BT's analogue switch-off: what still needs to move
It's the kit you don't think of as a phone that catches businesses out
Most businesses know their phones are moving to digital. Fewer have checked everything else plugged into the same old lines.
BT Group is retiring its traditional telephone network (PSTN) on 31 January 2027, and Openreach has been clear there's no extension to the deadline. In September, Openreach said around 1.2 million lines were still running on the old analogue copper network, including around 350,000 business premises.
Many of those lines aren't connected to a desk phone at all. They're quietly powering equipment that keeps a building safe, secure and trading.
Where analogue lines hide
Openreach lists a wide range of equipment that still relies on copper lines. For a typical business, these are the ones worth checking:
- Fire and burglar alarms. Many alarm systems use a phone line to signal a monitoring centre. If that line stops working, the alarm may sound on site but no one is alerted.
- Lift emergency phones. Openreach's data in February showed more than 12,000 lift lines still needing an upgrade.
- Card machines and payment terminals. Some older terminals still connect over a phone line rather than broadband or mobile data.
- CCTV. Openreach counted around 500 lines serving CCTV networks that still needed upgrading.
- Telecare devices. If your organisation supports vulnerable people, check any telecare alarms with your provider. Openreach now runs a service that tests these devices on a digital line before a home is upgraded.
- Vending machines and smart meters. Openreach names both as equipment that has relied on copper.
Your broadband could be on the old network too
It isn't just devices. Standard ADSL, Fibre to the Cabinet and G.fast broadband all run over copper lines linked to the old network.
In September, Openreach said that where it's technically possible, it will keep linked broadband running for lines that haven't moved by the deadline and are transferred to its emergency voice service, EVAc. That's a last-resort safety net, not a plan. Openreach describes EVAc as temporary and limited, and it can't be ordered or reserved in advance. The right move is still to switch to a modern connection, such as full fibre or SOGEA, before 31 January.
How to find what's still connected
Openreach's advice comes down to three steps: review, test, switch.
- Review. Walk the building. Look for anything with a phone cable: alarm panels, lift cars, card terminals, CCTV recorders, older routers. If you're not sure what a line is for, ask the company you pay the bill to, rather than assuming it's safe.
- Test. Ask each equipment supplier whether their kit works over a digital line. Some devices just need a setting changing; others need an adapter or replacing.
- Switch. Move your phones to a hosted VoIP system and your connection to digital business broadband, then book in any equipment changes with time to test before the deadline.
We can help you check
The phone lines are the easy part. It's the alarm panel in the cupboard or the card machine on the counter that gets missed.
If you'd like a hand working out what's still on an analogue line, get in touch and we'll help you review it, line by line.
Sources: "Time for a 'big switch-up' as PSTN switch-off looms", Openreach, 5 Feb 2026; "Openreach to protect broadband connections as PSTN closure approaches", Openreach, 24 Sep 2026; ISPreview, 31 Jul 2026
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