greater Manchester – Oldham • Penistone • Pontardawe • Raunds • Rearsby • Craigavon • Ross-on-Wye • Rotherfield • Chelmsford • Rugby • Scotter • Scunthorpe • Sherburn (County Durham) • Skegness • Solihull • Blackpool • Southend-on-Sea • Stotfold • Stratford-upon-Avon • Antrim • Leicester • Torquay • Tregynon • Ellington (Northumberland) • Bradford • Greater London – Havering • Waltham on the Wolds • Rotherham • Brighton and Hove

Speaking about the update, James Lilley, Openreach’s Managed Customer Migrations Manager, said: “We’re moving to a digital world and Openreach is helping with that transformation by rolling out ultrafast, ultra-reliable, and future-proofed digital Full Fibre across the UK. This game changing technology will become the backbone of our economy for decades to come, supporting every aspect of our public services, businesses, industries and daily lives.”

Although the move will be positive for those wanting better downloads, it has left some worried about how they will keep in touch. Some homes remain unconnected to the internet whilst others have voiced worries about times when the internet goes offline.

VOIP needs the web to work so if there’s an outage it’s possible homes won’t be able to stay in touch unless they also own a smartphone. This could leave more vulnerable Brits at risk in an emergency.

The UK government recently stepped in to make sure suppliers will keep all users connected with ministers saying the new agreement with telecoms firms will better protect those using personal alarms, known as telecare, which offer remote support to elderly, disabled, and vulnerable people – with many located in rural and isolated areas.

“The safety of vulnerable customers comes before anything else and that’s why I called on the industry to listen to concerns and take action to make sure the right protections are in place,” said Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan.