Full fibre
Full fibre is a way of building, not a personality
Full fibre, or FTTP, means the fibre reaches your premises. It is not a guarantee of a particular download number, and it is not the same product as cable or as fibre-to-the-cabinet.
FTTP, FTTC, and cable
Fibre to the cabinet still uses a copper line from the cabinet to the house. That copper is why upload is often modest and why the speed falls with distance. Full fibre removes that copper from the access line. Cable is a different network, historically coax, with its own footprint.
Openreach, CityFibre, Virgin’s newer build, Hyperoptic, Community Fibre, Fibrus, YouFibre’s wholesale partners and others can all be 'full fibre' where they have built. They are not interchangeable at a given door.
What changes when you order it
A first full-fibre install often needs an engineer and a small box on the wall, the optical network terminal. A router-only delivery usually means the fibre is already there. If you rent, ask before someone drills.
Once the fibre is in, switching retailer on the same wholesale network can be a remote change. Switching from cable to Openreach, or the reverse, is a new install plus a cease of the old network.
How not to buy the slogan
Sort by the address, then by upload, then by the first-year cost. A 1.6 Gbit/s tier is wasted money if you wanted a reliable 150 Mbit/s and a low bill. Gigabit is not a personality.
Stop-sell of copper means some new orders will only be offered as full fibre where it exists. That still does not create full fibre on a street that has not been built.
Questions
Check the address before you believe a poster
Availability is premises-level. One Touch Switch is run by the new provider, not by us, and not by Ofcom.