UK landlines switch off on January 31, and Openreach says no extension

The old network is called the PSTN, short for Public Switched Telephone Network. It is the copper-wire system that has carried UK phone calls for more than a century.

Openreach says the PSTN will be permanently retired on January 31, 2027. The Register reports that Openreach sent a letter this week to the companies that sell phone services over its network, reminding them of the date.

The Register adds that the deadline will not be postponed. It has moved once before, after the government asked providers not to push vulnerable customers across until fixes were ready.

In real life Think of the PSTN like an old railway line. The trains (your calls) still need to get from A to B, but they will now run on a newer track that goes through your broadband.

Most people have already moved. The hard cases are what remain.

• Lines still active: about one million copper lines, Openreach says.
• Business premises: roughly 300,000 of those lines.
• Earlier estimate: in July, Comms Dealer reported Openreach figures of 1.5 million legacy lines, including about 350,000 business premises.

By the numbers: the gap between those two figures shows lines are still moving fast. Openreach says the ones left are the most complex to migrate.

James Lilley, Openreach's Director of All-IP, said the easy moves are done. In his words, what is left are "the complex connections that underpin critical operations, requiring careful planning, supplier coordination, and thorough testing."

For most homes, very little. The Register says people who still want a landline simply plug the phone into the back of their broadband router. The call then travels over the internet, a service often called Digital Voice.

An internet phone call is the same idea you already use in video chat apps. The phone is still a phone. The wire behind it is different.

Broadband Switch, citing Openreach, says you can keep your current number, and in most cases your existing handset will work. The Register says customers without a fibre connection will likely be moved to a service called SOTAP for Analog, where equipment in the local exchange lets the old phone line keep working.

This is the part people forget. The phone line often carries more than calls.

Openreach lists systems that still rely on the old network:

• Payments: card terminals and cash handling systems.
• Lifts: emergency telephones and auto-diallers, which are devices that call for help on their own.
• Safety: fire alarm communication panels and security monitoring.
• Buildings: access controls, automated gates and door entry units.
• Industry: telemetry, meaning remote meter readings, and building energy management systems.

Openreach warns that unmigrated safety systems could stop working, and that could force buildings to close. The Register adds that personal care alarms for older and vulnerable people are on the list too.

Openreach says customers who have not moved may be moved automatically to EVAc from January 31, 2027. EVAc is a limited, temporary, last-resort phone service meant only to keep essential calls working.

The catch: Openreach says EVAc has limited capacity and is significantly more expensive than modern digital options. Where it is technically possible, Openreach will keep linked broadband running.

The Emergency Voice product is voice only. The Electrical Contractors' Association notes its availability depends on BT's capacity at each exchange, so it is not guaranteed.

Broadband Switch says some customers may lose service altogether, so the safest plan is not to wait and see.

Openreach says the final phase of its price rises for legacy line rental took effect on October 1, 2026. That doubled the 2025 price for these lines, and further rises are planned from February 2027.

Openreach has also launched offers to make the move cheaper for providers, including free or discounted connections for upgrading customers to a newer broadband product called SOGEA.

For small businesses, the message is blunt. Openreach warns that leaving it late may also make it harder to book the engineers needed before the deadline.

Broadband Switch, a UK comparison site, pulled the key dates from Openreach's briefing for phone companies (GEN068/26, dated September 25, 2026). Most are deadlines for providers, not for you, but they show why acting early helps.

• October 30: providers' last exception requests.
• November 6: providers' deadline for line-transfer paperwork.
• January 31, 2027: the old network closes.
• March 31: late migration orders are cancelled.
• Mid-April: moves meant to keep broadband running on stranded lines are expected.

After January 31, Openreach says phone companies lose control over how and when the remaining lines are moved or ceased. In plain words, the choice stops being theirs.

Broadband Switch, citing Openreach, says around 15 million lines have moved since the closure was announced in 2017. It reports that about 2.8 million lines were still on the old network in February 2026, and that Openreach now estimates around 1.2 million.

That figure is a little higher than the "about one million" in Openreach's own warning, so treat all of these as rounded estimates that keep shrinking. The direction is the same in every report: fewer lines every month, and a harder group left at the end.

Broadband Switch says the government's Final Engagement Protocol asks signed-up providers to contact a customer at least three times, including by letter, before stopping a home phone service. It says they should give at least 30 days' notice, or 60 days for vulnerable customers.

It also reports that Openreach will charge providers £35 a month (Basic) or £38.60 (Premium) for each old line from February 1, 2027. That is another reason providers want people moved before the date, and it may show up in the offers you get.

Yes, and mostly about awareness. Telecoms analyst Paolo Pescatore of PP Foresight told The Register that providers need "a much more cohesive campaign that reaches customers directly."

He wants television, billboards and newspaper ads, plus letters, calls and door-to-door help for older and vulnerable people.

Caroline Abrahams of Age UK told The Register that most people have moved without major problems. She stressed that "nobody who relies on their landline or TeleCare should be left behind," and that providers must keep trying to reach people who have not responded.

• Call your provider: ask whether your line has moved to a digital service, and what to do if it has not.
• Check every device: list alarms, card machines, lift phones and door entry units that share the phone line.
• Care alarms first: if you or a relative uses one, tell your provider and the alarm company now.
• Plan for power cuts: a digital landline does not work without power, so keep a charged mobile phone.
• Businesses: audit remaining analogue services and agree a migration plan with your communications provider.