In reply to a post by TheEulerID:

We are going to see the same thing when SOGEA starts being used. That will allow ISPs to offer BB without voice, but the costs are not going to be very different at all. At the OR level much the same physical infrastructure costs have to be recovered (except, maybe as "spares" for bad E-side pairs). The passive infrastructure is still there, and there's no meaningful way any part of the E-side copper can be recovered.

I'm not sure there'll be any saving from the E-side at all.

Right now, BT has test equipment in the exchange, and it tests the full length of the connection as part of any fault analysis.

When SOGEA arrives, the requirement to test the copper line will still exist, and I'm not aware of any feature in the DSLAM that can test the D-side. That means testing will continue to require a fully-functioning E-side.

Regarding recovering/removing the E-side, many don't seem to realise that although each subscriber has an individual pair, that is one pair in a multi-way cable, which may be 100+ pairs.

So unless every subscriber in that multi-way cable, upgrades to VDSL, it can not be removed as it is providing various levels of service to all the other subscribers in degree.

Given that upgrades at present are somewhere between 20% to 30% after about 8 years of VDSL, it appears that it will be many years, if ever, that BT OR can even start to envisage such removal.

And that is not taking in to consideration the legal side, to maintain basic phone services.