Copper Switch Off: Preparing For Ireland’s Move From Copper To Fibre

What have lifts, burglar and fire alarms, car park barriers, health and security monitoring devices, landline phones, boiler controls, CCTV or retail point of sale terminals all got in common?

The answer is that many, many of these everyday devices still rely on copper technology to operate.

It matters because the process of switching copper technology in Ireland is expected to shortly commence. The process will mean that copper broadband, over the coming years, will be switched off, with consumers and businesses transitioning to fibre broadband – a faster, more reliable, resilient and future proofed technology.

As a result, Ireland will experience one of the largest telecommunications’ transformations since Ireland’s first (copper based) telephone exchange opened on Dublin’s Dame Street, with just five subscribers, in 1880. The effects of copper switch off will be larger than just broadband. It will also impact thousands of devices, like those listed above, which still use copper. Once copper is switched off, these devices will need to be upgraded or replaced to continue to operate.

At end 2023, the telecoms regulator, Comreg, set out the framework for copper broadband to be phased out. The EU Commission have also called for the Irish process to be accelerated. Equally, it has published a draft deadline of 2030 for all copper broadband to be turned off across the EU.

 

 

Transition to Fibre Broadband

In Ireland, the commencement of copper switch is linked directly to the successful pace of fibre broadband – with 2-in-3 of all premises now able to access fibre broadband and the remainder on track to do so no later than 2028. In this context, copper switch off must be viewed as a progressive development, albeit one which must be planned for and managed to ensure a positive outcome.

With the clock now ticking down to the end of copper, a detailed process plan which engages key stakeholders; quantifies the extent of the impacts from copper switch off; and ensures a smooth transition, protecting end users has yet to emerge. The stakeholder inputs required for a successful copper switch off are wide. They are spread across all broadband operators and retailers providing broadband services, particularly those rolling out fibre; in addition to security, health, business, consumer and community representatives.

While older and more vulnerable customers are a priority, so too must be business, particularly small businesses. SIRO’s own research shows SMEs have been the slowest sector to switch to fibre – clinging on, to the detriment of their business to copper and often paying above the odds for their lethargy.

Planning for Copper Switch Off

Right now, the issue is not one which is part of the public consciousness. That’s not surprising as, to date, we have just a bare regulatory framework setting out the conditions under which switch off process can commence.

As we get closer to the first areas being switched off, Government, industry and wider interest groups now need to come together and begin to plan. A desktop analysis by SIRO indicates the wide range of areas that we need to plan for from landlines, burglar alarms, health monitor, lifts, car park barriers to retail terminals.

Take just one example, landlines. These will need to migrate to fibre from copper if people want to continue to use them. While many homes now use just their mobile phone, among older generations this is often not the case. For them, the house phone and the landline number they have held for decades, remains the primary means of communication to family and friends. Added to that, many elderly also use their copper landline to support the functioning of independent security and health monitoring devices. The Department of Rural and Community Development, through Pobal, provide 15,000 each year to older people through the Seniors Alert Scheme. The majority remain dependent on copper. Landlines, just one of many examples.

The most effective solution lies in encouraging as many people as possible switch to fibre broadband now, and simultaneously upgrading any household or business devices as part of that migration process. That message needs a greater push. The Government is working to a date of 2028 for a fully fibred Ireland. Yet, with over 60% of premises now fibre enabled, less than half have switched to fibre. More proactive initiatives will be required to migrate all householders. This is where a coordinated National Plan for Copper Switch Off, with a strong public communications element, must step into the vacuum. It’s important not to lose sight of the fact that copper switch off is a hugely positive development for Irish consumers and businesses.

But copper broadband just doesn’t cut it anymore. It cannot meet the demands now placed upon it in an increasingly digital world. Copper can’t provide the bandwidth or higher speeds; meet the greater data needs; or deliver the security and resiliency requirements that fibre broadband can. A full fibre broadband Ireland will ensure that we have the most advanced connectivity in Europe and globally. It unlocks many of the digital innovations which will significantly improves the lives of individuals and communities in areas such as healthcare, education, climate change and cybersecurity.

Copper switch off doesn’t have to be delayed or chaotic but it might be unless we manage this significant technological leap forward in a planned and effective way.

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