The Great British landline switch-off is coming – it could spell trouble for IT leaders
In early 2027, the UK’s analog phone service will be switched off. This will mark the end of a technology that has operated, without interruption, since 1879.
The end of the analog phone system has been on the cards for some time. Increasingly, analog voice, also known as the public switched telephone network or PSTN, has given way to internet-based services: voice over internet protocol (VoIP). The legacy digital ISDN network will be retired at the same time as the PSTN.
The move to replace analog lines with VoIP was first announced in 2017. And originally, the PSTN switch-off was meant to happen this year. That date was pushed back to allow telecoms operators more time to migrate their networks and to ensure provisions are put in place for vulnerable users of the consumer network.
Nonetheless, according to data from the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, over two-thirds of landlines had moved to VoIP by May 2025. BT Openreach stopped selling new, copper-wire based lines in September 2023, so if a business needs phone services now, it will be VoIP.
The copper network will, though, live on for a while yet. Internet services running over copper lines, also known as fiber to the cabinet (FTTC) will carry on, until all addresses have access to faster, fiber to the premises (FTTP) services. There is no fixed date for this, but most telecoms providers expect it to be around 2030.
Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, points out that the decision to move away from analog lines was a commercial one by the service providers. But there is no doubt that the PSTN is now old technology, lacking the features and flexibility of VoIP.
And the PSTN is no longer reliable. According to Ofcom’s latest Connected Nations report, 2024 saw a 45% increase in PSTN “incidents”. Providers, for their part, have been forced to recycle or reuse old equipment for spares as much of the PSTN hardware is no longer made.
Network headaches for CIOs
There is little doubt, then, that it is better to invest in more modern technology, such as VoIP and fiber connections.
The issue is it is not just voice calls that are affected, or solely consumers.
There are millions of business phone lines that have not yet been migrated, across both analog and ISDN.
Some of these will be in small businesses or branch offices; remote locations or harder to reach facilities and locations such as small retail or hospitality outlets, workshops or warehouses that have little need for the extra features provided by VoIP. Phone systems are one of those technologies that just keep on going: why upgrade them if they are not broken?
Then there are the devices that use analog or dedicated ISDN circuits, for non-voice applications.
As the trade body TechUK notes: “Landlines aren’t the only things that rely on the phone network. It also supports everything from healthcare devices, burglar alarms, and personal alarms, to home monitoring systems ATMs, card machines, traffic lights, motorway signs and railway signals.”
For CIOs this poses a number of challenges.
Firstly, companies need to identify where legacy landline and ISDN connections are still being used. Then they need to plan to migrate them to alternatives. These could be VoIP, but for some applications other options, such as cellular data, might be more appropriate or economical.
And, if a VoIP connection is possible, IT teams need to ensure their hardware is compatible with the proposed VoIP service. Not all provide the same levels of compatibility for non voice services.
If this seems a lot to unpack, it is. And there is not much time to do it. Awareness of the switch-off is still limited, especially among smaller businesses.
“Despite significant strides in the migration efforts, there is still a substantial backlog of PSTN lines awaiting transition,” Ben Avery, head of channel at telecoms and broadband provider Gradwell, tells ITPro.
“With over a million lines that still need to be migrated, it’s not just about telephony. Business systems including fire alarm systems and chip-and-PIN terminals to door-entry controls will be impacted by the switch-off,” Avery explains. “Within that figure, telecare stands out as a vertical that currently lacks readiness. Telecare is critical for elderly and vulnerable users and is a glaring example of where there is still plenty of work to do ahead of the 2027 deadline.”
3G gone, 2G going…
The situation, though, is made rather harder by the decision also to switch off 3G, and eventually, 2G mobile networks.
The 3G network has largely already shut down, with Vodafone and EE completing the switch-off in early 2024. Three has shut down most of its 3G signals, and O2 will do so this year.
The immediate impact of the 3G switch-off for businesses has been fairly limited; not many employees will still have phones that do not support 4G. The issue, as with landlines, are those hidden devices: signalling, sensors, alarms and IoT hardware.
Some of this equipment was designed before 4G, and cannot be upgraded. Hardware that uses SMS for signalling will still work on the 2G networks, as will low data rate devices. But SMS, or even GPRS (also known as 2.5G) is a poor substitute for even 3G connectivity. And 2G itself is due to switch off fully by 2033, with some providers completing the transition before then.
Ofcom’s report estimates that 2.1 million devices still used 3G in 2024; the figure should have fallen since. But, although half of the legacy devices were consumer handsets, this still leaves a million or more business connections.
Then there are telecare devices; eCall systems in vehicles which make automatic calls in the event of an accident, usually over 2G; and some 7 smart electricity meters which, according to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, are still using 2G and 3G. This is aside from any specialist hardware businesses run.
It might not be a glamorous project, but IT teams would do well to hunt down those legacy systems and connections, landline and mobile, as soon as they can.
No one wants to learn that a critical service has stopped working because users, or worse still customers, start calling the helpdesk.
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