What is ADSL, and what's happening to it?

ADSL is one of the oldest forms of home broadband still in use in the UK. According to ISPreview, a long-running UK broadband news site, BT's first commercial ADSL lines appeared in 2000. Openreach, the company that builds and maintains the network many UK providers sell over, calls it copper broadband or standard broadband. It describes it as a connection over a traditional copper phone line running all the way from your home, through your local street cabinet, back to your nearest Openreach telephone exchange.

That last part is what sets ADSL apart. With part fibre, fibre runs as far as the green street cabinet and copper only covers the final stretch to your home. With ADSL the cabinet is just a junction box on the way: the copper carries your broadband the whole distance to the exchange.

The letters stand for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. Asymmetric means download and upload speeds are very different: Openreach quotes copper broadband at up to 21Mbps download and up to 1Mbps upload. Openreach says copper broadband reaches 99% of UK premises and suits lighter use such as web browsing and email.

Because the signal travels so far over copper, distance matters. Openreach says the further your home is from the exchange, the slower your connection is likely to be. Our guide to slow broadband on a long line explains why, and what you can and can't fix at home.

Our guide to checking which type of broadband you have goes through every clue, from the technology label in your contract summary (copper means ADSL) to the kit on your wall. Three are specific to ADSL:

• The package name. Some providers say it outright. When we checked TalkTalk's broadband page on 25 October 2026, it listed a package called "Fast Broadband (ADSL)" for areas where fibre services aren't supported.
• Your upload speed. An upload of around 1Mbps or less, in line with Openreach's ADSL figures, is a hint. Use our broadband speed test a few times, ideally on a device connected by cable to the router.
• One question to your provider. Ask: "Is my line ADSL, part fibre or full fibre, and is it sold with a traditional phone line or as a broadband-only line?" The second half of that question matters for everything below.

The most recent counts we could find are from 2023:

• In November 2023 ISPreview quoted Ofcom data showing around 2.6 million UK copper broadband lines still connected via ADSL.
• In September 2023 ISPreview estimated ADSL was still used by 2 to 3 million lines, mostly in areas with few alternatives. It also noted that copper ADSL lines tend to be much longer and less reliable in rural locations than in towns.

We found no newer figure when we checked in October 2026, so treat these as a snapshot from 2023.

Who are they? In August 2026 ISPreview said some remote rural communities, and some digitally disadvantaged urban areas, are still in ADSL-only areas for fixed lines, although many of them can get faster speeds over 4G or 5G mobile broadband or Starlink satellite.

A sign of how far things have moved: ISPreview reported that Shropshire provider Aquiss disconnected its last ADSL line on 3 August 2026, first connected in September 2007, when that customer moved to full fibre.

Some providers still list ADSL where nothing faster is available. Besides TalkTalk (above), POP Telecom's broadband range included standard ADSL broadband when we researched it on 8 October 2026 (we couldn't re-read its page later in the month); see our POP Telecom broadband deals and TalkTalk broadband deals pages. Neither says which kind of copper line its ADSL uses, and we couldn't find a public list of providers that sell broadband over SOTAP (explained below).

Two separate changes affect ADSL, and it helps to keep them apart:

• Stop sell: rules on what can be newly ordered. You keep what you have.
• The phone network closing: Openreach's traditional phone line service ends on 31 January 2027. ADSL sold over that service ends with it.

Not every ADSL line depends on the traditional phone service. Some providers run broadband from their own equipment in the exchange over a fully unbundled line, known as MPF (Metallic Path Facility). ISPreview, reporting an interview with Openreach in June 2026, said MPF lines will continue past January 2027 and remain an option for providers such as TalkTalk and Sky, though Openreach won't sell new MPF lines where 75% or more of premises have full fibre, and many providers are trying to move customers off it. If you're not sure which kind of line you have, ask your provider (there's a question list at the end of this guide).

Neither means the copper wire to your home disappears. Openreach's consumer page does say the UK's copper network is "being retired" in January 2027, but ISPreview, reporting on Openreach's plans in October 2026, said premises that can't yet get full fibre will continue to be served by copper-based broadband products such as SOGEA and SOTAP, where any phone service is added digitally. What closes on 31 January 2027 is the old analogue phone service and the broadband that depends on it. The later stage, where Openreach switches off part fibre once full fibre is in place, is covered in our guide to copper retirement and part fibre.

For homes with no full fibre or part fibre, Openreach offers a way to keep copper broadband going without the old phone service: SOTAP, short for Single Order Transitional Access Product.

In Openreach's words, SOTAP is a product that delivers a copper path between the network terminating equipment at your home (the master socket where the line enters) and a main distribution or jumper frame at the exchange. Providers can use it to supply broadband and internet-based (IP) phone services. Openreach says:

• it exists to help withdraw WLR, the traditional phone line service;
• it's only for areas where there aren't any fibre products available, giving customers outside Openreach's fibre coverage access to copper;
• it doesn't include a managed phone service or the calling features of an old landline.

ISPreview reported in November 2023 that SOTAP's commercial launch was set for 1 December 2023, after a pilot, and described it as a way to offer a standalone ADSL broadband line with optional phone services carried as data over the broadband (VoIP, Voice over Internet Protocol). ISPreview called it the ADSL equivalent of SOGEA, Openreach's broadband-only part-fibre line; our guide to what SOGEA is covers that one.

So any home phone you keep on a SOTAP line is a digital service running over your broadband.

Most lines have already moved. ISPreview reported on 24 September 2026 that about 1.2 million UK lines, including some 350,000 business premises, had yet to be migrated off the old WLR network, against about 15 million already done. It noted that consumer lines won't face a hard disconnection on 31 January 2027.

Instead, Openreach plans to move lines still on the old network to a temporary last resort called EVAc (Emergency Voice Access), a limited phone service to keep access to essential calls. In June 2026 Openreach told ISPreview that remaining lines would be assessed and moved to EVAc where it has capacity, so it isn't a guaranteed slot for every line. It was first planned as voice only, so broadband on top of the old line would have been lost. On 24 September 2026 Openreach said that, where technically possible, EVAc will now also keep linked broadband running, which ISPreview said covers legacy ADSL, part fibre and G.fast lines. But Openreach made clear it might not work for every line, and the dates ISPreview published on 28 September 2026 show managed moves to EVAc beginning on 1 February 2027, with ISPreview understanding that moves keeping broadband wouldn't take place until mid-April 2027 onwards. Openreach describes EVAc as temporary, limited and more expensive than modern alternatives, and says it isn't a reason to delay.

Don't confuse SOTAP with SOTAP for Analogue, a voice-only version of the same copper path. BT's Pre-Digital Phone Line, based on it, was closed to sign-ups by June 2026 (ISPreview).

Don't plan around the safety net: if your broadband still runs over a traditional phone line, sort it out before the deadline.

If ADSL really is the fastest fixed broadband at your address, work through these in order:

1. Check for full fibre, from every network. Openreach isn't the only builder; other full fibre networks may have reached your street even if Openreach hasn't. Our guide on how to check full fibre availability explains how, and our fibre broadband deals page is a good starting point.
2. Check for part fibre. If your street cabinet has been upgraded but you were told it's full, our guide on why a street cabinet can be full explains what's going on and what to ask.
3. Consider mobile broadband. ISPreview says many people in ADSL-only areas can get faster speeds over 4G or 5G.
4. Consider satellite. ISPreview also names Starlink as an option in ADSL-only areas. Starlink deals now appear in our comparison, and our Starlink broadband deals page explains what's involved. Our guide to rural broadband options sets the fixed, mobile and satellite choices side by side.
5. Know your right to decent broadband. Under the broadband universal service obligation (USO), an eligible home can request a connection of at least 10Mbps download and 1Mbps upload from BT (KCOM in Hull). Ofcom confirmed in July 2026, ISPreview reported, that Starlink meets the USO criteria, so BT only has to build where no qualifying alternative is available. Our guide to the broadband USO explains who qualifies, the cost limit and how a request works.

To see what's on offer where you live, compare deals at your postcode, and before you order, check how the provider describes the technology behind the deal: full fibre, part fibre or copper (ADSL). Our broadband deals by area pages give a local starting point.