Openreach tells customers to remove lithium batteries from UK telephone exchanges

First reported by ISPreview , Openreach on Thursday announced it was giving its communication provider (CP) customers just 48 hours to remove any in-rack lithium batteries from BT exchanges. UK network operator Openreach has told its customers to remove lithium batteries from its telephone exchanges due to potential fire concerns. In a briefing only accessible to Openreach customers, the company said the batteries were prohibited by the operator’s building safety policy “due to the significant risks … [of] thermal runaway, fire and explosion.”