Openreach calls on CSPs to help formulate full-fibre strategy

Openreach has opened a six-week consultation seeking views from the industry on how best to upgrade consumers to full-fibre broadband.

National broadband network builder Openreach is canvassing the views of its communication service provider (CSP) customers – such as BT, TalkTalk and Sky – to help build its strategy around transitioning consumers from copper-based broadband to full fibre broadband services.

Openreach said that unlike previous industry transitions – such as the digital TV switchover in the 2000s – the process of upgrading broadband connections to full-fibre was somewhat more complex in that it requires physical connections to be made to individual properties and necessitates substantial industry investment.

It therefore wants to understand how best to build its network, how the industry should migrate customers onto full-fibre, and how and when it might be able to switch off its copper network.