European telcos will miss copper switch-off targetsEuropean telcos will miss copper switch-off targets

The European telecoms regulators' industry body this week shared the findings of a recent survey into the copper shut-down process across the continent. The bottom line is that while the EU is keen to have 100% of copper lines switched off by 2030, only a handful of national regulators believe that deadline is achievable.

Specifically, when asked about the 2030 target, just 10 regulators – eight of which operate in EU member states – predicted that it could be reached on time. The picture is similar for an interim milestone, that's 80% of lines switched off by 2028. These targets were mooted by the European Commission in a white paper earlier this year as part of its drive towards meeting its Digital Decade goals, which include full gigabit connectivity – essentially fibre – and 5G networks in all populated areas by 2030, as if we could forget.

"Such a clear roadmap for copper switch-off would support the 2030 connectivity targets and send a strong signal for investors that there is a clear path towards a return on investment in fibre networks," the Commission's paper reads.

One country, Belgium, shared a significantly longer projected timeframe for copper switch-off. It expects to hit the 80% mark by 2034 and 100% by 2040.

But most, the remaining 21 national regulators surveyed, couldn't even hazard a guess as to when the copper might go in their markets.

"The European Commission's White Paper on How to Master Europe's Digital Infrastructure Needs sets uniform targets for all Member States that may be overly ambitious, as some countries face greater challenges than others, including a lack of sufficient civil engineering infrastructure and weather conditions," BEREC said, summarising its findings.

In addition to highlighting the progress made by European markets down the copper switch-off path – and there has been some in the two years since its last report, although clearly not enough – BEREC's paper highlights the need for appropriate levels of end user protection as legacy networks are closed down. Such protections include adequate notice periods and end-user information, as well as the availability of alternative access products at a comparable price.

Indeed, the technical challenges of turning off copper are secondary to more human issues, the BEREC report explains.

Operators are keen to avoid forcing users to migrate away from copper, which has caused some delay in the process.

"In almost all countries where at least some parts of the copper network have been switched-off, a few percent of end users had to be forcibly switched off, leading some countries to postpone some switch-off steps," BEREC said.

The UK is not included in the report, but it seems pertinent to use it as an example, given that the government, incumbent operator BT and other telcos are currently grappling with this very issue. Just last month they finally hammered out an agreement to safeguard vulnerable customers – specifically telecare users – during the migration to Digital Voice, a process that BT has had to delay by a year, pushing back its deadline to January 2027 from end-2025.

BEREC notes that giving users longer notice periods and communicating with them more effectively has had a positive impact in this area.

Pushing all customers on to fibre was never going to be an easy process but, as intimated above, its one the EU is driving hard on, given its desire to be able to crow about gigabit connectivity across the bloc.

That's why the copper switch-off is so important, and why this BEREC report, which is open for public consultation until the end of January, will not make for great reading in Brussels.