Technologies

Speed degrades with distance from exchange

SOTAP (Single Order Transitional Access Product) is a new product being developed to facilitate the withdrawal of Wholesale Line Rental (WLR) where fibre products are unavailable.

It will deliver a copper path between the Network Terminating Equipment (NTE) at the end customer's premises and a main distribution or jumper frame at the exchange that connects to the SOTAP provider's exchange infrastructure, over which they can provide broadband and Internet Protocol (IP) voice services.

To consume SOTAP they will either need a Point of Presence in the telephone exchange based on LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) infrastructure or they will need to consume the product via a wholesaler who is offering SOTAP in the relevant geographical area.

It is anticipated that SOTAP will be fully launched by September 2021, with a pilot in East Anglia targeted at April 2021.

Key benefits:

• Facilitates a smooth migration journey from WLR because in the majority of cases (where LLU Shared Metallic Path Facility (SMPF) already exists on the line) no physical engineering activities will be required as SOTAP is intended to reuse the LLU SMPF exchange equipment.
• Enables national availability, outside of the Openreach fibre coverage area, of a Copper Access product.

SOTAP will be available nationally, however the sale of the product will be restricted where there are alternative Openreach fibre products available.