Openreach confirm post-January 2027 measures for UK analogue phone switch-off UPDATE2
Network access provider Openreach (BT) has today outlined the next stage of their closure preparation for the old Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), which helps to confirm the plan and service pricing that will occur for consumers that fail to migrate to a modern IP-based digital line alternative by the early 2027 closure deadline.
The PSTN switch-off is currently due to reach its conclusion on 31st January 2027. As a result, broadband, phone, telecare providers, councils and consumers have been working to migrate everybody across (details). But the main focus of this remains on the people who use vital home telecare systems (e.g. elderly, disabled – vulnerable users), which aren’t always compatible with newer IP-based digital phone services (telecare providers were slow to adapt).
At present 1.2 million UK lines (inc. 350,000 business premises) have yet to be migrated (i.e. 15m have already been done). But as we’ve previously reported, consumer lines won’t face a hard disconnection on 31st January 2027 and there will be a temporary Emergency Voice Access (eVAC) solution for those who fail to migrate – a limited last-resort phone service designed to maintain access to essential calls.
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Before eVAC business lines also weren’t due to benefit from the same protections as consumers and would have needed to go digital ASAP to avoid a sudden loss of service – potentially impacting critical systems like payment terminals, alarms, and emergency lift phones etc. Some of the latter lines may have been forgotten about over the years.
What has Openreach confirmed today?
Firstly, Openreach has revealed that the eVAC solution will, where “technically possible“, now also keep linked broadband services running (this is reflects legacy ADSL, FTTC/VDSL and G.fast lines). The original plan suggested that eVAC would be a voice-only solution (i.e. no broadband), so this is a useful development. But Openreach makes clear that this might not work for every line.
The additional protection will be available to “both residential and business customers” (single lines), including some who may not realise their broadband depends on the PSTN. It could help maintain access to essential online services and safeguard business connectivity while providers complete the remaining upgrades.
EVAc will cost Communications Providers £35 a month (exc. VAT) for WLR3 Basic and £38.60 for WLR Premium (this is the wholesale cost, so you’ll pay more at retail) – from 1st Feb 2027. The service is temporary, limited and more expensive than modern digital alternatives already available through providers. It is intended as a final safety net while providers complete customer migrations to modern digital alternatives.
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The PSTN closure date remains unchanged. Broadband retention doesn’t extend the deadline, and providers remain responsible for helping customers move before the network closes.
James Lilley, Managed Customer Migrations Director at Openreach, said:
“No one should wait for the PSTN to close before upgrading. Providers need to contact their remaining customers and help them move to a modern service now. But we also need a final safety net and preserving eligible broadband connections will reduce the risk of vulnerable people, businesses and essential services losing connectivity unexpectedly.
EVAc is temporary, limited and more expensive than modern alternatives. It gives providers additional protection while they complete the job, but it’s not a reason to delay.”
Openreach has also sped up the upgrade process, while aiming to keeping vulnerable customers safe, with the introduction of its Prove Telecare service – where specially trained engineers visit homes to test telecare devices and make sure they work on a new digital line before customers are upgraded. “To date, we’ve safely upgraded more than 70,000 customers with telecare devices,” said Openreach today.
So while this isn’t strictly a delay to the original closure date, it does appear to give those remaining consumer and business lines one last chance to change past the deadline.
UPDATE 4:14pm
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We did ask if Openreach could elaborate on why some lines might be able to carry broadband forward post-Jan 2027 and not others, although this is said to still be subject to ongoing development and that’s making it a bit difficult to get a clear answer. But it sounds like, due to this, EVAC + Broadband migrations won’t take place until mid-April 2027 onwards.
UPDATE 28th Sept 2026 @ 9:19am
Some further dates and details below.
Key dates
➤ 30 October 2026: The WLR3 exceptions process closes, except for emergency restoration of copper (ERoC) cases, the availability of which varies according to the stage of migration the WLR3 line is at.
➤ 6 November 2026: Deadline for submitting letters of authority for Novations or Transfers of Service.
➤ 31 January 2027: Final date for migration orders, bulk migration submissions, CP-requested Openreach ceases and use of migration offers.
➤ 1 February 2027: New WLR3 pricing, service levels and contract terms take effect; managed migrations to WLR3 (EVAc) begin with SOLUS lines.
➤ 31 March 2027: Migration orders with completion dates beyond this point will be cancelled, CPs can make alternative arrangements to mitigate any potential impact on end customers.
➤ From mid-April 2027: Openreach expects to migrate lines with associated broadband while preserving that broadband service using a short-term solution.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Let us hope that NATS has upgraded all of its connections by the deadline. 🙂
I think eVAC without BB was a very good idea. That would make the laggards migrate quite quickly. If everything works as before, they will keep ignoring the problem and OR will be still trying to turn off the last eVAC lines in 2050.
Is there any protection on the eVAC cost being passed through to the consumer? If not, it provides no incentive for providers to sort their customers out with any expediency.
Consumers shifting provider isn’t an answer as these will typically be people who typically don’t or can’t look elsewhere for an alternative provider.
Why are BT going to such lengths to keep this show rolling on? What’s the point of the deadline if people and now business’ just have a way to carry on the status quo.
If you can’t be bothered to migrate you lose your service, without that approach this farce will last longer than a BT pilot.
BT have migrated all the easy customers and what are left are all the difficult cases. Very rural customers with no mobile signal and very poor broadband if they have it at all. The only option is probably Starlink but it would need engineers to install that.
Whilst some of the 1.5 million lines left to migrate might be “difficult” I don’t think you can classify them all is this way. Many of these lines can migrate but some will just not want to change and therefore need to be forced, not by higher bills but by termination of service.
I live in a rural area with Openreach fibre, my neighbour was moaning that he had to change his phone service and he didn’t want to do it because he likes his analogue wind-up phone – this is what is left.
As for the small percentage of lines that have poor service via copper, Openreach should be forced to deploy fibre, instead of wasting £ on silly fallback systems like eVAC.
In many cases, BT has no say over the matter because the end-users will not be BT customers and therefore BT is having to resort to using incentives.
This process is going on in some other countries and is being handled rather more smoothly than in the U.K. It emerged that a major driver for telecommunications companies is the sale of the valuable property that telephone exchanges occupy.
In other countries they’ve simply allowed the incumbent telco to set a date and shut it down. It is only in the UK where BT is expected to provide a 100% replacement service, even if only as a stop gap, and to engage in endless rounds of trying to engage with customers who won’t listen (but will be very loud when they’re finally cut off).
In other countries don’t hear the same constant whinging about fibre and power cuts as you do here, for example. Nor have telecare companies been allowed to shift blame for their own inaction onto the telco.
BT doesn’t own the exchange buildings, so it won’t get a windfall from that, but it will save in lease costs. Most of the buildings are pretty decrepit and literally unnecessary once the PSTN, ADSL and LLU services go, as both FTTC and FTTP customers can be served by remote exchanges which are the 1000 or so that they will keep.
Although the PSTN is closing there is a hell of a lot of other kit in the exchanges that would have to be moved before the buildings can close.
A lot of the lines that are left are in very rural areas and the exchange is little more than a shed at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. I doubt if these plots are very valuable.
I would add to ivor’s and An engineer’s comments the point that there are financial penalties due if BT fails to vacate the leased premises by the contractual deadlines.
I have an elderly friend who stays in Aberdeen who only has a landline no broadband nor a mobile phone what happens to her landline telephone after the end of January 2027
As she has no broadband she will be moved to SOTAP for analogue, essentially this places an Analogue Telephone Adapter in the local exchange. Emergency Voice Access is for people who have PSTN and broadband on the same line and could move to digital voice but are dragging their feet.
As an ex-manager who was dealing with PSTN closure, there were multiple instances where it was not feasible to go for a wholly digital solution such as mine workings (I could give you a whole list!), so they chose to use a product called media gateway. This is two stage. Operations folk who knew how the infrastructure was built organically and upgraded time after time after time warned them to get a move on. I cannot see how Openreach are going to achieve full switch off unless they spend a lot of money or actually finish the full fibre rollout, even then there will be situations where fibre won’t work unless the NTE end is powered.