The Great British Copper Switch Off
- lisadymott
- Feb 12
- 2 min read
The move away from the old Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is entering its final year. BT Openreach has confirmed that the national switch-off will go ahead in January 2027, stating that there will be no more delays. That means any customers still using PSTN-based services will need to transition to digital alternatives before the deadline.
With significant industry-wide price increases landing throughout 2026, now is the time to migrate.
What WLR and ISDN are:
These traditional copper-based services support everything from standard voice calls to alarms, lift lines and payment terminals. As the UK moves fully to digital IP networks, these older technologies are being retired.
What’s changing in 2026?
BT Openreach has announced a series of price increases for any remaining WLR and ISDN services. These apply across the entire industry:
April 2026: +20%
July 2026: +60%
December 2026: Final uplift bringing the total to +100%
These increases reflect the rising cost of maintaining the legacy network in its final year. Moving customers to all-IP services avoids these increases completely. It’s also a good incentive for users to move off legacy technology as soon as possible.
What happens if you do nothing?
At the January 2027 switch-off, any remaining PSTN-based services will be moved by BT Openreach to a basic fallback called Emergency Voice Access (EVAC).
EVAC supports emergency voice calls only. It won’t support:
Broadband
Alarm lines
Lift lines
Card machines and payment terminals
Telemetry or monitoring systems
It also offers fewer features than today’s PSTN services. It’s a last-resort safety net – not something you can rely on.
We at Accelerator are here to help you move now, to avoid disruption.
Contact us today for a £195 survey to establish what needs to happen. And we can then plan together.
Telephone: 0207 993 3100
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