Local Boroadband upgrade and copper network switch off

[Davedee]

I am located near Cambridge. I received the following email:

We recently contacted you about the broadband network in your area being upgraded as part of the national copper network switch‍-‍off. Your current Broadband and Talk service — which is delivered through an old copper network — will be switched off from August 2026. To stay connected, you’ll need to explore your options for moving to a Broadband and Talk service on the new technology.

Does anyone know what the likely options will be for this address please and what is involved?

Thankyou

David

David

[Chrisee · Accepted solution]

@Davedee full fibre is acsignificant upgrade both in enabling potentially faster speeds but equally importantly on better reliability. You can normally switch for free if you do not want to increase your speed but if you look at the My Sky app you will see whst speeds are available at your address but on most lines you can go up to 900Mb/s while partial fibre tops out at 80Mb/s. 

You will need a new line run to your home which in most cases is fairly straightforward but can be complex if ghe line is delivered under ground or runs across neighbouring properties. The new line is run to a small external connection box this is connected by a cable which runs through the external wall to where a new ONT box is fitted. This page outlines the process https://www.openreach.com/help-and-support/full-fibre-broadband-installation-checklist#accordion-40d... the process is the same if its a Sky engineer doing the work.

Few things to remember improving speed to the hub will not dolve issues with lousy WiFi in your home and indeed if the hub is moved WiFi can actually be worse requiring the use of WiFi extenders. The engineers will try to mert your requirements but the time is limited so try to be flexible. Your existing copper phone wiring stops working and your landline phone plugs into the hub instead.

[Cottis]

Be careful.  Do you have any messages from Sky within your actual account?  You should have something available in your online account if they are emailing you.  I have been getting bombared by telephone calls claiming they need to change my line.  I spoke directly to Sky and they said there is no definitive date for changeover from Copper networks but it is in the pipeline.  

Anyhow, today I have received an email trying to get me to call them but the domain name is .sky rather than sky.com.  I am almost sure it yet another spam effort.

Be careful.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Cottis wrote:

I spoke directly to Sky and they said there is no definitive date for changeover from Copper networks but it is in the pipeline.  

The urgency is about the end of PSTN (analogue voice calls) in January 2027 rather than the wider project of replacing copper with fibre.

Ofcom requires all ISPs on the national Openreach network to make their subscribers aware that to retain voice service they'll need to move to either SoGEA FTTC (where available) or FTTP during the second half of 2026, which is why you are being 'bombarded'.

Unfortunately at addresses in locations where Sky is unable to order SoGEA FTTC and there's no Openreach or CityFibre FTTP within reach Sky Broadband service will cease entirely so it's really rather important.

Anyhow, today I have received an email trying to get me to call them but the domain name is .sky rather than sky.com.  I am almost sure it yet another spam effort.

.sky is a legitimate TLD (Top Level Domain) owned and operated by Sky Group and used, rather confusingly, for such communication as well as corporate messaging.

https://www.skygroup.sky/about/ 

(note the domain name here ; )

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[Davedee]

Thanks very much for the heads up. Very much appreciated. I think you are correct and this is a spam email.

[Chrisee]

@Davedee Skybhave been sending similar emails to customers to encourage switching. If you do not use any numbers or links in the email but log into the My Sky app or website you should becable to check under the My Messages section.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Davedee wrote:

I think you are correct and this is a spam email.

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Unfortunately it's almost certainly legitimate.

[Cottis]

It is confusing.  I logged in to my Sky account and could see no sign of any communication, so i called them.

They could not confirm if the email had been sent or not but did say that they are going through certain areas and organising the relevant upgrades with regards to the switching off of copper lines etc.  What I have now been told, is that a new router is being sent out and in a few weeks, it will handle new fibre which isn't currently available but apparently will be at some point in the near future and this new router will handle the short term old copper and the new fibre when/if it arrives.

The issue is the lack of all round knowledge from Sky employees.  Which is not their fault but in an age where spam and scams are so rife, it is natural for people to be cautious.  When they then contact Sky directly and still are not told definitively what is going on, then it adds to the confusion.  Today I have been given proper information but I called them a few weeks ago about this when I was getting lots of calls (Sky normally always send emails regarding end of contract stuff or upgrades etc) from impatient people trying to get an engineer out to change random stuff.  Now turns out I don't need an engineer.

Basically not very organised.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Cottis wrote:

They could not confirm if the email had been sent or not but did say that they are going through certain areas and organising the relevant upgrades with regards to the switching off of copper lines etc. 

Unfortunately it's really common to see the end of PSTN and the replacement of copper with fibre being conflated: these aren't actually the same thing (and on the original timetable PSTN would already have ceased by now)

What I have now been told, is that a new router is being sent out and in a few weeks, it will handle new fibre which isn't currently available but apparently will be at some point in the near future and this new router will handle the short term old copper and the new fibre when/if it arrives.

That's approximately correct: a legacy Q Hub cannot handle VoIP, so a Sky Broadband Hub or Max Hub is required for SoGEA FTTC.  These are also the Hub models for FTTP through the addition of an ethernet cable 'Conversion Kit'.

The issue is the lack of all round knowledge from Sky employees.  Which is not their fault but in an age where spam and scams are so rife, it is natural for people to be cautious.  When they then contact Sky directly and still are not told definitively what is going on, then it adds to the confusion.  

Certainly, but unfortunately a known side-effect of employing contact centre staff on low wages and then over-burdening them, with consequent high turnover of personnel: this is far from unique to Sky.

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