Full fibre broadband explained: FTTP, part fibre, cable and copper compared

What is broadband, and where does fibre come in?

Broadband is the always-on internet connection to your home. The data has to travel from your provider's network to your house along a physical line, and what that line is made of decides how fast and how dependable the connection can be.

There are two materials to know about:

• Copper. The phone network was built from copper wires. Data travels along them as electrical signals. Those signals fade with distance and can be disturbed by electrical interference, water getting into joints and corrosion.
• Fibre optic cable. A strand of glass about as thick as a hair. Data travels along it as pulses of light. Light in glass loses very little strength over the distances involved in a local network and is not affected by electrical interference.

Almost every broadband service in the UK uses fibre somewhere, because the long-distance "backbone" links between towns have been fibre for decades. The question that matters is how close the fibre gets to your home. That is what the names below describe.

You will also see speeds quoted in Mbps, which stands for megabits per second. It measures how much data can move along the line each second. A higher number means more capacity. Our guide to broadband speeds explains what the numbers mean and how much you need.

The four types of broadband connection in the UK

Full fibre (FTTP)

With full fibre, the fibre optic cable continues past the street cabinet, along your road (on telegraph poles or in underground ducts) and into your home. Inside, it ends at a small wall-mounted box called an ONT, or optical network terminal. The ONT turns the light signal into an ordinary network connection, and your router plugs into it.

You may see three abbreviations for this. They all mean the same thing for a household:

• FTTP: fibre to the premises
• FTTH: fibre to the home
• Full fibre: the plain-English label Ofcom asks providers to use

Because there is no copper in the path, the speed you get does not depend on how far you live from the cabinet or exchange. Download speeds on sale range from around 50 Mbps on entry-level packages to 1,000 Mbps (1 gigabit per second, written 1 Gbps) and beyond. On Openreach's network, the fastest home product in November 2026 offers 1.8 Gbps download with 120 Mbps upload. Some other networks sell faster packages still, and several offer the same speed in both directions, which is called a symmetric connection.

Part fibre (FTTC)

FTTC stands for "fibre to the cabinet". Fibre runs from the telephone exchange to one of the green cabinets you see on pavements. From there, the existing copper phone line carries the signal to your home, where the router plugs into a phone socket.

This is what most "fibre broadband" sold in the UK over the past fifteen years has been. It was a real improvement on copper-only broadband, but the copper section sets a ceiling. Packages are typically advertised at somewhere between about 35 and 75 Mbps download, with much lower upload speeds. The speed you actually receive falls the further your home is from the cabinet, so two houses on the same street can get noticeably different results.

Ofcom's label for this is part fibre.

Cable

Cable broadband uses a different kind of metal wire for the last stretch: coaxial cable, the thick, shielded type originally laid for cable television. Fibre runs to a street cabinet and coaxial cable runs from there into the home. The industry name is hybrid fibre-coaxial, or HFC.

In the UK, cable broadband means Virgin Media. Coaxial cable carries far more data than a phone wire, so cable can deliver very high download speeds. Virgin Media O2 reports that all 18.8 million homes its network can serve have access to speeds of at least 1 Gbps, and it has begun selling a 2 Gbps service over cable as well as over its full fibre lines.

Cable's weaker point is upload speed, which is a small fraction of the download speed, and the capacity in each area is shared between neighbours.

It is worth knowing that Virgin Media O2 is not cable-only. By 30 September 2026, 9.4 million premises on its footprint, including those served by its sister network nexfibre, had full fibre. On 3 November 2026 the company said it would stop further fibre upgrades of its cable network beyond existing commitments and instead aim to offer 2 Gbps over cable to most customers during 2027. So if you are offered Virgin Media, check the label on the package: it should say either "cable" or "full fibre".

Copper (ADSL)

Copper broadband, usually called ADSL, uses the phone line the whole way from the exchange to your home. There is no fibre in the local part of the route at all. It is the slowest of the four, and speed drops sharply with distance from the exchange. Homes a long way out may get only a few Mbps.

Copper-only broadband is now mostly found where nothing better has been built yet, or where a household has simply never changed package.

Full fibre vs part fibre vs cable vs copper: comparison table

Speed ranges are indicative of packages on sale in November 2026 and vary by provider and address. Your provider must give you an estimate for your own line before you buy.

Which of these you can order depends on which networks have been built to your address. Who provides fibre broadband in the UK explains who builds what and how to check.

Why "fibre" used to mean several different things

For years, providers advertised part fibre and cable services simply as "fibre broadband". That left many people believing they already had the best available connection. When Ofcom looked into it, the research found that only 46% of customers who said they were on full fibre lived somewhere it was actually available.

Ofcom's response was guidance that took effect on 16 September 2024. Providers must now describe the underlying network using one or two clear terms, such as "full fibre", "part fibre", "cable" or "copper", on their websites and in the contract information they give you before you sign. "Fibre" by itself is no longer acceptable in those places.

Two things to be aware of:

• The guidance covers websites, sales conversations and contract documents. Advertising such as billboards and television is overseen by a different body, the Advertising Standards Authority, which has not adopted the same rule. You may still see loose uses of "fibre" in adverts.
• Product names can still include the word. A package might be called "Fibre 2" and be part fibre. The label to trust is the technology description in the contract summary, the short document every provider must give you before you commit.

What the difference means in daily use

Speed: the ceiling is much higher

Part fibre tops out at tens of megabits per second. Full fibre starts there and goes up to a thousand or more. For a single person browsing and streaming, both will do the job. The gap shows when several people are online at once, when large files are involved, or when a household keeps adding connected devices.

There is a second benefit that is easy to miss. If your needs grow, a full fibre line can usually be upgraded to a faster package without anyone visiting, because the cable already has the capacity. A part-fibre line that delivers 40 Mbps to your address cannot be made faster by paying more.

Upload: the part people overlook

Download speed is how quickly data reaches you. Upload speed is how quickly you can send it: your picture on a video call, photos backing up to the cloud, a file sent to a colleague. Part fibre and cable connections are heavily tilted towards download. Full fibre connections offer far more upload capacity, and on many of the smaller networks the two speeds are equal.

If two people in your home are on video calls while someone else uploads a video, upload speed is where an older connection will struggle first.

Consistency at busy times

Evenings are the busiest period on any network. Ofcom's last home-broadband measurement study, based on tests in March 2023, found that average speeds across all connections between 8pm and 10pm were about 95% of the maximum, and that full fibre lines were the least affected by congestion. In practice, a full fibre line is more likely to give you the same performance at 8pm as at 8am.

Reliability: fewer faults

Copper is vulnerable to weather, water and age. Fibre is not affected by electrical interference and has fewer points of failure between the exchange and your home. When Ofcom issued its naming guidance it noted that, on the Openreach network, full fibre can provide a more reliable service than part fibre because it is less prone to faults.

Full fibre is not fault-proof. Cables can still be cut by roadworks or brought down with a pole in a storm, and the equipment in your home needs mains power. But the everyday dropouts that plague ageing copper lines are far less common.

Your landline

The traditional phone network, which sends calls as analogue signals down copper, is being switched off. BT plans to retire it by 31 January 2027, and Ofcom says Virgin Media O2 and KCOM intend to do the same, though they had not set dates when we checked in November 2026. Calls are moving to "digital landlines" that run over broadband: you plug your handset into the router instead of the wall socket, and you can normally keep your number.

This is happening on every type of connection, not only full fibre. With full fibre there is no copper line at all, so a digital landline is the only kind you can have. One consequence matters: a digital landline will not work in a power cut unless there is battery back-up. Our installation guide covers what providers must do for people who rely on their landline.

A worked example: one household, two connections

Take a four-person household. Two adults work from home several days a week and are often on video calls at the same moment. A teenager plays online games, and a younger child streams programmes in the afternoon. In the evening, two televisions may be streaming while phones and tablets are in use.

On part fibre. Suppose their line delivers 40 Mbps download and under 10 Mbps upload, which is common for a home a few hundred metres from the cabinet. Day to day, streaming works. The trouble comes at the edges. When both adults are on video calls and a laptop starts backing up files, the upload capacity is used up, and call quality drops for everyone. A large game update can occupy most of the download capacity for an hour or more. And because the line cannot go faster, there is nothing to upgrade to.

On full fibre. The same household takes an entry or mid-level package of, say, 150 Mbps. The download capacity is several times what they use at their busiest moment. More importantly, upload capacity is no longer the pinch point, so simultaneous video calls and cloud back-ups stop interfering with each other. If their needs grow, they can move to a faster package on the same line.

Notice that this household does not need a gigabit package to feel the difference. The gain comes from the technology, not from buying the top tier. Article 2 in this series, how much speed you really need, works through the numbers.

How do I know which type I have now?

Three quick checks:

1. Look at where your router plugs in. If it connects to a phone socket, you have copper or part fibre. If it connects to a small separate box on the wall with a thin fibre cable going into it (the ONT), you have full fibre. If it connects to a wall plate with a screw-on round connector, you have cable.
2. Read your contract or contract summary. For any package taken out or renewed since September 2024, the technology should be stated in plain words.
3. Ask your provider. They can tell you which technology serves your address and what else is available there.

How widely available is full fibre?

Coverage has grown quickly. Ofcom's Connected Nations update, published on 13 May 2026 and based on data from January 2026, reported that:

• Full fibre was available to 24.9 million homes, 82% of the UK total. That was 1.2 million more than six months earlier.
• "Gigabit-capable" broadband, a wider category that counts cable as well as full fibre, reached 89% of homes.
• Only 47% of the premises that could get full fibre had taken it up. Many households have it available and do not know, or have not switched.

Independent trackers that update more often put full fibre coverage at around 85% of premises by mid-2026. Rural areas remain behind towns and cities. The government's target is for 99% of UK premises to have gigabit-capable broadband by 2032, with its Project Gigabit programme paying for connections in places commercial builders will not reach.

Ofcom publishes its main annual report late each year, so newer figures are likely to appear shortly after this article's verification date.

Is it worth moving to full fibre?

For most households where it is available, yes, but the reasons are practical, not technical.

Reasons to move

• You get a more reliable line with better performance at busy times.
• Upload-heavy activities such as video calls and cloud back-ups work better.
• Price is often no barrier. Ofcom said in February 2026 that customers can often upgrade to full fibre and pay the same or less than for a copper or part-fibre service.
• Part fibre is being wound down. Once full fibre is available to 75% of premises served by a telephone exchange, Openreach stops selling copper-based products there for new orders, upgrades and most switches, after giving providers a year's notice. By August 2026 that applied to exchanges serving about 15.4 million premises. Existing copper services keep working for now, but the direction is clear.

Reasons you might wait

• You are mid-contract. Moving to full fibre with your current provider is often allowed without penalty, but changing provider early can mean exit fees. Check before you act.
• Installation needs a visit and possibly permission. A new cable has to be brought into the property. If you rent or live in a flat, you may need consent from a landlord or building owner first.
• Your current service is cable and you are happy with it. If you mainly download and rarely upload large files, a gigabit cable connection may already meet your needs.

If you decide to go ahead, how to choose and switch broadband covers contracts, price rises and the switching process, and the installation guide explains what happens on the day.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

All sources accessed 13 November 2026.

• Connected Nations update: Spring 2026 — Ofcom
• Connected Nations UK Report 2025 — Ofcom (PDF)
• Ofcom UK start enforcing rules on misleading use of "fibre" broadband — ISPreview
• Broadband must be sold as 'full-fibre' or 'part-fibre' — Choose
• Ofcom enforces clearer broadband information — Advanced Television
• Ofcom guidance on broadband technology descriptions and consumer research — Advanced Television
• Ofcom launches 2026 wholesale telecoms review (coverage figures for September 2023) — Ofcom
• New Ofcom rule on misleading "fibre" terminology puts spotlight on ads watchdog — ISPreview
• Latest home broadband performance trends revealed — Ofcom
• New Ofcom research reveals how to cut phone and internet bills — Ofcom
• Moving landline phones to digital technology: what you need to know — Ofcom
• Full Fibre installation: what to expect on the day — Openreach
• Openreach puts a stop to copper for another half million premises — Openreach
• Openreach Stop Sell: Tranche 26 — thinkbroadband
• BT Wholesale make 1.8Gbps FTTP broadband available to UK ISPs — ISPreview
• Virgin Media O2 Q3 2026 earnings release (PDF)
• Virgin Media O2 halts fibre upgrades in £800m cost-cutting plan — Broadband TV News
• Virgin Media O2's UK broadband customers fall as cost cutting hits and FTTP upgrades stop — ISPreview
• Gov set new Fixed Telecoms Charter for UK analogue phone and exchange closures — ISPreview
• The State of Broadband: July 2026 — thinkbroadband
• Project Gigabit progress update: September 2026 — GOV.UK

General information for UK households, not legal or financial advice. Facts checked on 13 November 2026; prices, coverage and rules change, so confirm details with a provider before you sign up.