Full fibre overtakes copper as UK’s largest broadband technology for first time

Full fibre has become the UK’s largest single fixed broadband access technology for the first time, with 13.20 million connections at the end of Q1 2026 against 9.26 million on FTTC/FTTx and 1.20 million on remaining DSL lines, according to Point Topic.

The technology added 775,000 lines in the quarter and 3.25 million over the past year, equivalent to annual growth of 32.7%.

FTTC/FTTx and DSL both contracted as copper migration accelerated, while Virgin Media O2’s DOCSIS 3.1 cable base fell to 5.04 million.

Fixed wireless access continued to grow and reached 496,000 connections. The overall UK fixed broadband market remained essentially flat at 29.36 million total connections, with quarterly net additions of just 13,800, confirming that fibre growth is now a substitution story rather than a market expansion story.

BT Group’s consumer broadband base across BT, EE and Plusnet reached 8.224 million by the end of the quarter, and approximately 4.168 million of those customers were on full fibre.

That represents 50.7% of the operator’s total consumer base and marks the first time fibre customers have outnumbered copper customers on BT’s retail network.

Openreach’s wholesale FTTP footprint passed 22.92 million premises with 8.77 million connections, giving a take-up rate of 38.3%, the highest among the UK’s major fibre platforms.

Virgin Media O2’s combined FTTP footprint, including nexfibre, reached approximately 7.80 million premises but converted just 8.2% of those into paying customers.

The operator lost 5,300 broadband lines during the quarter as altnet overbuild, One-Touch Switching and aggressive fibre pricing weighed on its legacy cable base.

Point Topic flagged the widening gap between Virgin Media O2’s network scale and its customer conversion as a structural concern for the operator over the next 12 months.

Independent altnets added 188,000 subscribers in the quarter to reach 3.78 million collectively, up 33% year-on-year. CityFibre remained the largest wholesale altnet by connections, with 915,000 customers across 4.80 million premises passed.

Netomnia followed with 495,000 connections and an estimated 50,000 net additions in Q1, ahead of its proposed combination with nexfibre, which the Competition and Markets Authority is currently reviewing.

Annual price rises drive switching

Average entry-level ultrafast pricing reached £29.00 per month in March 2026, up 3.96% from Q4 2025, as the annual round of consumer price rises took effect across the major retail providers.

Point Topic recorded an acceleration in consumer switching activity in response, although BT’s churn rate held at around 1.1%, suggesting its pricing remained competitive across customer segments.

The market remains structurally saturated and competition is shifting from network footprint expansion towards customer retention and average revenue per user.

The wider mix of UK broadband connections now leaves consumers with materially faster headline speeds than were available even two years ago, but price discipline at the major retail providers has begun to weaken.

Point Topic expects further consolidation among smaller fibre operators as they struggle to convert footprint into long-term profitable customers, with subscriber acquisition, ARPU and retention now defining the next phase of the UK fibre market.

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