The UK's ageing telephone infrastructure is approaching its end, yet for Openreach, the task of decommissioning it extends far beyond simply cutting off a line. Beneath these remaining connections sit commercial operations running alarm systems and payment processing equipment, residential users dependent on telecare devices, and customers entirely unaware they still rely on the outdated network.
With January 2027 marking the target date for closure, Openreach is now concentrating its efforts on locating those final holdouts and ensuring a smooth transition for them. James Lilley, who oversees the migration programme at Openreach, is steering the effort to move customers away from the legacy telephone network.
The hard part is what's left
Openreach initiated its Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) shutdown process starting around 2017, at which point approximately 16 or 17 million customers were connected to the network.
Today, fewer than 1.5 million remain
James Lilley
According to Lilley, the bulk of customers have already transitioned to modern alternatives, meaning the majority of the migration work is complete. Providers have executed this phase successfully. However, those still connected represent a trickier segment to move.
This proves especially challenging for commercial users, where an outdated telephone line frequently serves purposes beyond basic voice communication.
You've got lots of different things potentially connected to phone lines, like fax machines, alarm lines and payment terminals – things that you'll see in typical businesses that not many know they are connected to the telephone network
James Lilley
This creates a distinct obstacle. Businesses must first identify precisely which systems depend on their legacy connection before they can migrate.
What we're seeing now is a bit more of a switch away from having to tell people there's a need to move, to actually getting them to take action
James Lilley
Why businesses are dragging their feet
Multiple factors explain why certain businesses remain on the old infrastructure.
One surprisingly mundane issue is simply locating the appropriate decision-maker, according to Lilley.
There's a lethargy in business because you have to find the owner of the services and get the owners to take action
James Lilley
If you take a high street shop, for example, it's no good trying to convince the person working in the shop to migrate the telecom services because they're probably not responsible for paying the bill for the telecom services.
James Lilley
Equipment compatibility presents another hurdle. Lilley notes that commercial environments involve more technical considerations than residential settings.
If you've got an alarm in your business and it's not digital, for example, it's not compatible with broadband services. You might need to make some changes to some of the equipment you use in your business.
James Lilley
January 2027 isn't an instant cut-off
As the deadline draws near, Openreach wants to clarify that the network won't simply vanish on a single date, leaving millions without service.
There isn't a scenario where there's going to be a mass ceasing of customer services, and lots of things stop working in January 2027
James Lilley
Nonetheless, businesses cannot afford to ignore the deadline.
If customers don't move things, then there is ultimately a risk of disruption
James Lilley
Openreach has devised contingency arrangements for customers who have not yet switched, which Lilley refers to as a lifeboat solution. However, depending on these arrangements carries penalties.
It comes with disruption. It comes with a little bit of downtime, and ultimately customers still need to move away
James Lilley
Financial incentives also favour an earlier migration, Lilley suggests.
As a wholesale provider, we've been increasingly putting our prices up over the last six months. There's another big price increase coming in October.
James Lilley
It's actually often cheaper now to move onto the new network because of various incentives and offers that are in the market to get people to migrate.
James Lilley
For businesses still clinging to the legacy infrastructure, the economic case for staying is weakening.
Businesses are paying more for something that's old and more prone to failure, when the cheaper, more reliable like full fibre, is actually now cheaper to be on than these legacy services.
James Lilley
Making the move easier for vulnerable customers
For certain groups, particularly those using telecare services that depend on telephone-connected equipment, migration requires special consideration to ensure safety.
Openreach has therefore introduced technical support staff who visit customer homes to verify equipment functionality before migration, complete the switch, reconnect systems, and confirm everything operates correctly afterwards.
This approach is already in widespread use, Lilley reveals.
For customers using only landlines, Openreach has created an alternative pathway that avoids equipment changes.
We've developed solutions where we can actually just migrate the customer in the background. It's a bit of work in the network, a tiny bit of downtime, but essentially the customer doesn't need to change any equipment. They don't need to do anything on their premises, so you can move them over almost silently in the background.
James Lilley
The switch-off is only the beginning
Though January 2027 signals the conclusion of the UK's conventional telephone network, it represents merely one chapter in a broader telecommunications modernisation.
Openreach has committed £15 billion to fibre infrastructure expansion and anticipates delivering full-fibre availability to 25 million UK premises by the conclusion of 2026.
The subsequent objective, according to Lilley, involves eliminating copper infrastructure entirely.
As we close the telephone network, that massively reduces the power consumption of that network, so it's great from a UK sustainability perspective. The next thing after the PSTN is closed is we'll be going on a programme over the coming years of closing those exchange buildings and moving customers off the copper networks onto the new fibre networks.
James Lilley
For Openreach, therefore, the PSTN decommissioning represents far more than simply powering down legacy telephone equipment.
It constitutes a single component within an extensive restructuring of the UK's telecommunications foundation.
That's really the big transformation the whole UK telecom industry is going through at the moment, as we move off copper onto fibre
James Lilley
Source: Mobile Europe
