The borough of Richmond Upon Thames is next up to switch from analogue internet connectivity to full fibre in 2025. This comes after Openreach updated its ‘stop sell’ list, a document that gives legacy ISPs a year’s notice to stop offering outdated packages. The borough has been added to this list because full fibre is now available to 75% of its population, reflecting London’s latest step forward in its digital transformation.
London’s Digital Transformation
For years now, London’s local and national governments have committed to making the capital a smart city. This digital transformation is happening in many different services, but internet access is one of its most important battlegrounds. To facilitate this, full fibre services like Openreach have been on a mission to upgrade the nation’s internet infrastructure.
The reason for this transformation is simple – we are relying on the internet and digital technologies more as time goes on. Both individuals and industries depend on the internet to stay informed, communicate with others and source entertainment. There are a lot of entertainment business models like streaming services or digital casino platforms that wouldn’t be able to operate without the internet, existing only on their servers and the screens of their customers. If a user wants to play exciting online slots, they just need a basic internet connection that every ISP in Britain is more than capable of. While casino games might not be intensive, there’s no telling how online services will expand or deepen in the future. So, to avoid certain parts of the UK getting left behind, both urban and rural regions in Britain are doubling down on online infrastructure.
This all means there are deeper, economic incentives to keep every Brit connected to the internet, with the best quality standards available. While Project Gigabit brings internet to the countryside, Openreach has been upgrading the old copper infrastructure that runs through British towns and cities. They’re replacing copper with full fibre networks, raising the bar for the lowest-quality internet connections available.
Openreach’s Stop Sell List Explained
Pushing consumers to accept new services is a delicate balancing act. Providers don’t want to disrupt the users, leave them without internet or otherwise disadvantage them during or after the upgrade process. That’s why the ‘stop sell’ list exists, to facilitate a smoother transition away from wholesale line rental (WLR) and Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) services.
On the 5th of September 2023, a UK-wide stop sell order was put in place to halt the development and sale of new internet connections that rely on phone lines. This is in preparation for when BT retires the PSTN in 2027. That’s where the Fibre-to-the Premises (FTTP) Priority Exchange programme comes in.
This establishes another list of regions that have achieved 75% coverage through Openreach’s new full fibre networks. On reaching 75%, local ISPs are notified that they have a year to wind down legacy internet packages that use those phone lines. Now 79 new places have been added to that list, including London’s Richmond Upon Thames borough.
Richmond Upon Thames is one of the more rural boroughs in the Greater London area, so it lags behind in most internet metrics. Other boroughs like Southwark or Havering may have outpaced it, but the home of Hampton Court Palaces is the other next in line.
