As part of the FTTH Policy Dialogue event, the FTTH Council Europe has published the second edition of the Copper Switch-Off Tracker, developed in cooperation with Cullen International. The study analyses the situation and progress towards deactivating legacy copper networks across 27 EU Member States, the United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland, highlighting developments observed during 2025.
The analysis shows that while the transition away from copper is advancing, progress remains uneven across Europe. Norway and Spain have completed the copper switch-off, with incumbent operators fully deactivating their legacy copper networks. In Greece, the incumbent operator has stopped activating new copper lines in certain areas, signalling a further step towards copper decommissioning.
Within incumbent operators’ networks, the share of fibre in total active access lines increased on average from 53 to 62% across the countries analysed. This figure reflects the growing replacement of copper by fibre in incumbents’ infrastructures, but does not represent overall national FTTH penetration, which also depends on alternative operators’ deployments. Significant disparities persist in countries such as Germany and the Czech Republic, incumbent operators continue to rely heavily on copper networks.
Planning transparency remains limited. In nine countries, copper switch-off plans are publicly available, while in others, including Portugal, such plans exist but are not publicly disclosed. In Ireland, discussions between the national regulatory authority and the incumbent operator are at an advanced stage, although no formal plan has yet been published.
From a regulatory perspective, the study confirms that no national regulatory authority has set a binding deadline for copper switch-off in any of the countries reviewed. However, in several markets – including Denmark, France, Luxembourg and Sweden, incumbent operators have announced voluntary target dates to complete the switch-off process.
Under the current regulatory framework, national regulatory authorities cannot oblige operators to switch off their copper networks nor impose mandatory timelines. However, the proposed Digital Networks Act (DNA), if adopted, would significantly reshape the regulatory framework and could accelerate copper switch-off plans in several countries, by providing greater flexibility and incentives for operators to migrate fully to fibre-based networks.
The Copper Switch-Off Tracker offers policymakers, regulators and market stakeholders a comparative overview of copper switch-off strategies, fibre migration progress and regulatory conditions across Europe, providing a clear snapshot of where the transition from copper to fibre stands today.
There’s plenty of other editorial on our sister site, Electronic Specifier! Or you can always join in the conversation by visiting our LinkedIn page.
