The 2027 copper switch-off
Your phone line is being switched off. Here's what that actually means.
On 31 January 2027, the old copper telephone network that has served the UK for over a century is being turned off for good. If your business still uses it — and many do without realising — some of your equipment will simply stop working. This page explains it in plain English, with no jargon and nothing to buy.
Start here
What is being switched off, in plain English
The short version
For more than a hundred years, UK phone calls have travelled down copper wires. That network is called the PSTN — the Public Switched Telephone Network. It is old, increasingly unreliable, and the parts and skills to maintain it are running out.
It is being replaced by phone calls that travel over your internet connection instead. You may have heard this called VoIP, digital voice, or "all-IP". It is the same phone number, the same handset in many cases, but a different path.
The part that catches businesses out is this: it is not just about telephones. Over the years, all sorts of equipment has quietly been plugged into spare phone sockets — fire and intruder alarms, the emergency phone in a lift, door entry systems, older card payment terminals, CCTV, fax machines, and franking machines. Every one of those is using the network that is being switched off.
Most businesses know where their computers are. Far fewer have a list of everything plugged into a phone socket — partly because that equipment is usually installed by an alarm company or a lift engineer, not by whoever looks after the IT.
The most common mistake
"We've already got full fibre broadband, so we're fine." Having fibre for your internet does not mean your phone lines and connected equipment have moved across. These are often billed and installed entirely separately, and the alarm line nobody has thought about since 2011 is still sitting on copper.
What's actually true
If it plugs into a traditional phone socket and dials out, it needs checking — regardless of how good your broadband is. The fix is usually straightforward and often cheaper than what you're paying now. The problem is only expensive if you leave it until the deadline.
Two-minute check
Am I affected? Work down this list.
No technical knowledge needed. Walk around your premises and answer each question honestly — "I'm not sure" counts as a yes for now. Anything marked red needs attention before 31 January 2027.
What it looks like in practice
The same deadline, very different consequences
These are the situations we see most often. None of them are unusual, and in every case the fix was straightforward once someone had actually looked.
Care home
Resident call pendants and the nurse call system
Emergency pendants and telecare equipment are among the most common copper-connected devices, and among the most serious if they fail. Openreach has treated telecare users as the highest priority in the whole migration for exactly this reason.
If it isn't moved
A resident presses their pendant and nobody is alerted. A safeguarding incident and a CQC problem, not just a technical one.
Retail & hospitality
The till, the card machine and the back-office line
Older card terminals dial out over a phone line, and many newer ones keep a copper line as a backup for when wi-fi drops. Some point-of-sale systems still use a line for end-of-day uploads.
If it isn't moved
Payments fail at the till during trading hours. Direct lost revenue, and the queue notices.
Offices & managed premises
The lift emergency phone
A passenger lift must legally have a working two-way emergency communication. It is rarely used, rarely tested, and almost always on a copper line installed by the lift company rather than the telecoms provider.
If it isn't moved
The lift is non-compliant and someone trapped inside cannot call for help. Insurance and liability follow.
Schools & community buildings
Fire panel signalling and gate entry
Fire alarm panels that notify a monitoring centre, plus door and gate entry systems, are frequently on their own dedicated lines that nobody has looked at since installation.
If it isn't moved
The alarm sounds on site but no one is called. Sites often only discover this at the next scheduled test.
Trades & field-based businesses
The number on every van and business card
For many trades the landline number is the business — printed on vehicles, signage and years of advertising. The good news is that numbers can be kept when you move to digital, but only if the move is planned rather than forced.
If it isn't moved
Enquiries stop arriving and you may not immediately know why. The cost is invisible and ongoing.
Professional services
ISDN phone systems and a fax nobody admits to
Practices with an on-site phone system often run ISDN lines, which go at the same time. Legal, medical and insurance workflows also keep more fax machines alive than anyone likes to acknowledge.
If it isn't moved
The main switchboard fails, so clients cannot reach you at all. For a practice, that is reputational.
How we'd handle it
Four steps, and we do the tedious parts
There is no need to panic and no need to rip everything out. There is a need for someone to make a list and work through it.
STEP ONE
Find out what you have
We read your bills and walk your site to list every line and everything plugged into one — including the ones nobody remembers. This is the free audit.
STEP TWO
Sort the phones
Move your calls to digital voice, keeping your existing numbers. Most businesses find their call costs fall at this point rather than rise.
STEP THREE
Chase the other devices
We contact your alarm, lift and card terminal suppliers and get written confirmation of what each one is moving to. This is the part everyone puts off.
STEP FOUR
Check the connection underneath
Digital voice is only as good as your broadband, so we make sure it's solid and has a sensible backup before anything depends on it.
191 days left
Find out exactly what you're running. Free, and no obligation.
One conversation and a look at your bills tells you which lines you have, what's plugged into them, and what needs to happen before 31 January 2027. If it turns out you're already fine, we'll tell you that and you've lost nothing but half an hour.
Install slots get scarce closer to the deadline, and a forced disconnection costs more to put right than a planned move. Earlier is cheaper.
Straight answers
Questions we get asked most
Will my phone number change?
In almost all cases, no. Existing numbers can be transferred to a digital service — this is called porting, and it is routine. It matters most for businesses whose number is on their vehicles and signage, which is why it's worth moving in a planned way rather than being cut off and scrambling.
Could the deadline be delayed again?
It has moved once before — from December 2025 to 31 January 2027 — largely to allow more care with vulnerable telecare users after serious incidents elsewhere in the industry. Openreach has since said the date will not move again, describing the old network as fragile enough that staying on it is now the greater risk.
Planning around a further delay is a gamble, and it doesn't help you anyway: you already cannot buy or change copper services in most areas.
What actually happens on 1 February 2027?
Openreach has said there won't be a single moment where everything goes dark — unmigrated lines move to a basic emergency voice service until they are switched across. But for a business that is a poor position: no reliable service, no ability to make changes, and connected equipment that may already have failed.
The retirement is also happening exchange by exchange, so plenty of areas are affected well before the final date.
Is this going to cost me more every month?
Usually the opposite. Digital voice is generally cheaper to run than traditional lines, and wholesale prices on the old copper products have been deliberately increased to encourage the final migration. Many businesses we audit are also paying for lines they stopped using years ago.
There can be one-off costs where a specific device needs replacing — an old alarm dialler, for instance. We'd tell you about that up front, not halfway through.
Does this affect the whole UK?
It applies across the UK with a few exceptions — the Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey, and the KCOM network in Hull, which runs separately. If you're anywhere else in the country, it applies to you.
I only have one line and a mobile. Do I really need to do anything?
Possibly not much — but check what that one line is doing. Single lines are exactly where the forgotten alarm connection or card terminal backup tends to live. Five minutes now beats finding out when it fails.
This page is general guidance for UK businesses and is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing. Dates and industry arrangements are set by Openreach and can change. For advice specific to your premises and equipment, talk to us or to the supplier of each device.