ThePSTNSwitch-Off2027:WhatUKBusinessesNeedtoKnow

The Public Switched Telephone Network, the copper-based infrastructure that has carried UK phone calls for over a century, is being switched off. Openreach has set 31 January 2027 as the date all traditional analogue phone lines and ISDN services will stop working. If your business still relies on a standard phone line, a fax machine, an alarm system, or a payment terminal that dials out over copper, this affects you.

Why is the PSTN being switched off?

The copper network is expensive to maintain and increasingly unreliable, and openreach has been investing in full-fibre infrastructure across the country instead. Once an exchange area is migrated, new analogue lines can no longer be ordered there, and existing lines are given a fixed cut-off date. This isn't optional or a slow-moving proposal; exchanges are already being switched off region by region.

What actually stops working?

• Traditional analogue phone lines and handsets plugged directly into a wall socket
• ISDN2 and ISDN30 lines used by older office phone systems
• Fax machines and dial-up devices
• Alarm systems and lift lines that dial out over copper
• Some older card payment terminals that use a phone line as backup

What should you move to instead?

The replacement is VoIP, voice over IP, which runs your calls over your broadband connection instead of a copper line. A modern cloud-hosted phone system gives you everything a traditional PBX did, plus call recording, mobile apps, auto attendants and CRM integration, without the hardware in a cupboard. Most businesses find the migration is also a chance to modernise features they'd been missing for years.

How to prepare now, not later

• Check when your local exchange is scheduled to switch off
• Audit anything in your building that still dials out over a phone line, not just handsets
• Confirm your broadband connection has the capacity and resilience for voice traffic
• Plan number porting early, most providers complete this in 5 to 10 working days
• Test alarm and payment systems on the new connection before the old line is cut

Leaving this until the exchange in your area is switched off gives you no room to fix problems before you lose service. We're helping businesses migrate now, on their own timeline, with number porting handled end to end and zero downtime on live calls.