The PSTN Switch-Off Checklist for UK Businesses
Seven steps before 31 January 2027: inventory every line, identify what each one feeds, ask maintainers the digital question in writing, choose VoIP and SOGEA replacements, migrate numbers, test special devices live, then cease the copper.
Written by Nathan Hill-Haimes, Co-Founder, AMVIA
Quick answer
Work through seven steps before 31 January 2027: inventory every phone line you pay for, identify what each one actually feeds (phones, alarms, lifts, terminals, faxes, door entry), ask each equipment maintainer in writing whether their device works on a digital line, choose the replacements (VoIP for voice, SOGEA or fibre for connectivity), migrate and port the numbers, test alarms and terminals live on the new lines, and only then cease the analogue lines. Two thirds of UK landlines have already moved (government figures) - the remaining queue gets no extension for businesses.
Key Points
What you need to know.
Start With The Bill
The line inventory starts from your bills, not your memory: businesses reliably pay for analogue lines nobody can place until an alarm goes quiet.
Devices Before Dates
Providers cannot see what is plugged into a line (official guidance) - the device audit is the step everyone skips and regrets.
The Replacements
Voice goes to VoIP from GBP5.95 per user per month; line-based broadband goes to SOGEA or full fibre. Analogue reordering ended with stop sell in September 2023.
Why Now
Government figures: over two thirds of UK landlines are already digital, and the PSTN itself logged over 2,600 major incidents in 2024/25 - the old network is failing before its deadline.
The Seven Steps at a Glance
| Feature | Step | Why it is in this order |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Inventory from bills | List every line rental per site | Forgotten lines only show up on invoices |
| 2. Device audit | What does each line feed? | Providers cannot see your devices - official guidance |
| 3. Maintainer letters | Digital-certified? In writing. | Compliance trail for alarm and lift lines |
| 4. Choose replacements | VoIP for voice, SOGEA/fibre for data | Analogue is not reorderable since stop sell (Sept 2023) |
| 5. Migrate and port | Numbers move to VoIP per site | No site trades without a working line |
| 6. Test special lines live | Alarms, terminals, lift phones proven on the new line | While the old line still exists as fallback |
| 7. Cease the copper | Only after step 6 | Early cessation is how alarm lines die quietly |
Every switch-off migration that goes wrong goes wrong the same way: the phones move, the forgotten lines do not. This checklist exists to make the forgotten lines visible before 31 January 2027 does it for you.
The seven steps
1. Inventory from the bills. List every line rental you pay, per site, from the invoices. Names on bills rarely match rooms in buildings - that mismatch IS the audit.
2. Identify what each line feeds. Desk phones, but also the categories official guidance names: fire alarms, security alarms, lift phones, door entry, intercoms, payment terminals, telecare, fax (gov.uk business guidance). Your provider will not do this for you - government guidance is explicit that providers cannot see which devices are connected.
3. Write to every maintainer. One question each: is this device certified to work on a digital line, and if not, what is the replacement? Keep the answers - they are your compliance trail for alarm and lift lines.
4. Choose the replacements. Voice moves to hosted VoIP (AMVIA from GBP5.95 per user per month, numbers ported). Broadband that rode on a phone line moves to SOGEA or full fibre. Since Openreach stop sell in September 2023 the analogue products cannot be reordered anyway - the choice is which digital service, not whether.
5. Migrate, keeping numbers. Port the numbers to the VoIP service; schedule per-site so nothing trades without a working line.
6. Test the special lines live. Alarms raise their monitoring centre, terminals authorise a real transaction, lift phones reach a human - all proven on the NEW line while the old one still exists. Add battery back-up where a device must survive a power cut; Ofcom's one-hour minimum for emergency access is a floor, not a design.
7. Cease the copper. Only after step 6. Ceasing early to save a month of rental is how alarm lines die quietly.
Why the timing is tighter than the date
As of July 2026, roughly 1.5 million lines were still on legacy copper - about 350,000 of them business premises - migrating at around 200,000 lines a month (Openreach figures via ISPreview). Business lines are excluded from the temporary emergency-only continuity service, and legacy copper rental prices are being pushed up sharply through 2026 to move the stragglers. Waiting costs money before it costs connectivity. The full background is in our switch-off guide and the verified numbers in the statistics page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Seven things: a line inventory from your bills, a device audit per line (alarms, lifts, terminals, door entry, fax, telecare), written maintainer confirmations, replacement choices (VoIP for voice, SOGEA or fibre for connectivity), number porting, live tests of every special device on the new lines, and only then cessation of the analogue lines.
The analogue network is retired on 31 January 2027 (Ofcom). But stop sell has applied since September 2023 - analogue lines cannot be reordered or modified now - and roughly 350,000 business premises were still to migrate as of July 2026, so the practical deadline is well before the official one.
Voice moves to VoIP over broadband - Ofcom describes digital landlines as calls carried over your broadband connection. Line-based broadband moves to SOGEA (broadband without a phone line) or full fibre. AMVIA VoIP starts at GBP5.95 per user per month with numbers ported.
The BT/Openreach PSTN retires on 31 January 2027, but government guidance notes not every analogue service ends by 2027 - some interim solutions run later, and other networks such as Virgin Media O2 and KCOM run their own equivalent timetables. Do not read that as slack for ordinary business lines: they cannot be reordered today.
The network is old and failing: government figures record a 45% increase in PSTN incidents in 2024 and over 2,600 major incidents in 2024/25. Maintaining a shrinking analogue network to modern reliability standards stopped being viable - which is also why waiting until the deadline is a resilience risk, not a saving.
Related Resources
PSTN Switch-Off 2027
The full guide: what is changing, who is affected, and how to migrate without disruption.
SOGEA Broadband
The like-for-like replacement for a phone-line-based broadband connection - no PSTN required.
Business VoIP
Hosted VoIP from GBP5.95 per user per month with number porting handled for you.
PSTN Switch-Off Statistics
The verified countdown numbers with named sources and dates.