Cuckoo broadband: a retailer, not a network

Openreach and CityFibre are not the same checkout

Cuckoo has sold services on selected CityFibre and Openreach areas. A CityFibre-shaped product cannot be ordered on a street that only has Openreach, and the reverse is also true. Ask which network the offer uses. If the page will not say, do not complete the order.

Cuckoo is not Virgin Media, not Hyperoptic and not a rural builder. If those are the networks at the address, this brand is a distraction.

Read past the interface

Digital brands are allowed to have ordinary contracts. Write down the minimum term, the price after any introduction, any setup fee and any rise in pounds and pence. Ofcom’s rule from 17 January 2025 is about that clarity on new deals. A friendly app does not replace the clause.

We do not describe a social tariff as part of this guide. Ask Cuckoo. If you need one and they cannot offer it, look elsewhere on a network you can actually order.

Switching

If you choose Cuckoo, they should start the One Touch Switch where it applies. Do not cancel the old provider because a web form felt finished. Ask whether an engineer is required. CityFibre and Openreach installs are different visits.

An exit fee is still owed unless waived in writing. A digital onboarding email is not a waiver.

Who you call when it breaks

A small brand can be pleasant until the wholesale fault sits with a network you cannot phone. Ask Cuckoo who owns the fault, how you contact them, and what the complaints route is, before you rely on them for work. We do not score that for you.

Wi-Fi remains Wi-Fi. A well-designed account page does not pass a signal through a stone wall.

When Cuckoo is a real option

Cuckoo is a real option when the wholesale product matches the flat and the contract beats a larger retailer on that same network. It is not a real option when you have only seen a national advert.

Correct the flat number. Digital checkouts are good at accepting the wrong door.

A simple brand can hide two networks

Cuckoo is a digital retailer. It does not own the fibre in the pavement. It sells full fibre where wholesale partners can, including CityFibre in some towns and Openreach where that product is released. Those are different checkouts. A neighbour on CityFibre and a house on Openreach part-fibre are not buying the same Cuckoo product, and one of them may not be able to buy Cuckoo at all.

Read past the interface. The questions are the same as with any retailer: which network, which tier, what upload, what term, what you pay after any introduction, and what rise a new contract states in pounds and pence. A tidy app does not shorten an exit fee and does not book the engineer. If you are comparing Cuckoo with a BT Group brand, ask whether you are comparing two Openreach retailers or an Openreach retailer against a CityFibre order. Those are not the same switch.

Before you agree a date

Cuckoo should start One Touch Switch where it applies. Do not cancel the old service because the sign-up looked quick. Ask who you call when the line breaks, and whether that call reaches Cuckoo or is handed to a wholesale desk you cannot name. Keep the old hub until the new service has stayed up. This page lists no prices and no awards.

The app is not the network

Cuckoo looks simpler than a legacy broadband brand. Simpler is the interface. The fibre is still CityFibre in some towns and Openreach in others, and neither in plenty of places. A household that completes a tidy sign-up without writing down the wholesale name does not yet know what is being installed, who digs the pavement, or whether an engineer must enter the flat. Ask before you are pleased by the screen.

A simple join is not a simple exit. Read the minimum term. Cuckoo should start One Touch Switch if you are joining them. Do not cancel the current provider because the form felt quick. An exit fee remains unless it is waived. This guide lists no price. If you are comparing them with a BT Group brand, first decide whether both orders are even on the same physical network.

The network Cuckoo actually sells

Cuckoo is Cuckoo. Cuckoo retails full fibre on selected CityFibre and Openreach areas. The app does not own the duct. A national-looking site is not coverage. The wholesale product has to be released at the premises. OneTouchSwitch does not run that check and does not take the order.

Cuckoo will not sell Virgin Media cable or a building network outside its wholesale. A postcode, a county, or a neighbour’s install is not a premises. Write down the flat or the plot before you read a speed.

If Cuckoo cannot order the door, the rest of this guide is a description, not a plan. Compare only the networks that can be installed. Leave the others off the list without drama.

The Cuckoo product, without the poster

Which wholesale network is named on the order changes the install. Do not mix a CityFibre quote with an Openreach street. Read the upload on the wholesale tier they can actually sell.

A simple interface is not a rolling contract and not a waiver of an exit fee. One Touch Switch moves the fixed broadband process. It does not move television, a mobile handset, or a care-alarm contract.

Ask Cuckoo to name the technology and the tier in writing. An ‘up to’ speed on a different street is not the service. Wi-Fi inside the building is not the line.

How to read a Cuckoo price

This page lists no Cuckoo prices, rises, or social-tariff figures. Write the price after any introduction, how many months the opening price lasts, any upfront cost, and any in-contract rise stated in pounds and pence, with the month it happens. From 17 January 2025 that cash disclosure is what Ofcom requires on a new contract. Older contracts can still follow older wording.

Add the opening months, the rest of the minimum term, the upfront cost, and a stated rise only if it falls inside the term. Do not add a rise nobody has shown you. Do not subtract cashback you have not been paid. Do not treat a blank exit fee as zero.

Ask Cuckoo about a social tariff. We will not guess. A commercial discount is not a social tariff. Eligibility is the provider’s check. Do not send benefit letters to OneTouchSwitch.

Switching to or from Cuckoo

Changing from Openreach to CityFibre, or the reverse, is a new install even if the retailer brand looks light. Where One Touch Switch applies, the new provider starts it. Do not cancel the old broadband first. Keep the old router until the new service has stayed up.

The new brand does not pay the old fee unless it is written down. Put that figure beside the new contract before you call the change a saving. A fee larger than the difference means staying to the end date is usually cheaper. You can still leave for a fault or a move. Just do not call it a saving.

A move of house is not a One Touch Switch of the old line onto a new street. Cuckoo at the old address is not evidence for the new one. Check the new premises again.

When Cuckoo service fails

When it breaks, you call the retailer you bought from. They deal with the wholesaler. You should not have to guess the wholesaler’s phone number, but you should know which plant you are on. Write the promised date and the date service actually worked. Those two dates are what a later conversation needs.

Automatic compensation, where a scheme applies, is paid by the provider, not by this website. We do not quote amounts, because they change, and not every product is inside the scheme in the same way. Ask them. Wi-Fi in one room is often the hub, not a line fault. Test on a wire near the router before you book an engineer for the line.

Complain to Cuckoo first if they sold the service. Ofcom is the regulator, not your first call. An independent scheme comes after their process, and only they can tell you which scheme they belong to. We cannot see the ticket and we cannot escalate it.

A Cuckoo decision, worked through

A neighbour’s new-build is on CityFibre and orders Cuckoo. The next road is Openreach only. The same brand is two different installs.

Cuckoo fits a premises on a wholesale network they sell, if the contract is clear. Skip Cuckoo where neither CityFibre nor Openreach full fibre is orderable and you needed a different plant.

Before either path, write down a phone number you need to keep, any television you meant to keep or drop, and any alarm that uses the line. Tell the alarm’s monitoring company yourself. Cuckoo will not do that job because a broadband order exists.

Cuckoo and the rest of the household bill

Cuckoo is not an energy provider. Gas and electricity follow energy rules and a different regulator. One Touch Switch does not move them. A single direct debit does not make them one contract.

If a discount depends on keeping Cuckoo broadband beside another service, ask what happens to the discount when the broadband changes. Get the answer in writing. Price the line on its own first. Then decide about the other bill. Do not let a mixed advert pick the broadband term.

We do not publish energy unit rates, a model weekly bill, or a broadband tariff for this brand. The method is the thing that stays current. The numbers belong on the order, dated the day you sign.

What to confirm with Cuckoo now

Reviewed 5 November 2026. The network facts above are structural. The price is not. Ask Cuckoo four things on the same call: can you order this premises, what technology and upload, what is the price after any introduction and any stated cash rise, and what would I pay to leave my current contract.

If they cannot answer the first question, stop. If they can, write the other three down and only then compare. A published offer on OneTouchSwitch, where we show one, is still not this conversation. Their screen is the order.

OneTouchSwitch is not Cuckoo, not Ofcom, not Openreach and not the network owner. We will not claim an award, an official rating, a guaranteed saving, or a day with no downtime. If a sentence on this page goes stale, the provider’s current terms win, and we should correct the sentence.

A notebook before you call Cuckoo

Open a note before you speak to Cuckoo. Write the premises first: the flat or the plot, not only the postcode. Then write who you are dealing with, Cuckoo, so a later bill is not confused with a sister brand or with the network owner. Cuckoo retails full fibre on selected CityFibre and Openreach areas. The app does not own the duct. OneTouchSwitch does not make that call and does not take the order.

Under network, copy only what they will order at that door. A national-looking site is not coverage. The wholesale product has to be released at the premises. Cuckoo will not sell Virgin Media cable or a building network outside its wholesale. If Cuckoo cannot serve the premises, close the note. A speed from a poster is not a consolation row, and a neighbour’s install is not your order.

Under product, write the technology and the tier in their words. Which wholesale network is named on the order changes the install. Do not mix a CityFibre quote with an Openreach street. Read the upload on the wholesale tier they can actually sell. A simple interface is not a rolling contract and not a waiver of an exit fee. Leave television, a handset and any care alarm on their own lines. One Touch Switch moves the fixed broadband process. It does not move those other contracts, and Cuckoo will not reprogram an alarm because a broadband order exists.

Under money, leave the cells blank until Cuckoo fills them on the day. You need the price after any introduction, how many months that opening price lasts, any upfront cost, and any in-contract rise stated in pounds and pence with the month it falls. Add the opening months, the rest of the minimum term, the upfront cost, and a stated rise only if it falls inside the term. Do not subtract cashback you have not been paid. Do not write zero for an exit fee you have not been shown. Ask Cuckoo about a social tariff. We will not guess.

Under the switch, write who starts it. Changing from Openreach to CityFibre, or the reverse, is a new install even if the retailer brand looks light. The new brand does not pay the old fee unless it is written down. Keep the old router until the new service has stayed up. A house move is a new premises, not a transfer of the old Cuckoo order onto a new street.

Under service, write the promised date and, later, the date it actually worked. When it breaks, you call the retailer you bought from. They deal with the wholesaler. You should not have to guess the wholesaler’s phone number, but you should know which plant you are on. Where Ofcom’s automatic compensation scheme applies, the provider pays the published amount. This website does not. Not every product is inside the scheme in the same way. Ask Cuckoo whether this order is, and keep the reply.

Under the household, write the scene you are actually in. A neighbour’s new-build is on CityFibre and orders Cuckoo. The next road is Openreach only. The same brand is two different installs. Cuckoo fits a premises on a wholesale network they sell, if the contract is clear. Skip Cuckoo where neither CityFibre nor Openreach full fibre is orderable and you needed a different plant. Before either path, write down a phone number you need to keep and anyone who depends on the line. Tell them yourself.

Under other bills, keep energy off the broadband line. Cuckoo is not an energy provider. Gas and electricity follow energy rules and, in Great Britain, a different regulator. One Touch Switch does not move them. A discount that needs both services is a second decision: ask what happens to it if the broadband changes. Reviewed 5 November 2026. The structure of this note stays. The figures Cuckoo gives you are the only prices that belong in it.