As many people will realise, Openreach were slow to provide any fibre services to connected properties on the Steele Road Telephone Exchange, via their 'Fibre To The Cabinet' (FTTC) product. However with the national rollout of FULL Fibre, customers should check with BT Broadband and confirm if Full Fibre is now available to residents living near the Steele Road Exchange.
Check Availability with BT Broadband for local services from the Steele Road Telephone Exchange
Local Authority = Scottish Borders Council
UK area dialling code (STD code) for the Steele Road exchange is 013873
International dialling code for the Steele Road exchange is +44 13873 or 0044 13873
The Steele Road exchange is in the Langholm group of exchanges.
7 telephone exchanges form this regional grouping.
Steele Road
Located at :-
British Telecom,
Telephone Exchange,
NEWCASTLETON.
TD9 0SQ
/// what3words geocode = Urban Firepower Defeated
Steele Road -> Scottish Borders -> Scotland
See Location Map Below
Openreach and the wider UK telecoms industry are retiring the old Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and associated copper-based services as part of the move to an all-digital, internet-protocol (IP) based network.
The PSTN and associated wholesale copper services - including traditional analogue phone lines, ISDN2, ISDN30 and other legacy products - are being withdrawn.
These services historically relied on copper wiring connected from exchanges to premises. They will be replaced with digital alternatives such as Full Fibre (FTTP) and IP-based broadband services like SOGEA, SOGFAST and other All-IP products.
Originally planned for December 2025, the final withdrawal of the PSTN network has been rescheduled to 31 January 2027 to give more time for migration, particularly for vulnerable customers and specialist services. By this date, all legacy services that depend on the PSTN must be transitioned off the copper network.
On 18th July 2025 Openreach declared the Steele Road Exchange, Hawick as a 'FTTP Priority Exchange' as part of their Tranche 21 list of exchanges and issued a 'Stop Sell' notice effective from Wednesday 19th August 2026
Stop Sell is triggered when a majority (75%) of premises connected to a particular exchange can get ultrafast Full Fibre. Customers who then want to switch, upgrade or re-grade their broadband or phone service will have to take a new digital service over their new Full Fibre network.