UK's biggest ever landline set to 'switch off' in major change - are you one of the 1.6 million homes affected?
It is the UK's biggest provider of landlines and broadband.
But BT's Openreach has now announced a major change that will affect 1.6 million homes around the country.
The company, which provides infrastructure to most of the UK, will soon 'switch off' traditional landlines.
That means millions of people will no longer be able to sign up for or use outdated copper networks.
Openreach has now issued a 'stop sell' notice for 163 new locations in the UK.
That notice means communications companies like BT, Sky, TalkTalk, and Vodafone that use its network will be forced to move customers over to the new network.
As Openreach explains: 'Stop Sell is triggered when a majority (75 per cent) of premises connected to a particular exchange can get ultrafast Full Fibre.'
Customers who want to switch, upgrade, or re-grade their broadband will have to take on a new digital service with Openreach's full-fibre network.
New locations affected by a Stop Sell notification include major cities such as Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Colchester, Nottingham, Greater London, and Liverpool.
From the start of June, stop sell notices will have been activated in 943 locations in the UK, covering more than eight million homes.
This makes up around 44 per cent of Openreach's total full fibre footprint.
Any customers in the affected areas who aren't yet able to connect to full fibre won't see their services change and will still be able to use the copper network until full fibre is made available.
Traditional landlines will not be disconnected by the switch.
Instead, landlines will be switched over to using digital voice calls, which connect over the internet rather than traditional cables.
An Openreach spokesperson told MailOnline: 'Customers in these exchanges not yet able to get Ultrafast Full Fibre at their premises won't be impacted and can stay on their existing copper-based service until Full Fibre does become available.
'When end customers in these stop sell exchange areas sign up for a new contract - or when they switch, upgrade or re-grade their service via their provider - they'll be moved onto a new digital line over Full Fibre.
'Otherwise, they can carry on with their existing service.'
Openreach also insists this won't directly impact customers' broadband bills since the company is not responsible for price setting.
'We don't set the broadband prices that our communication provider customers charge their end customers,' the spokesperson says.
While the change in service will mean people get faster broadband connections, some have expressed concerns that the move could affect older residents.
In a Zen Internet survey, 66 per cent of respondents said they felt these elderly individuals might feel more isolated as a result of the move to digital.
Richard Tang, chief executive of Zen Internet, said in a statement that care needed to be taken to ensure people were not left behind, as their research showed millions of people were 'unaware' of the switch off.
Mr Tang added: 'While the transition may seem daunting, you can still have a landline service and keep your landline number, but this will be provided digitally by your broadband provider.'
Likewise, the government has taken steps to identify 'vulnerable' customers who might be negatively impacted by the change.
These vulnerable customers are defined as people who might experience: 'A heightened sense of anxiety, stress or loneliness as part of the migration, where additional support and protection is required to mitigate or avoid the risk of these outcomes occurring.'
Last year, Telecoms Minister Sir Chris Bryant told MailOnline that landlines 'are vital for many people, including the most vulnerable', and the fear of people being left isolated by the switchover 'keeps me up at night.'
According to an agreement signed by telecom companies, any 'vulnerable' customers will be able to have an engineer visit their home to support them through the transition.
The engineer will then test any telecare devices before leaving to ensure they are still working.
If any issue occurs, there is the option to return the household to their old landline until this can be fixed, if no alternative is available.
And vulnerable households will be given back-up devices to protect them in the case of a power cut or internet outage - with firms pledging to ensure this exceeds Ofcom's minimum recommendation that such devices provide one hour of battery power.
The advantage of the change is that fibre optic cables can carry significantly more information, allowing for faster internet connections.
Copper wires can only sustain maximum download speeds of around 7 megabytes per second (mbps), while fibre optic cables can sustain speeds up to 1,000 mbps.
It is important to note that the Stop Sell notice only comes into effect in areas where the vast majority of people have already stopped using outdated copper connections.
James Lilley, Openreach's managed customer migrations manager, says: 'We're moving to a digital world and Openreach is helping with that transformation by rolling out ultrafast, ultra-reliable and future-proofed digital full fibre across the UK.
'The stop sell programme is a critical part of ensuring that the UK's communication infrastructure is ready to meet the demands of the future.'
'Taking advantage of the progress of our full fibre build and encouraging people to upgrade where a majority can access our new network is the right thing to do as it makes no sense, both operationally and commercially, to keep the old copper network and our new fibre network running side-by-side.'
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