On 31 January 2027 the UK’s analogue phone network, known as the PSTN, is switched off for good. Anything in your building that still relies on a traditional copper phone line, not just the phone itself, needs to move to a digital service before then.
Plenty of businesses have not moved yet. In July 2026 Openreach said around 1.5 million lines were still running on legacy copper, including roughly 350,000 business premises, ISPreview reported. Openreach also confirmed there will be no extension to the deadline.
Two more details matter for business owners. Homes that miss the deadline get a temporary emergency voice service, but business lines face disconnection. And Openreach has warned that leaving it late could make it harder to get an engineer booked in time.
Most venues know their main phone line has to move. The problem is everything else plugged into a phone socket that nobody has looked at for years.
The Public Switched Telephone Network is the copper network that has carried landline calls in the UK for decades. Openreach is retiring it and moving every line to digital services that run over broadband. Its Big Switch Off page sets out the date and what homes and businesses need to do.
This is not tied to one provider. Whoever supplies your phone line, the copper network behind it is closing. You can usually keep your existing phone number when you move.
The obvious one. Your bookings line, reception phone or office line will need to move to a digital service such as a cloud phone system. We covered the options for venues in our guide to VoIP phone systems for pubs, restaurants and takeaways, so we will not repeat it here.
Older countertop card terminals often dialled out over a phone line. Modern card machines connect over broadband, Wi-Fi or 4G instead. If any terminal in your building plugs into a phone socket, it needs checking now. A card machine that stops working on a Saturday in February is a problem you will notice quickly.
Monitored alarms often use a phone line to send a signal to a monitoring centre. If that line disappears, the alarm may still sound on site but nobody will be told. Ask your alarm company whether your panel works on a digital line, and check with your insurer whether monitoring is a condition of your policy.
The emergency phone inside a lift is there so someone trapped can call for help. Many still use a dedicated copper line. If your premises has a lift, for accessibility or for moving stock between floors, speak to your lift maintenance company this month.
Some older door entry panels call a phone line or a mobile when a visitor presses the button. Modern IP intercoms run over your network instead. If your delivery door or staff entrance uses an older panel, our page on access control and door entry explains the current options.
Franking machines that download postage credit, the fax machine nobody admits to using and small monitoring boxes in cellars or plant rooms can all rely on a phone line. A simple rule: if a device has a cable running into a phone socket, find out what it does and who supplied it.
If your broadband runs over the same copper line as your phone, your provider will move it to a digital product. Ask them what changes, and test everything plugged into the router afterwards, including tills, CCTV and card machines.
Set aside an hour with whoever knows the building best.
Old copper phones carried their own power, so they often worked when the electricity went off. Digital lines rely on power at your router. For an ordinary phone that may not matter much. For a lift line or a monitored alarm it does.
Our IT support team can advise on backup power for the equipment that matters most.
Take a typical members’ club with a bar, a function room and a lift to the first floor. Its copper lines might include:
That is five separate things to move, and three of them have nothing to do with making phone calls. Each needs its own supplier conversation, and each needs testing once it has moved.
Often it makes sense. If you have to move the line anyway, it is a good moment to fix the things that annoy you, such as missed booking calls during service or calls that cannot follow the duty manager around the building. A VoIP phone system also needs fewer cables. With VoIP, one network port can serve both a computer and a phone.
The switch-off date is fixed and the engineers are getting busier. An hour spent listing every line and device in your building now is far cheaper than finding out in February that your alarm has not been reporting for a fortnight.
Not sure what is still on copper? Get in touch with CCR Systems and we will help you work through your lines and devices, then move your phones, card machines and door entry to digital services in one plan. Call 0151 644 8296.
