By Chris Thomas | 28 January 2026
Openreach has now placed stop-sell restrictions on traditional services across more than 1,281 exchanges, meaning that in many areas you can no longer order or modify copper based broadband or phone lines. As a result, many organisations are now reviewing their connectivity choices – particularly whether FTTP or Business Ethernet is the better investment for the years ahead.
This shift is part of the national move toward full fibre and digital voice services, ahead of the PSTN shutdown in January 2027.
To check if this could affect you in the near future, use their online postcode checker tool here.
FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) delivers fibre directly to your site. It offers ultrafast speeds and is widely available thanks to Openreach’s rapid rollout. However, FTTP is a contended service, meaning you share bandwidth with others in your area, which may cause variation in performance during peak times.
Business Ethernet provides a dedicated, uncontended connection straight from your premises into the network. It’s designed for reliability, offering symmetrical speeds and guaranteed performance suitable for real-time cloud services, UCaaS, and mission-critical applications.
FTTP offers impressive download speeds (up to and beyond 1 Gbps), but uploads are typically slower, and performance can fluctuate with local usage.
Business Ethernet delivers symmetrical speeds with predictable low latency – ideal for video conferencing, VoIP, large data transfers, and cloud-hosted environments. Click here to learn more about this.
FTTP generally operates on a best-effort basis, meaning repairs and uptime guarantees are limited.
Business Ethernet includes robust Service Level Agreements, often guaranteeing uptime and rapid fault resolution within hours – not days.
With analogue lines retiring, voice calls will move to IP-based solutions. Unlike copper lines, digital voice services rely on local power, meaning they may not function in a power cut unless backup options are in place.
Ofcom now requires providers to ensure at least one hour of emergency access, typically via a battery backup or mobile alternative. This is particularly important for sites relying on landlines for alarms, lift phones, or emergency contact.
Openreach’s stop-sell programme continues to expand across the country, preventing new copper orders wherever FTTP coverage exceeds 75%. (Check your local status using Openreach’s fibre checker.)
Meanwhile, the PSTN and ISDN will be fully withdrawn by 31 January 2027, and businesses are strongly encouraged to migrate well ahead of the deadline to avoid lastminute disruption.
If FTTP isn’t yet available at your address, SoGEA provides a copper-free alternative until full fibre arrives.
With the copper switch-off accelerating and digital-only services becoming the standard, Business Ethernet offers futureproof reliability that many organisations now view as essential rather than optional.
Bistech can help assess your current connectivity, plan your transition to all-IP services, and recommend the best options for your sites – whether FTTP, Ethernet, or a hybrid approach.
Book a call with our team today to build a futureproof connectivity strategy tailored to your needs.
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