Many MindedUK copper phone network to close on 31 January 2027, Openreach says
Openreach, the infrastructure arm of BT Group, says the UK's legacy public switched telephone network (PSTN) will be retired on 31 January 2027. It says the date will not move. This week it wrote to the communications providers that use its network, warning that customers still on PSTN lines risk disruption. The report was published on 1 November 2026, about 100 days before the deadline.
The switch-off is part of a government scheme to move the country to all-digital, high-speed fibre and away from copper-dependent phone service. People who want a landline will plug a phone into their broadband router and use a Digital Voice service. Customers without fibre will likely move to SOTAP for Analog, which uses equipment in the local exchange so old lines keep working as before. Systems that rely on PSTN include card terminals, fire and security alarms, and personal care alarms for elderly and vulnerable people.
This moves connection toward a single, internet-based network, which should be cheaper to run than maintaining two. Meanwhile the cost lands on those slowest to move. Openreach raised charges earlier in 2026, and providers and companies still on legacy business lines now pay double last year's rental. Its All-IP director, James Lilley, says the straightforward business migrations are largely done. The ones left are complex and need planning, supplier coordination and testing.
Watch how vulnerable users fare. The deadline has already slipped at least once, after the government asked providers not to force users of systems such as TeleCare to switch until fixes were in place. Analyst Paolo Pescatore of PP Foresight says public awareness is low and wants a coordinated campaign. That is his judgment, and the report gives no survey figures. Age UK's Caroline Abrahams says most people have switched without major problems, but nobody relying on a landline or TeleCare should be left behind.
Source: The Register