Copper Migration

The nbn co MTM rollout and Telstra’s migration plan contains a number of ‘cease sale' provisions that affect the types of service we can provide to customers in nbn rollout regions.

Cease sale provisions prohibit us from supplying most types of new copper and HFC services to customers after the Cease Sale Commencement Date for a rollout region. Generally, the Cease Sale Commencement Date occurs 10 Business Days after the Region Ready for Service Date (RRFSD) for an nbn rollout region and applies to premises that are either:

• nbn serviceable; or
• Identified in the nbn co service qualification system as being ‘frustrated’.

In most instances we will no longer be able to supply new copper services, churn or transfer copper services (including line rental, ADSL and ULL) to premises within the regions which are nbn serviceable, once the Cease Sale Commencement Date has passed.

This means that wholesale customers will not be able to place orders for new copper services, such as Wholesale Line Rental (WLR), ADSL, Spectrum Sharing (SSS) and Unconditioned Local Loop Service (ULLS) that are delivered to end users using Telstra’s copper network, to premises where cease sale applies. In these cases, wholesale customers will need to place orders for nbn services.

You can find out more on the nbn rollout schedule.

Order Stability Periods (OSPs) are one of the tools that help us deliver a smoother migration experience for customers. During the Order Stability Period (OSP) we do not process any orders that relate to the supply of copper or HFC services provided to any premises within the fixed line footprint in a rollout region, other than cancellation orders, porting orders, orders for Special Services and ULLS as a Special Service Input. Telstra can apply OSP to services provided over the copper network in each rollout region immediately prior to the Disconnection Date (DD).

The OSP commences at Disconnection Date (DD)+5 business days and concludes at DD+45 business days for all premises without an In-train Order.

For services at premises with nbn in-train orders, we can extend the OSP status until DD+120 business days.

As the nbn rollout occurs on a region by region basis, there will be an 18-month period from the Region Ready for Service Date (RRFSD) as notified by nbn co until the Disconnection Date (DD) (except for service continuity regions which will have an additional six months). This period is also known as the migration window. During the migration window, all copper services subject to disconnection should be migrated to the nbn network if the service provider wants to maintain services with their end user. We provide wholesale customers with notification reports during this window to help identify customers who are subject to disconnection from the DD.

Schedule 1 of the migration plan outlines Telstra’s ‘business as usual’ processes for disconnecting copper services including services connected over nbn FTTN and FTTB technologies.

Managed disconnections
The process for managing the disconnection of copper services following the DD is referred to as ‘managed disconnection’. During this period, Telstra Wholesale and Telstra Retail will disconnect remaining copper services within the fixed line footprint. There are exemptions for some specific categories of services such as Special Services where the Disconnection Date for the relevant SS Class has not passed.

Read more about Special Services.

Parts of this process for managing disconnection of copper services are different from existing ‘business as usual’ arrangements, therefore Telstra is required to set out the managed disconnection process in Required Measures.

Service Withdrawals
The process of disconnecting Telstra fixed networks to comply with our disconnection commitments involves a progressive withdrawal of services supplied by Telstra to its retail and wholesale customers as the nbn fixed line network is rolled out.

nbn co jumpering on a copper line (for both FTTN and FTTB) results in disconnection of all copper services provided over that line (except where Voiceband Continuity is provided). nbn co provides the option of a partial migration to the nbn network, which enables the current service provider to continue to supply voice services on the Telstra copper network. If this option is requested by an end-user, nbn co will enable Telstra’s continued supply of the voiceband on copper to the Premises (Voiceband Continuity).

Further information on service withdrawals can be found in the Resource section below.

Special Services are initially exempt from disconnection at the Disconnection Date for a rollout region. As nbn co makes available equivalent services to these Special Services over the nbn network, Direct Special Services and Special Service Inputs within certain Special Service Classes will no longer receive the exemption and will be subject to managed disconnection.

More information on Special Services.  

In accordance with the migration plan, six months before a Disconnection Date for a rollout region (the ‘parent rollout region’), all premise which are not nbn serviceable will be moved by nbn co into a new rollout region known as a service continuity region. The service continuity region will have a new Disconnection Date – six months later than the Disconnection Date for the parent rollout region.

Telstra and nbn co have agreed to implement a catch-up managed disconnection activity on remaining active services currently registered at Fire Alarm and Lift Phone (FAL) premises where the Rollout Region Disconnection Date (DD) has previously passed. These copper services are referred to below as Extended FAL Services.

The managed disconnection arrangements for Extended FAL Services at premises whose Rollout Region DD occurred before 18 March 2022 will apply as follows:

• services will be subject to a Catch-up FAL DD on 18 March 2022;

• service disconnection will commence from 1 April 2022 (Catch-up FAL DD + 10 Business Days) and complete on 27 April 2022 (Catch-up FAL DD + 25 Business Days);

• there will be no In-Train Order Period following the Catch-up FAL DD.

Previously, informal temporary extensions had been granted upon request to Extended FAL Services beyond standard Rollout Region DD to enable these services to be case managed for migration to replacement technology.

For further information, please refer to this document

Within multi dwelling units (MDUs) e.g. Apartment or office blocks, there can be a range of common areas where legacy carriage services are supplied, such as concierge desks, foyer and concourse areas, car parks and central stairs. MDU common areas where legacy carriage services are supplied have received an extension to the mandatory disconnection date. This is unless an nbn service can be connected earlier or the legacy service is cancelled before the date Telstra is required to disconnect the service.

MDU common areas are still subject to cease sale where the MDU common area has been included as a premises in a fixed line footprint unless an exception applies.

The disconnection process for MDU common areas can be found here