Copper Retirement. Will Openreach remove unused lines?

Are Openreach expected to remove old telephone lines as part of Copper Retirement. There is an overhead telephone line coming to my house which I have not used for the past 6 years so I am wondering if Openreach will remove it when they stop PSTN telephone services. The line was only good for 1.3Mbps ADSL.

Just my guess, but no.

Much copper still required for a good while longer yet. FTTC, SOGEA, G.Fast etc

When they retired the copper junction cables they often sold them to firms in situ. So the firms had to recover them. So I would guess that eventually maybe firms could buy area recovery contracts.

If they come to provide Fibre Overhead they will usually remove the old copper.

However a proactive removal of dropwires is unlikely to cost in as the scrap value is low due to the attached insulation. Recovery of cables from Cab to pole may happen for larger cables to give duct space.( or pole space is OH) and Larger cables from Exchange to Cab are likely to cost in on scrap value and duct space reuse. Depends on scrap value for the timing, in a (high price) good year every dodgy scrappy will do it for 'free' (usually overnight) taking every other cable as well!, in a bad year no-one wants it.

I'd imagine the desperate and dim (read those that risk life and limb to get the scrap) would presume that copper telephone drop cable has a worthwhile amount of copper it in. Unlike power cables (although mine is aluminium so they'd be stuffed anyhow!)

P.S. Openreach left my aerial copper drop in a few year ago. I've been patiently waiting for the obverhanging shrubbery to do the job, m but the [censored] is persistent! 😂😎

I used to clear the vegetation away from my telephone line when I needed it to work, but I stopped doing this a few years ago and it is now well concealed. When I can no longer use it, I would quite like to get rid of it.

I live in an area where we have Gigaclear fibre, but no Openreach fibre. I do wonder what will happen to properties that don't use Gigaclear when the PSTN is switched off.

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

I live in an area where we have Gigaclear fibre, but no Openreach fibre. I do wonder what will happen to properties that don't use Gigaclear when the PSTN is switched off.

FTTC etc. will still be using the copper, as Zarjaz said in the first reply. PSTN is purely the Openreach phone network. Replacement phone services will be provided over broadband wherever possible. VOIP by various names, BT calls it Digital Voice. Look at bt.com packages.

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

I do wonder what will happen to properties that don't use Gigaclear when the PSTN is switched off.

Don't think of the copper wire as a "phone line", think of it as a copper wire. Openreach will keep running data (FTTC) over the copper wire to allow a VoIP phone service. PSTN switch off is just removing some kit at the exchange.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

I live in an area where we have Gigaclear fibre, but no Openreach fibre. I do wonder what will happen to properties that don't use Gigaclear when the PSTN is switched off.

FTTC etc. will still be using the copper, as Zarjaz said in the first reply. PSTN is purely the Openreach phone network. Replacement phone services will be provided over broadband wherever possible. VOIP by various names, BT calls it Digital Voice. Look at bt.com packages.

There is no FTTC. The cable to the cabinet would be about 5km and I don't think the cabinet was upgraded to FTTC.

You are being obscure.

You can get ADSL, (or ADSL2+ ?) from what you said earlier. Anyone who can do that can also get the "VOIP" service. So the loss of PSTN makes no difference to them.

The question of getting decent broadband speeds is completely unrelated to PSTN.

In your particular case the 10Mbps USO requirement kicks in, but if like myself you are using mobile broadband at above 10Mbps that doesn't apply to you. I assume you have checked out whether or not Openreach currently intend to supply FTTP to your area.

I just realised, re your Subject, you start from the wrong place. Copper is not being retired, and won't be for a long time.