UK broadband... 3 of 5 copper wires cut resulted in decreased bandwidth...?

[coppice]

Everything will be deactivated at some point, but 100% fibre availability is some way off in the UK.

It doesn't have to be fibre. There are existing cable connections to many homes that will also support digital phone service.

Originally, all landlines were due to be switched off by 2025, but it seems this has been extended to 2027, and in the nature of things, it could be extended again. But really, this is not very far away.

You specifically said copper.

[IanB]

You specifically said copper.

Your desire to be pedantically annoying is not something I wish to be concerned with.

[IanB]

Slightly tangential, but isn't all copper to the home being phased out now in the UK? So presumably, the copper wires in the OP's case are due at some point to be deactivated?

There is a (currently paused) UK program to have all analogue phones no longer be directly on a copper pair to the local exchange. Instead they will plug into a Voice over IP unit, tyically within the VDSL modem Wi-Fi router at the customer location. Phone service will be over the broadband service. The broadband may be fibre or VDSL.

I believe that other countries including USA and Japan are doing likewise.

This is interesting, and I understand it more clearly now.

The goal is to switch off the traditional analog telephone system (PSTN), where a home phone is connected by a pair of copper wires to the local exchange with a direct analog connection.

But the replacement does not necessarily mean decommissioning the copper wire pair. Instead, the same copper wires can be connected to a digital system at the remote end, and to a DSL modem in the home, providing digital internet service in place of analog phone service.

Given the speed limitations and unreliability of the copper pair, consumers may still prefer fibre or coax, but in remote areas DSL may be the only option.

[coppice]

Slightly tangential, but isn't all copper to the home being phased out now in the UK? So presumably, the copper wires in the OP's case are due at some point to be deactivated?

There is a (currently paused) UK program to have all analogue phones no longer be directly on a copper pair to the local exchange. Instead they will plug into a Voice over IP unit, tyically within the VDSL modem Wi-Fi router at the customer location. Phone service will be over the broadband service. The broadband may be fibre or VDSL.

I believe that other countries including USA and Japan are doing likewise.

This is interesting, and I understand it more clearly now.

The goal is to switch off the traditional analog telephone system (PSTN), where a home phone is connected by a pair of copper wires to the local exchange with a direct analog connection.

But the replacement does not necessarily mean decommissioning the copper wire pair. Instead, the same copper wires can be connected to a digital system at the remote end, and to a DSL modem in the home, providing digital internet service in place of analog phone service.

Given the speed limitations and unreliability of the copper pair, consumers may still prefer fibre or coax, but in remote areas DSL may be the only option.

There are lots of UK farm houses, clusters of homes too small to be called a village, and so on which aren't getting fibre any time soon, and are too far from the exchange for VDSL to work well. The question is whether they are stuck with ADSL speeds for years, or if 5G coverage will be good enough that most of them can migrate to the 100-200Mbps being offered for unlimited broadband over 5G right now.

[Gyro]

Unfortunately 5G coverage tends to track population density fairly closely, at least for a good while yet.

[coppice]

Unfortunately 5G coverage tends to track population density fairly closely, at least for a good while yet.

That's true for all cellular coverage in the UK. We don't need to go far from a town and away from a major road for cellular coverage of all Gs to disappear. That's why I wonder if 5G can substitute, as so many country places don't even have usable 4G to fall back to. Perhaps putting a cellular modem at a rooftop location or on a modest mast will help in flatter areas. I doubt that will do much in the Yorkshire Dales.

[SteveThackery]

This is interesting, and I understand it more clearly now.

The goal is to switch off the traditional analog telephone system (PSTN), where a home phone is connected by a pair of copper wires to the local exchange with a direct analog connection.

But the replacement does not necessarily mean decommissioning the copper wire pair. Instead, the same copper wires can be connected to a digital system at the remote end, and to a DSL modem in the home, providing digital internet service in place of analog phone service.

Given the speed limitations and unreliability of the copper pair, consumers may still prefer fibre or coax, but in remote areas DSL may be the only option.

Correct - you have summarised it perfectly. The only thing to add is that some end users might use a mobile network instead of a terrestrial link, and some might use a satellite link. But these are very small numbers right now.