The UK’s old copper telephone network (PSTN) is being retired on 31 January 2027. The date has already been moved back once, from December 2025, and Openreach has said it won’t be extended again.
What stops working
- Traditional analogue phone lines and ISDN business phone systems
- Broadband that depends on a phone line (ADSL, and FTTC bundled with a WLR line)
- Equipment that dials out over a phone line: alarm panels, lift lines, franking machines, older card terminals and fax machines
What to check now
- Review. List every phone number and line at your premises, including the ones you’ve forgotten about (alarm, lift, fax).
- Test. Ask your alarm, lift and card-terminal providers whether their equipment works over a digital line.
- Switch. Move your broadband to SoGEA (fibre broadband without the phone line) or full fibre, and your phones to VoIP. You can usually keep your existing numbers.
How we can help
We install SoGEA broadband and VoIP for businesses across Reading and Caversham. We’ll audit your lines, check your equipment, and arrange the switch with minimal downtime.
Book a free line check, or call 0118 962 0081.
