UK businesses still using analogue phone lines have less than three months to move to digital services, and telecom partners may be left handling the toughest connections. Openreach says approximately 300,000 legacy lines remain at business premises before the Jan. 31, 2027, retirement of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).
The deadline affects more than desk phones. Payment terminals, lift emergency telephones, fire alarms, and building access systems can also depend on the old network. For UK MSPs, telecom resellers, and communications providers, the remaining job is to find overlooked connections, coordinate equipment suppliers, and test replacements before business-critical services stop working.
Openreach warns the remaining migrations are more complex
In its latest warning, Openreach estimated that about one million legacy lines were still active across the UK, including 300,000 at business premises. That is a count of lines, not 300,000 separate businesses.
“The straightforward migrations have largely been completed,” said James Lilley, Openreach’s director of All-IP. He warned that the connections left often support critical operations and require supplier coordination and testing.
The UK government’s connectivity timeline confirms the Jan. 31, 2027, PSTN retirement. This does not mean every copper broadband connection will disappear on that day; the deadline concerns the legacy phone network and dependent services.
Rising line costs add pressure for channel partners
Openreach said its October increases effectively doubled wholesale rental prices for certain legacy lines compared with 2025, with additional increases planned from February 2027. Providers must decide whether to absorb those costs or pass them on to customers as they organise upgrades.
Time is another constraint. In a May 2026 interview, Giacom’s managing director of connectivity, Dale Parkinson, said the company had completed more than 100 All-IP projects. Its data showed that customer-base migrations took at least two months on average, even for smaller estates.
Openreach has introduced a temporary Emergency Voice Access (EVAc) service for eligible unmigrated lines, with wholesale charges of £35 or £38.60 a month depending on the line type. EVAc cannot be ordered in advance, and its limited capacity cannot be reserved. Eligible linked broadband may be preserved where technically possible.
Openreach says the Jan. 31, 2027, PSTN closure deadline remains unchanged. Gamma’s guidance lists Jan. 31 as the deadline for placing migration orders and March 31 for completing them, with transfers of eligible remaining lines to EVAc expected from April. ISDN and multiline services are excluded from EVAc. Partners should confirm each customer’s timetable with their provider rather than assume services will continue until March.
MSPs need to identify hidden lines before scheduling upgrades
Moving a company’s main phone system to digital does not confirm that every legacy connection has been migrated. Partners still need to check equipment managed by facilities teams and external suppliers.
UK MSPs and telecom resellers should therefore treat the Jan. 31, 2027, deadline as a wider business continuity issue. Openreach recommends a review, test, and switch approach, particularly for organisations with multiple locations or equipment managed by different suppliers.
Three priorities deserve particular attention:
- Identify every legacy connection across UK locations. Review telecom bills, equipment inventories, and individual site requirements. Check whether alarms, payment terminals, lifts, security systems, or remote monitoring equipment still depend on PSTN or ISDN services.
For businesses with offices, shops, or facilities across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, confirm which providers manage each connection and who is responsible for arranging upgrades.
- Coordinate with equipment suppliers before installation. Not every analogue device will work with a digital connection without modifications or replacement. MSPs should work with alarm installers, lift maintenance contractors, and equipment manufacturers to confirm compatibility.
Openreach offers free testing facilities to help organisations check whether legacy equipment can operate over digital networks. Schedule upgrades and complete testing before disconnecting existing lines.
- Test connectivity and prepare for outages. Digital communications systems may depend on broadband and local power, creating different risks during electrical failures. UK partners should check backup power, mobile coverage, and alternative connectivity arrangements, particularly for customers who rely on landlines to contact emergency services.
Ofcom’s power-cut guidance explains communications providers’ obligations to protect access to emergency services. Partners should confirm backup arrangements with the provider and document testing of the equipment needed to make calls during a power failure.
For MSPs supporting multinational customers across EMEA, the January deadline should be treated as a UK-specific migration milestone, rather than a single deadline applying to every European market. Partners managing regional estates should track UK dependencies separately while coordinating other countries’ migration requirements with their local telecom providers.
The transition also creates opportunities for channel partners to offer migration assessments, managed connectivity and communications services, and ongoing support. However, providers should confirm equipment requirements and engineering availability before committing to completion dates.
Before closing a migration project, partners should record each connection’s replacement service, equipment compatibility checks, and test results. Customers should know who owns unresolved faults and what happens during a power or connectivity outage. Confirming that alarms transmit alerts, payment terminals process transactions, and emergency systems remain operational gives partners a clear basis for signing off the migration.
Also read: Mitel’s new WX platform brings voice, messaging, and AI-assisted tools into one interface, giving channel partners more options to modernize enterprise communications across cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments.