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Key takeaways
• The PSTN switch off is Openreach closing the UK’s copper analogue phone network. The final date is 31 January 2027.
• Openreach raised wholesale prices for old copper lines three times in 2026, and lines still on copper after the deadline may be moved to a temporary, more expensive safety net called EVAC.
• It is not just phones. Alarms, card machines, lift lines, CCTV, franking machines and telecare can all rely on an analogue phone line.
• You can keep your business numbers. Port them to VoIP before your old line is ceased, never after.
• With four months to go, the safe order is: audit lines and devices, fix connectivity, build the new system alongside the old one, port numbers, then switch.
If your business still has a traditional phone line, the clock is running. Openreach, the company that runs most of the UK’s phone network, will switch off the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) on 31 January 2027. After that date, calls will travel over the internet instead of copper wires.
For most offices the phones themselves are the easy part. The harder part is everything else plugged into a phone socket: the burglar alarm that dials out, the lift emergency phone, the card terminal behind the bar. This guide covers the dates, what it costs to leave it late, which devices to check, and a step-by-step plan to move without a single missed call.
CFone has been engineering business phone systems since 1973, through analogue switchboards, ISDN and now cloud VoIP, so this guide is written from the installer’s side of the switch.
What is the PSTN switch-off?
The PSTN switch-off is the planned retirement of the UK’s analogue telephone network. The PSTN is the copper-wire network that has carried landline calls for more than a century. Businesses rent lines on it through a product called Wholesale Line Rental (WLR), usually billed as “line rental” by BT Business or another provider.
Openreach is replacing it with an all-IP network. Voice calls will run as data over broadband, using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Consumers mostly move to BT Digital Voice or an equivalent; businesses move to a VoIP phone system, SIP trunks or a cloud phone system.
You may also hear it called the landline switch off, the BT landline switch off or the digital switchover. They all describe the same programme, the Openreach digital switchover. It covers ISDN too, the older digital lines that many offices use for multi-line phone systems.
Why is the copper network being switched off?
The copper network is ageing, costly to maintain and fault-prone. Full fibre (FTTP) and broadband-only lines (SOGEA) carry voice as data far more cheaply. Openreach stopped selling new PSTN and WLR lines nationally on 5 September 2023, so no business has been able to order a new analogue line since then.
Reliability is the other driver. Ofcom’s 2024 network report found that significant PSTN resilience incidents rose sharply, by 45%, as the old network aged (BT Business, citing Ofcom).
For a side-by-side look at the two technologies, read our guide to VoIP vs landline.
PSTN switch-off date: 31 January 2027
The final PSTN switch off date is 31 January 2027, confirmed by Openreach. It was originally planned for December 2025. In May 2024 it moved back by 13 months, after serious incidents on another provider’s network prompted the industry to migrate vulnerable customers more carefully (Giacom).
Here is the full timeline, including the 2026 price rises that many businesses only noticed on their bills.
| Date | What happened or happens | What it means for you |
| 5 Sep 2023 | National stop-sell: no new PSTN/WLR lines | You cannot add or move an analogue line |
| May 2024 | Switch-off moved from Dec 2025 to 31 Jan 2027 | Extra time, now nearly used up |
| 1 Apr 2026 | First price increase: Openreach wholesale PSTN prices up 20% | Line rental starts rising |
| 1 Jul 2026 | Further 40% increase | Copper lines cost noticeably more |
| 1 Oct 2026 | Final 40% increase, about double 2025 rates | Staying on copper is now the expensive option |
| 31 Jan 2027 | PSTN switch-off | Analogue lines stop working unless moved |
If you have searched for the landline switch off date and found older articles quoting 2025, those are out of date. The PSTN switch off 2027 deadline is the one that counts.
What happens to lines not migrated (EVAC)
Lines that are still on copper at the deadline will not simply go dead overnight in every case. Openreach has created a temporary safety net called EVAC (Emergency Voice and Access Continuity). It keeps eligible lines working where Openreach judges that technically possible.
Openreach’s own migration director describes EVAC as temporary, limited and more expensive than modern alternatives (Telecoms.com). The key facts:
- Wholesale price: about £35 a month for a WLR3 Basic line and £38.60 for WLR Premium, before your provider adds its own margin.
- No end date: Openreach has not said when EVAC itself will close, so you would be planning around an unknown.
- Not a plan: it exists to protect people who genuinely cannot move in time, not as a place to park a business.
The real cost of doing nothing
Take a small office with four analogue lines. At EVAC wholesale rates, that is around £140 a month, or £1,680 a year, before call charges or provider margin. On top of that you keep paying for an old phone system, and you still carry the risk that one of those lines is withdrawn at short notice.
By comparison, a hosted VoIP system is priced per user and usually includes calls, apps and features. You can see our transparent per-user pricing on our business phone systems page.
By autumn 2026, Openreach put the number of lines still on the PSTN at around 1.2 million (Telecoms.com). In February 2026 it was about 2.8 million, more than 500,000 of them at business premises (Openreach). Engineers and porting teams get busier as the deadline nears, so a late start means less choice of install dates.
Which business devices are affected
This is where most businesses get caught out. Anything that uses an analogue phone line to dial out, send a signal or take a payment needs checking. Openreach specifically names phone systems, card payment terminals, alarm lines, more than 12,000 lift lines, over 500 CCTV lines, smart meters and vending machines (Openreach).
Use this table as your device audit. Walk the building, find every phone socket, and note what is plugged into it.
| Device | Why it is at risk | What to do | Who to ask |
| Phone system (PBX) and ISDN lines | Runs on PSTN or ISDN circuits that are being retired | Move to hosted VoIP, or SIP trunks if the PBX is IP-capable | Your phone provider |
| Card payment terminals (PDQ) | Older units dial out over the phone line | Switch to an IP, Wi-Fi or 4G terminal | Your card terminal supplier |
| Intruder and fire alarm lines | Auto-diallers and monitored signalling use the line | Fit a dual-path IP/4G communicator | Your alarm company |
| Lift emergency phone | Autodiallers are often analogue | Upgrade to an IP or 4G autodialler | Your lift maintenance firm |
| CCTV and door entry | Some units use a phone line for alerts or calls | Move to IP or 4G versions | Your security installer |
| Franking machine | Older machines update rates over the phone line | Check for LAN or Wi-Fi connection | Your franking supplier |
| Telecare and nurse call | Alarm units rely on analogue signalling | Replace with digital units; test end to end | Your telecare or nurse-call provider |
| Fax machine | Needs an analogue line | Use email-to-fax or an adapter (ATA) | Your phone provider |
Some sectors have more at stake than others. Care providers should read our page on VoIP for care homes, and GP practices and trusts can see VoIP for the NHS and VoIP for healthcare. Hotels and pubs often have card terminals and room phones to consider, covered on our hotel phone system page. Schools usually have alarms, lifts and door entry on analogue lines; see phone systems for schools.
Dental surgeries have the same issue with front-desk and emergency lines, so check our phone system for dental practice guide. Professional firms such as VoIP for estate agents, VoIP for accountants and VoIP for solicitors tend to have fewer devices but more numbers to port.
What about power cuts and poor mobile signal?
This is one of the most common worries about the switch, and it is fair. A copper line carried its own power, so an old corded phone kept working in a power cut. A digital line does not. Forum users on MoneySavingExpert raise exactly this: if the power goes off and mobile signal is weak, they could be cut off (MoneySavingExpert Forum).
Ofcom expects providers to offer a way to reach 999 for at least one hour in a power cut to customers who depend on their landline (Ofcom guidance). Treat it as part of your business continuity plan. For businesses, the practical fixes are:
- A small UPS battery for the router and any desk phones that matter.
- 4G failover on the router, so calls keep running if the broadband drops.
- Call routing that diverts the main number to mobiles automatically during an outage.
- Registering your address correctly with your provider so 999 calls show the right location.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) also publishes guidance for businesses and households on the move to digital landlines, including what to ask your provider (GOV.UK).
ISDN switch-off and your PBX
The ISDN switch off is part of the same programme. ISDN2 and ISDN30 lines, which many offices use to run multi-line phone systems, are also being withdrawn. If you have an on-site phone system (a PBX) connected by ISDN, you have two routes.
| Option | How it works | Best for |
| Keep your PBX with SIP trunks | SIP trunks replace ISDN channels and connect your existing, IP-capable PBX over the internet | Recent PBX hardware with years of life left, complex call flows |
| Move to a hosted cloud phone system | The PBX runs in the cloud; staff use IP desk phones, a softphone or a mobile app | Old or unsupported PBXs, hybrid teams, multi-site businesses |
Either way, your numbers and direct-dial (DDI) ranges can move across. If your PBX is out of maintenance or near the end of its supported life, compare the full cost of keeping it (hardware support, SIP channels, call costs) with a per-user hosted price before deciding. See what a hosted switchboard includes as standard.
PSTN switch-off checklist for UK businesses
Openreach frames the process as review, test, switch. Here is how that works in practice for a small or medium business.
- List every line and number. Pull your last phone bill and note every number, line type (PSTN, ISDN, broadband) and account number. Include 0800, 0330 numbers and local geographic numbers.
- Audit your devices. Use the device table above. Photograph each device and its label.
- Check your contracts. Note end dates, notice periods and any auto-renewal clauses on line rental, broadband and phone system leases.
- Check your broadband. Confirm whether SOGEA or full fibre (FTTP) is available at your address. If you are still on ADSL broadband, it runs over the same copper line and will need replacing too. Business fibre broadband gives VoIP the most headroom.
- Choose your phone setup. Hosted VoIP, SIP trunks, or a mix. Decide how many users, desk phones and mobile apps you need.
- Plan number porting. Ask your new provider to port every number. Do not cancel the old lines yourself; the port does that.
- Plan resilience. Add a UPS, 4G failover and out-of-hours diversions.
- Test devices before cut-over. Openreach offers free all-IP compatibility testing at its labs; ask your alarm and lift suppliers whether their kit has been tested.
- Book the switch out of hours. Evenings or weekends avoid missed calls.
- Train your team. Fifteen minutes on transfers, voicemail and the mobile app saves days of confusion.
Number porting deserves extra care. Forum threads are full of businesses and households who cancelled first, then lost numbers they had used for decades. One MoneySavingExpert user went more than six weeks without their number after two providers blamed each other (MoneySavingExpert Forum). A managed port, with the old line left untouched until the new one is live, avoids this.
How to switch to VoIP without downtime
A clean migration builds the new system alongside the old one, so nothing changes for callers until the moment you flip over. A typical no-downtime switch follows this sequence.
| Stage | Timing | What happens |
| 1. Survey | Week 1 | Your provider audits lines, numbers, devices and broadband, and agree the call flow: who answers, in what order, and what happens out of hours. |
| 2. Build | Weeks 1–2 | Your new system is configured in the cloud: extensions, call queues, hunt groups, voicemail and recorded greetings. Phones arrive pre-provisioned. |
| 3. Test | Week 2 | Staff make and take test calls on temporary numbers. Alarm and payment suppliers switch their devices to IP or 4G. |
| 4. Port | Weeks 2–4 | Numbers are ported on an agreed date and time. The old line stays live until the port completes. |
| 5. Go live | Port day | Calls start arriving on the new system while engineers monitor the first hours. |
| 6. Check | Week after | Review call quality, tidy the call flow and confirm old lines have ceased so you stop paying for them. |
The timings above are typical for a small office. Multi-site firms and those with large DDI ranges should allow longer, which is another reason to start now rather than in January.
Security matters too. Moving to VoIP brings new risks such as toll fraud, so choose a provider that locks down accounts and monitors unusual call patterns. Our guide to VoIP cyber crime explains what to look for.
Why businesses switch with CFone
- Engineering-led since 1973. More than 50 years of building business phone systems, from analogue switchboards to cloud VoIP.
- Crown Commercial Service supplier. We are an accredited Crown Commercial Service supplier to the public sector.
- Rated 5.0 on Google, with 24/7 support. Real people answer when something needs fixing.
- UK-based team. Based in Hillingdon, Middlesex, and supporting UK businesses across education, healthcare, hospitality and professional services.
If you run a smaller team, our guide on why small businesses are switching to VoIP covers the day-to-day benefits beyond the deadline. When you are ready, Switch to Better VoIP or compare our small business phone system options.
PSTN switch-off FAQs
When exactly is the PSTN switch-off in the UK?
The PSTN switch-off is on 31 January 2027, confirmed by Openreach. It was originally planned for December 2025 and was moved back in May 2024 to give providers more time to migrate vulnerable customers safely.
What happens if my business line isn’t migrated by the deadline?
Eligible lines may be moved to Openreach’s temporary EVAC safety net, which keeps basic calls running but costs around £35–£38.60 a month wholesale per line and has no confirmed end date. It is a stopgap, not a long-term option.
Will my business phone number change?
No. You can keep your existing numbers, including geographic, 0330 and 0800 numbers, by porting them to a VoIP line. Request the port through your new provider and leave the old line active until the port completes.
Will my alarm, card machine or lift line still work?
Only if the device supports IP or 4G, or is fitted with a suitable adapter. Many older alarm diallers, dial-up card terminals and lift autodiallers need upgrading. Ask each supplier to confirm and test before your switch date.
Is the ISDN switch-off the same as the PSTN switch-off?
They are part of the same Openreach programme and share the same deadline. ISDN users usually move to SIP trunks, which keep an existing IP-capable phone system, or to a hosted cloud phone system that replaces it.
Why has my line rental gone up in 2026?
Openreach increased wholesale PSTN prices three times in 2026: by 20% in April, then 40% in July and 40% in October, roughly doubling 2025 rates. The rises are designed to encourage businesses to move to digital services before the switch-off.
Start your switch now, not in January
The PSTN switch off is no longer a distant change. Prices on copper lines have already doubled, engineers get busier every month, and every day on the old network is a day your alarms, payments and phone lines depend on a service that is being retired.
