Copper Switch-off Advice fro Customer Serviceh

[PhilTheDoc]

I have FTTC, out in the sticks. The fastest download speed I can get is 38 Mbps. I was just cold-called by Sky, to be told that I need to change my broadband router and package because of the copper switch-off in August 2026 in my area. Initially it all seems very sensible - I'm getting what he called a "Sky Hub 4.2" which I'm guessing has VoIP capabilities. The guy talking to me made it all sound reasonable, although I don't quite understand why I have to pay £10 (instead of £100 he said) for someone to do something at the exchange - never mind, it won't break the bank. 

But here's the thing - he told me my house was going to be connected wirelessly to the exchange - that the copper wires to my house won't be used anymore and will be disconnected in the green FTTC cabinet down the road. He said the new Sky Hub will do the wireless connecting to the exchange! When I asked how this was technologically possible, and what sort of enormous transmitter/receiver would they have to install on my house to wirelessly replace the copper all the way to the exchange, he had to go talk to his manager. When he came back he conceded that the wireless connection from my house was only to the green cabinet, not all the way to the exchange. He still didn't understand that this was impossible. He didn't seem to realise that I will still need VDSL2 for my broadband - he felt that it was all going to be completely different and that I need all new kit (I currently use a Vigor modem + a Synology router - I stopped using the Sky router years ago). In the end I gave up trying to talk sense into him and just accepted what he was offering, which seemed to be the same broadband package that ought to be £3 more but he was kindly leaving it at my current cost.

I'm pretty sure this was all about the copper switch-off and the need for VoIP, but I was a bit concerned how confused he was, and what a conversation such as this would do to someone like my 96 year old mother who uses the Internet (although mercifully not with Sky).

Anyone else had an odd conversation like this? BTW it was definitely genuine Sky, as I've been receiving emails about my new same-price package.

[TimmyBGood]

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@PhilTheDoc wrote:

I have FTTC, out in the sticks. The fastest download speed I can get is 38 Mbps. I was just cold-called by Sky, to be told that I need to change my broadband router and package because of the copper switch-off in August 2026 in my area. Initially it all seems very sensible - I'm getting what he called a "Sky Hub 4.2" which I'm guessing has VoIP capabilities.

That's essentially correct, although it's PSTN being switched off, not copper.  Q Hubs and earlier Sky routers cannot support Sky Talk Internet Calls because they don't contain an Analogue Telephone Adapter or an appropriate socket for a handset.

The guy talking to me made it all sound reasonable, although I don't quite understand why I have to pay £10 (instead of £100 he said) for someone to do something at the exchange - never mind, it won't break the bank. 

Typically a fee.  Might be negotiable: irrespective of PSTN switch off, Sky needs to get earlier router models of the national network because they don't meet recently revised security standards for internet gateway devices.

But here's the thing - he told me my house was going to be connected wirelessly to the exchange - that the copper wires to my house won't be used anymore and will be disconnected in the green FTTC cabinet down the road. He said the new Sky Hub will do the wireless connecting to the exchange! When I asked how this was technologically possible, and what sort of enormous transmitter/receiver would they have to install on my house to wirelessly replace the copper all the way to the exchange, he had to go talk to his manager. When he came back he conceded that the wireless connection from my house was only to the green cabinet, not all the way to the exchange.

Absolute, complete nonsense.  To be charitable , possibly the result of reading an AI hallucination, I suppose, generated in the misguided belief that it's use of copper that's ending.

There's unfortunately a widespread myth that PSTN switch-off (still currently scheduled for January 2027) is the same thing as the end of copper circuits being used for data transit, which is very far from true: the Openreach target for end December 2026 is 85% FTTP coverage.

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[TimmyBGood]

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@PhilTheDoc wrote:

In the end I gave up trying to talk sense into him and just accepted what he was offering, which seemed to be the same broadband package that ought to be £3 more but he was kindly leaving it at my current cost.

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I'd strongly suggest keeping an eye on your bills: it sounds suspiciously like you've been signed up for the WiFi Max subscription supplement and that's a monthly extra cost.

[PhilTheDoc]

Good advice, thanks. I'lldo that.