The landline switch off: what actually happens in January 2027
Facts checked 18 August 2026 against Openreach announcements. We update this page when the timeline or guidance changes.
The UK's analogue phone network, the copper system that has carried landline calls for over a century, switches off on 31 January 2027. Openreach has confirmed there is no extension. Landline calls move to digital voice, which runs over a broadband connection, so your phone will plug into your router instead of the wall socket. Your provider must contact you before anything changes, you keep your number, and for most households the switch is free. If you still use a copper based broadband product, this is also the moment it retires.
What is actually being switched off
The Public Switched Telephone Network, usually shortened to PSTN, is the analogue copper network behind traditional landlines. The equipment that runs it is decades old, spare parts are increasingly hard to source, and the engineers who maintain it are retiring faster than the network is. BT Group and Openreach announced the retirement years ago, originally for December 2025, then moved the deadline to 31 January 2027 to give providers more time to move vulnerable customers safely.
It is not only phone calls. Anything that depends on the copper voice network retires with it, including older broadband products that run over the same lines, and devices that quietly piggyback on a phone socket: some alarms, telecare pendants, and older payment terminals.
The key facts, dated
- Switch off date: 31 January 2027, confirmed by Openreach with no extension
- Lines still to move: roughly 2.8 million as of early 2026, over half a million of them business lines
- New lines: providers stopped selling analogue phone lines in September 2023
- Also retiring: ISDN business lines and copper based ADSL and FTTC broadband
- Your number: stays with you, porting typically takes 10 to 15 working days
- Telecare users: Openreach's safe migration service for telecare devices has been available nationwide since October 2025
What changes in your home
For most people the change is smaller than the letters make it sound. Your landline number stays the same, your handset usually stays the same, and your calls continue. The difference is where the phone plugs in: instead of the wall socket, it connects to your broadband router, and calls travel over the internet as digital voice. Providers call this different names, BT calls it Digital Voice, others say VoIP or digital phone, but it is the same change.
- Your provider must contact you before your line is switched, you do not need to apply
- You keep your phone number
- Most switches are free and take minutes once the broadband is in place
- A digital phone line needs power, so in a power cut it will not work the way a copper line did. Providers must offer solutions, such as battery back up, to customers who depend on their landline
- If you have a telecare alarm, tell your phone provider before the switch so it is migrated safely
The part of the letter nobody explains
Digital voice needs a broadband connection, and the copper broadband products many households still use, ADSL and part fibre FTTC, are being retired along with the phone network. That is why the switch off letters often arrive alongside an offer to move you onto full fibre. For millions of households, the landline switch off is really a broadband switch in disguise.
Here is the honest advice: being moved is not the same as being moved onto a good deal. When your provider writes to you about the switch, that letter is your prompt to check what full fibre actually costs across the market, because you are going to be choosing a new service either way, and the difference between the deal you are offered and the best deal available is often several pounds a month for the same speed.
Or compare the full panel on our home broadband page.
Not switching yet? Get a reminder before your broadband contract ends
Tell us when your current deal ends and we will email you before it does, with time to compare before the switch off forces the decision for you.
If you run a business
Business premises are further behind on the migration than households, and the list of copper dependent kit is longer: ISDN phone systems, card terminals, lift lines, alarm panels and fax all stop working when the exchange is switched. If any of that sounds like your premises, audit it now, because engineer availability tightens as the deadline approaches. Our business broadband page covers the connectivity side.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to do anything right now?
No. Your provider must contact you before your line changes. But if your broadband is still ADSL or part fibre, using the time before the deadline to choose your own full fibre deal usually beats accepting whatever the migration letter offers.
Will my phone number change?
No. Your number moves with you to the digital service, and it also moves if you switch provider, porting typically takes 10 to 15 working days.
What happens in a power cut?
A digital phone line runs through your router, so it needs power. Providers are required to offer solutions for customers who depend on a landline, typically a battery back up unit or a mobile alternative. If that is you, raise it when your provider contacts you.
I have a telecare alarm or health pendant. Is that safe?
Tell your phone provider before any switch. Openreach's dedicated migration service for telecare users has been running nationwide since October 2025, and the industry moved the whole deadline partly to get this right. Do not let the line be switched until your telecare provider has confirmed the device works on digital.
Is this the same as the copper broadband withdrawal?
They travel together. The phone network being retired is the same copper that carries ADSL and FTTC broadband, so those products retire too, which is why the switch off usually means a move to full fibre where it is available.
Sources: Openreach announcements on the PSTN retirement and the January 2027 deadline, Openreach migration figures published early 2026, and industry reporting on the May 2024 deadline change. Facts on this page checked 18 August 2026.