The UK’s analogue phone network, the PSTN, is being switched off on 31 January 2027. Openreach has confirmed there will be no extension.
If your business still uses traditional phone lines, ISDN or equipment that dials out over a phone line, you’ll need to move it to a digital service. That covers more than the phones on your desks. Alarms, card machines and lift phones can all depend on the old network.
Here’s what’s changing, what it could affect and what to do about it.
What is the PSTN, and what’s changing?
The PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) is the copper-based analogue network that has carried UK phone calls for decades. ISDN, the digital service many older business phone systems use, runs on the same infrastructure and is being retired with it.
The replacement is digital voice. Calls are carried over a broadband connection, using VoIP or a cloud phone system, rather than a dedicated analogue line.
One thing it isn’t: the end of broadband over copper. The switch-off is about the analogue phone service. Copper broadband products such as SoGEA keep running. How it affects you depends on the services and equipment you use today.
Why it’s happening, and when
The analogue network is old, increasingly hard to maintain and costly to keep running alongside modern digital networks. Openreach is retiring it and moving everyone onto digital services.
- September 2023: new analogue lines stopped being sold.
- Now: existing lines are being moved to digital, and Openreach has already raised the cost of renting analogue lines.
- 31 January 2027: the PSTN switch-off concludes.
As of September 2026, Openreach said around 1.2 million lines still needed to move, including about 350,000 business premises.
What could be affected?
It’s not just your phones. Plenty of equipment quietly relies on an analogue line, and it’s often the things nobody thinks about until they stop working.
| What to check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Business phone lines | Traditional analogue lines into your premises will need replacing. |
| ISDN phone systems | Older on-site phone systems connected over ISDN are being retired with the PSTN. |
| Alarm and security systems | Many intruder and fire alarms dial out to a monitoring centre over a phone line. |
| Card payment terminals | Some older terminals connect through a phone line rather than broadband or mobile data. |
| Lift emergency phones | Many lift phones use a dedicated analogue line to call for help. |
| Other connected equipment | Door entry systems, fax machines and anything else plugged into a phone socket. |
Some of this equipment will work on a digital line with no changes. Some will need an adapter, a setting change or replacing. The only way to know is to check.
What happens on 31 January 2027?
Not every line will go dead at midnight. Openreach has said there won’t be a single “big bang” switch-off, and it has set out temporary arrangements for lines that haven’t moved by the deadline.
Those arrangements are a safety net, not a plan:
- Emergency Voice Access (eVAC) is a limited, last-resort service for lines that miss the deadline.
- It costs more. Openreach has said eVAC will be priced higher than the analogue lines it replaces.
- It’s temporary. It buys time to move, and nothing more.
So the real risk isn’t that everything stops on one day. It’s being caught with equipment that hasn’t been tested, a rushed move and higher bills while you sort it out.
What should you do now?
Three steps get most businesses switch-off ready:
- Review your services. List every phone line and phone system your business uses today, including lines at other sites.
- Find the dependencies. Check which equipment uses those lines: alarms, card machines, lift phones, door entry and anything else plugged into a phone socket. Ask your alarm and lift maintenance providers whether their kit is digital-ready.
- Arrange the replacement. Plan and book the move to digital before 31 January 2027, leaving time to test everything once it’s live.
Starting early means you choose when and how the move happens. Leaving it late takes some of that choice away.
How Global 4 can help
We’ve been helping UK businesses with their communications since 1998. We’ll help you work out what needs to change, explain your options and plan the move with you, so the deadline doesn’t catch you out.
- Phone systems: hosted (cloud) telephony and SIP trunks to replace analogue lines and ISDN.
- Connectivity: digital-ready broadband such as SoGEA and full fibre (FTTP), plus leased lines for sites that need more.
- Support with the move: we’ll help you plan what needs to change and when.
Not sure where to start? Speak to your Account Manager today or contact us on 01403 272910.
