The digital switchover
Every analogue phone line in the UK is switched off on 31 January 2027
Around 350,000 business premises are still on the old copper network and every one of them has to move before the deadline. This page tells you, in plain English, whether yours is one of them.
124
days left to move
The short version
BT is retiring the network that has carried UK phone calls since the 1800s. It is not an upgrade offer and it is not something you can opt out of: on 31 January 2027 the old lines are turned off and the physical network starts being taken away. Anything that relies on an analogue line stops working, including a lot of things that are not phones.
The good news is that almost every business comes out of this paying less than they did before, with a better service. The bad news is that everyone still on copper has to go through the same engineers before the same date.
Three checks to see if this is you
You do not need an engineer and you do not need to call us to work this out. Do these in order and stop as soon as you get a clear answer.
Read your phone bill
Thirty seconds, and it settles it for most people. Find your latest bill and look for any of these words.
- PSTN, WLR, WLR3, or just "line rental"
- ISDN, ISDN2, ISDN2e or ISDN30
- Analogue line, single line, or business line
- ADSL, or broadband sold together with a phone line
- Featureline, Business Highway or Embarq
Any of those, and you are on the old network. If your bill only mentions SOGEA, full fibre, FTTP, a leased line or a hosted or cloud phone system, that part of your service is already safe.
Walk the building
The lines that catch people out are almost never on the phone bill, because nobody in the office ordered them. Go and look in these places.
- The comms cupboard or cabinet, for old boxes with a phone number written on a label
- The lift, and the lift motor room
- The fire alarm and intruder alarm panels
- The door entry or gate intercom
- Reception, the card machine and the till
- Anywhere a wire goes into the wall and nobody knows why
Take a photo of anything you find, including the labels. If it has a phone number on it and you cannot say what it is for, put it on the list.
Check the socket
The physical socket tells you what you have, and it is the check nobody explains.
- A phone plugged straight into a wall socket, no router in between, is an analogue line and it is affected
- A master socket with a removable bottom half, usually marked Openreach or BT, means copper comes into the building
- A phone plugged into the back of a broadband router is already digital and is fine
- A handset on a base station, or a headset plugged into a computer, is already digital and is fine
If you are still not sure, take a photo of the socket and the back of the phone and send it to us. We will tell you which it is, and there is no charge for answering.
The lines nobody remembers
Most businesses get their phones sorted and then get caught out by something else. The reason is almost always the same: these lines are billed to a landlord, a managing agent or a maintenance contract, so they never appear on the phone bill anyone is looking at. Nobody in the building owns them, which is exactly why they get missed.
Lift emergency phones
Legally required to work, and usually on a line the building owner pays for. The single most commonly missed line in the country.
Fire and intruder alarms
Monitored alarms dial out over a phone line. If the line dies the alarm may still sound locally but nobody is told.
Door entry and gate intercoms
Often installed years ago by a contractor who is no longer around, on a line nobody has since thought about.
Card machines and tills
Older PDQ and EPOS terminals dial for authorisation. They fail at the worst possible moment, which is a queue of customers.
Telecare and pendant alarms
Anything relied on by a vulnerable person. Treat these as the highest priority and do not leave them to last.
CCTV and remote monitoring
Older systems phone home over copper rather than over the internet.
Franking machines and fax
Both still surprisingly common, and both quietly stop working.
Machinery and plant modems
Boilers, refrigeration, barriers and industrial kit often report faults down a phone line.
What stops, what changes, what is already fine
Plenty of articles imply that everything on copper dies on the day. That is not true, and believing it leads people into upgrades they do not need. Here is the honest version.
- Analogue phone linesStopsEvery PSTN and WLR line is withdrawn. This is the actual switch-off.
- ISDN2 and ISDN30StopsWithdrawn on the same date. SIP trunks are the direct replacement and usually cost less.
- ADSL broadbandStopsADSL rides on top of an analogue line. Take the line away and the broadband goes with it.
- FTTC broadbandChangesWidely reported as dying on the day, which is not quite right. FTTC sold with a phone line has to move, because the line goes. The same connection without the line is SOGEA, and that carries on.
- SOGEAUnaffectedThis is one of the places you are moving to, not one of the things being switched off.
- Full fibre and leased linesUnaffectedNo copper involved, so nothing to do.
- Your phone numbersUnaffectedYou keep them. Numbers are ported across to the new service, including 01 and 0800 numbers you have had for years.
What happens if you do nothing
You will not be cut off mid-sentence, which is the thing most pages on this subject get wrong. Openreach built a last-resort service called EVAc for lines that have not moved in time, and from 1 February 2027 it will start carrying them. Where it is technically possible, a broadband service attached to the line is kept running too.
That is a safety net, not a plan. EVAc is deliberately stripped back, it is temporary, you cannot order it in advance, and it costs providers £35 a month at wholesale before anyone adds a retail margin. That is more than most of our customers pay for full fibre broadband. You would still have to migrate afterwards, and by then you would be doing it behind everyone else who also waited.
Why this one is not going to move again
The most common reason businesses have not acted is that the date already slipped once, so they assume it will slip again. Here is what actually happened.
September 2023
National stop-sell. No new analogue lines anywhere in the UK, and no upgrades or house moves on the old ones.
May 2024
The deadline moved once, from December 2025 to 31 January 2027, so that telecare users could be migrated safely. This is why people assume it will move again.
Through 2026
Openreach raised the wholesale price of a legacy line three times, by 20% in April and 40% in both July and October, doubling it over the year. Waiting is now measurably more expensive than moving.
31 January 2027
The PSTN and ISDN close. Openreach then begins decommissioning the physical network, so there is nothing to go back to.
What we do about it
We have been moving businesses across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire off copper since long before the deadline was announced. Send us a recent bill, or a photo of the sockets if you cannot find one, and we will tell you exactly what you have, what it needs to become and what it will cost. If the answer is that you are already fine, we will tell you that too.
Questions we get asked about the switch-off
Will it be delayed again like last time?
It moved once, in May 2024, from the end of 2025 to 31 January 2027. That delay existed so telecare and vulnerable customers could be moved safely, not because the programme was in trouble, and Openreach has been unambiguous that there is no further extension.
Even if you do not take that on trust, waiting already costs money. You have not been able to order a new analogue line since September 2023, and the wholesale price of the lines that remain doubled during 2026.
What actually happens on the day if I do nothing?
You are not simply cut off, which is what most articles imply. Lines that have not moved may be shifted onto EVAc, an emergency voice service Openreach built specifically so the network could be closed on time. Where it is technically possible, a linked broadband service will be kept running too.
It is not a solution, and it is not somewhere to sit. It is deliberately basic, it is temporary, you cannot order it in advance, and it costs providers £35 a month wholesale before anyone adds a retail margin. That is more than most businesses pay us for full fibre. You still have to migrate afterwards, only by then you are doing it in a queue.
I only have broadband, no phone. Am I affected?
Possibly, and it depends on something you cannot see from the router. If your broadband is ADSL, or FTTC sold alongside a line rental charge, there is an analogue line underneath it and that line is going.
If it is SOGEA, which is the same connection without the phone line, or full fibre, you are already on the new world and there is nothing to do. Your bill will normally say which. If it does not, send it to us and we will tell you.
Do I lose my phone number?
No. Numbers are ported to the new service, including the 01442 and 0800 numbers businesses have had on their vans and letterheads for twenty years. Porting is a standard process and the number is unchanged for anyone calling you.
What does it cost to move?
Usually less than staying. A hosted phone system starts at £5.99 per user a month and SOGEA broadband at £39.95 a month, against a legacy line whose wholesale price doubled during 2026.
Most businesses come off this cheaper than they went in, with better call features than the old line ever had. Call us on 01442 573030 and we will price your actual site rather than a generic package.
How long does the move take?
A straightforward site is a couple of weeks end to end, most of which is waiting for the connection and for numbers to port. The work itself is not disruptive and the old service normally stays live until the new one is proven.
The caveat is engineering capacity. Everyone still on copper has to move through the same engineers before the same date, so the closer to the deadline you leave it, the longer the wait and the less choice you have.
Who is responsible for the lift line and the alarm line?
Whoever pays for it, which is frequently not the business using it. Lift and alarm lines are often on a landlord's account or bundled into a maintenance contract, which is exactly why they are the lines that get missed.
If you rent your premises, ask your landlord or managing agent in writing who is migrating those lines and when. A lift emergency phone that does not work is a safety issue, not an inconvenience.
Not sure where you stand?
Send us your bill or a photo of the socket and we will tell you whether you are affected, with no obligation.
