What is SoGEA Fibre Broadband?

October 14, 2020

What is SoGEA Fibre Broadband?

What is SoGEA Fibre Broadband (SoGEA)?

SoGEA stands for Single Order Generic Ethernet Access and is BT OpenReach’s latest process to deliver Fibre Broadband in the UK. BT Openreach have launched this service because in 2020 they are withdrawing the traditional phone line (WLR) and switching them off in 2025. SoGEA is currently (October 2020) available to 28 million UK premises.

Before SoGEA was an option, all broadband orders (except some providers like Virgin Media) had to have a phone line to run ADSL or Fibre Broadband products into their home or business. If you didn’t have a phone line, then you had to have a line installed before you ordered your broadband or you could place a ‘simultaneous’ broadband order that meant a BT Openreach engineer would install the phone line and broadband on the same day at the same time.

BT Openreach are now providing a single order version of Fibre Broadband that means you do not have to install a traditional copper phone line to get any kind of broadband service. SoGEA Fibre Broadband includes an underlying version of a phone line in one single order. There are many advantages to the consumer and the provider that include:

It is cheaper: Depending on your provider, the combination of a phone line and a broadband service is slightly more expensive than a SoGEA Fibre Broadband service.
It is more secure: The service is strictly a broadband only service. No phone calls can be made from a traditional phone because you cannot make phone calls from a SoGEA Openreach socket.
Faster fix time of faults: Customers and Providers dont have to investigate whether the phone line or the broadband is at fault when a problem arises. They investigate the one service if there is a problem.
It is more reliable: Since there is no capacity for traditional phone calls to be made on a SoGEA service there is less interference with the broadband signal which means you have cleaner bandwidth and is better for gaming.
More flexible: With a 10 day lead time to install the service, it means it is much more accommodating for businesses to enable home working with their own broadband service dedicated for their staff.

Is there a difference in speed options with SoGEA Fibre Broadband compared to traditional Fibre Broadband?

Apart from there being less interference, there is no difference, the speed options are the same:

SoGEA 40mb / 10mb
SoGEA 55mb / 10mb
SoGEA 80mb / 20mb
SoGFast 160mb / 30mb
SoGFast 330mb / 50mb

Is SoGEA Fibre Broadband or SoGFAST different in performance than FTTC?

No, you will receive exactly the same performance and in some cases slightly better.

Where is SoGEA Available in the UK?

SoGEA is not available everywhere but is available to over 28 million premises at the time of writing. It will start to become more and more availale in line with BT’s withdrawal of phone lines in 2023 and a complete stop in 2025.