The fallback plan for anyone still on copper phone lines in February
Openreach has provided more details of how it will handle customers with active analogue telephone lines after it shuts down that part of its network on 31 January 2027.
From February 2027 onwards, the Openreach Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) will be switched off, with customers no longer able to use the old copper telephone network.
Openreach is wholesale connection provider, and it sells connections to communication providers such as broadband companies, who then sell a broadband or voice product to customers. These communication providers are responsible for migrating their customers off the legacy network by Openreach’s deadline.
Openreach also sells directly to many UK businesses, a large number of which still have yet to migrate their connections.
The infrastructure provider said that around 1 million copper-based lines remain active across the UK, 300,000 of which are within business premises.
Moving to emergency voice access
In its initial announcement, Openreach said customers who have failed to migrate from PSTN connections on 31 January 2027 may be automatically transferred to its Emergency Voice Access (EVAc) limited and temporary last-resort phone service.
The company has now clarified that to communication providers that it is developing a mechanism to attempt to preserve the broadband connectivity of wholesale line rental (WLR) customers moving to EVAc.
As EVAc does not support broadband connections, this process will involve breaking the link between the customer’s voice line and their broadband connection when they are migrated to EVAc.
The company said that broadband services to voice lines may therefore remain active when the voice line is migrated upon the shutdown of the copper phone network, with these services able to be managed separately.
Openreach said that continuity is not guaranteed, though, and will depend on the individual line’s technical configuration. It reminded connectivity providers that this measure is a temporary, last-resort solution and should not be seen as a long-term solution.
Companies which are providing Openreach copper voice lines to customers should continue to prioritise the migration of their services to alternate digital products. They are also able to cease voice line provision while retaining broadband connectivity as part of the migration.
“WLR3 (EVAc) cannot be booked in advance and may not support every existing feature or technical configuration,” Openreach said.
“Suppliers should therefore continue progressing migrations and be prepared to manage any broadband service that cannot be retained.”
