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Network operator Openreach (BT) are testing a relaxation of their FTTP broadband Priority Exchange Stop Sell rules and Copper line re-arrangement in the Kenton Road Exchange area. This is one of the three exchanges taking part in their initial pilot project to test approaches, before eventually closing c.4,600 of their legacy exchanges from 2030 onwards.
At present Openreach operates around 5,600 UK exchanges, but only c. 1,000 of those are used to provide nationwide coverage of modern “fibre broadband” based services (FTTC, FTTP etc.) – the Openreach Handover Points (OHPs). However, the rollout of full fibre (FTTP), combined with the retirement of copper lines and legacy services (ADSL, WLR etc.), will make it economically unviable to support both the old and new exchanges.
The operator thus has a long-term plan for closing the other 4,600 exchanges – known as the Exchange Exit Programme, which starts with their initial pilot of 3 exchanges (ongoing at Deddington, Ballyclare and Kenton Road) and then extends to an initial closure of 105 “priority exchanges” by 2030, with the rest gradually following over later years.
The highly complex process to close an exchange and migrate customers typically takes around 4-7 years (depending upon the complexity of each exchange) – starting with a Stop Sell of old products and eventually ending with everything being switched off (Openreach and ISPs then remove their physical equipment over the following few months).
What’s happening in Kenton Road?
The Kenton Road exchange in Greater London (Boroughs of Harrow and Brent) serves around 9,500 premises and is currently due to reach the final product switch-off stage on 30th November 2025 (existing equipment will then be removed / decommissioned by 31st May 2026). At present broadband and phone providers are thus still busy migrating customers across from copper to all-IP (internet protocol) based services.
However, Openreach has decided to tweak their approach to the Kenton Road exchange in order to better understand how other measures might assist in the conversations with customers, which could help in migrating lines before the November deadline.
At present ISPs on the exchange can only move customers to FTTP broadband lines where they’re available on the network. But Openreach are introducing a temporary change that will give ISPs the option to migrate customers to their SOGEA lines as well (i.e. standalone FTTC broadband on copper lines).
The above approach is considered to be an easier sell to end customers, as they won’t normally need an engineer’s appointment (depending on what kit they already have at home). But Openreach’s system will only allow these SOGEA orders between 1st August and 3rd November 2025, which should then be fulfilled by mid-November – just before the official switch-off date for the exchange.
Finally, for copper re-arrangement, Openreach are looking to understand more about which lines cannot move to a more modern all-IP product or even be ceased by the end of November (a very small number of lines). The most likely examples of this could be those edge cases, such as non-responsive customers with incompatible telecare alarms (vulnerable users).
The operator will look at these on a case-by-case basis and may consider re-arranging their copper lines to connect them to the nearby Kingsbury Exchange instead. The pilot is thus trying to consider the level of demand and viability of this approach (such re-arrangements can be complex and costly).
The purpose of any trial and pilot is to test and understand things like this, so it’s good to see Openreach testing how they’ll handle the most difficult cases, which will invariably only crop up toward the end of an exchange closure. All of this will help to inform their approach for the first big batch of 105 closures, which is due to follow the initial pilot.