FTTC runs fibre to the street cabinet, then copper to your home; FTTP is full fibre end to end with higher speeds and less copper dependency. That technical difference matters for the 2027 copper switch-off and what you can expect day to day. UK ads may still label FTTC as "fibre" under an older ASA position (review November 2017; judicial review dismissed 2019), but the court did not rule the technologies equivalent. Updated 3 June 2026.
Consumer help · Updated 3 June 2026
FTTC vs FTTP: what “fibre” really means
What part-fibre and full-fibre mean for your home today, with the ASA marketing-label history as context.
What is FTTC?
FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) runs fibre to a street cabinet, then uses copper phone lines (VDSL) for the final metres to your home. Typical download speeds are 30–80 Mbps, depending on line length and quality. Performance can drop at peak times and degrades with distance from the cabinet.
What is FTTP?
FTTP (fibre to the premises), also called full fibre, runs a fibre optic cable all the way into your home. Speeds commonly start at 100 Mbps and can reach 1 Gbps or more, with more consistent performance than copper-based options.
Why does the difference matter today?
Full-fibre coverage is rising fast: 78% of UK premises (23.7 million) had FTTP available as of July 2025 (Ofcom Connected Nations 2025). FTTC still relies on copper that will stop working when the PSTN switches off on 31 January 2027 (see our PSTN switch-off guide). Before you sign a contract, check whether the product at your address is FTTP or FTTC; the label on the advert may not tell you.
Can providers still call FTTC "fibre"?
Under current UK advertising rules, yes. The ASA's review in November 2017 concluded that using "fibre" for part-fibre (FTTC) services was unlikely to mislead the average consumer. CityFibre challenged that decision; the High Court dismissed the judicial review in 2019 ([2019] EWHC 950 (Admin), Mr Justice Murray), finding for the ASA on all grounds.
Important distinction: the court accepted that FTTP is technically superior to FTTC. It ruled only that the average consumer was unlikely to be misled by the "fibre" label as used in market practice. That is a marketing-label position from November 2017; it does not make the technologies equivalent for your home.
How do I check what I can get?
Use your provider's or Openreach's postcode checker before you sign, and ask explicitly whether the service is FTTP or FTTC. To measure the speed you actually receive (diagnostics, not decision support), use UKSpeedTest.co.uk.
Sources
- Advertising Standards Authority. (2019). ASA wins judicial review on broadband fibre. https://www.asa.org.uk/news/asa-wins-judicial-review-on-broadband-fibre.html
- CityFibre Holdings plc v Advertising Standards Authority [2019] EWHC 950 (Admin).
- Ofcom. (2025). Connected Nations UK report 2025. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/multi-sector/infrastructure-research/connected-nations
Related pages
Compare full fibre vs standard broadband and connection types explained on BroadbandSwitch.uk.