UK Loosens Copper Price Controls to Boost Fibre Adoption
British communications regulator Ofcom has announced new guidelines for the retirement of Openreach's ageing copper network. The move will allow Openreach to start raising wholesale prices for its copper connections from April 2029 in areas where full-fibre services are available and ultra-fast broadband coverage exceeds 90% of premises.
Ofcom said this change is intended to encourage customers onto full-fibre networks as Britain transitions away from legacy copper-based broadband services. As of early 2026, full-fibre availability has surged to around 85-82% of UK premises, with gigabit access hitting 90-91%, underpinning the regulator's confidence to loosen copper price controls.
However, customers without fibre access will remain protected through existing charge controls where full-fibre services are not yet available. This means that Openreach can only increase copper wholesale charges in areas where fibre is widely available.