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The landline that still matters
The copper phone network is closing. Most homes will not notice. The ones that will — telecare, lift lines, alarm panels — need a plan before the socket goes quiet.
14 min read · Home
For most of a century the phone line in a British hall was a copper pair that lived, electrically, on the exchange. It rang in a power cut. It ran a pendant alarm. It was, in a quiet way, a piece of civil infrastructure. Openreach will not run that network indefinitely. The present closing date is 31 January 2027.
What replaces it
Voice becomes an application on the broadband connection — digital voice, VoIP, whatever the retailer names it. The handset in the kitchen may look the same. The path does not. If the router is off, the phone is off, unless the provider has given you a battery pack that actually lasts. Ofcom’s minimum backup expectations exist; the PSTN Charter asked providers to go further for vulnerable customers. Ask what you have been given, not what a brochure implies.
Ofcom reported the remaining PSTN base falling from 5.2 million lines in July 2024 to 3.2 million a year later. By late summer 2026 consumer explainers still put more than a million analogue connections on the to-do list, with telecare users the reason the deadline moved once already. Openreach has said the January 2027 date is locked. Dates have moved before. The safe personal plan is to migrate with a working care path, not to gamble on another delay.
A broadband switch that ignores a care alarm is not a switch. It is a risk transferred to the quietest person in the house.
What this does to a broadband switch
If nobody in the house uses a handset, this article is context. If somebody does — a parent, a warden line, a shop-flat alarm — it is the article to read before the comparison table. The new provider can run a very tidy One Touch Switch and still leave the wrong device silent.
Power cuts and 999
Digital voice dies when the hub dies, unless there is a battery pack you tested. Copper was powered from the exchange. If the hall phone is a care product, a power-cut path is part of the spec: battery, mobile, a neighbour. Do not discover this in a storm because a cheaper broadband-only deal looked tidy.
| Need | Copper habit | FTTP world |
|---|---|---|
| Dial tone in a cut | Often worked | Only with a tested battery or a mobile |
| Telecare pendant | Pair-dependent | Ask the pendant company before you cease |
| A number on a van | Port it | Port it — the pair is not the number |
Questions
- When does the UK copper phone network switch off?
- Openreach’s current last-customer date is 31 January 2027. The original December 2025 target was moved after telecare concerns. Remaining analogue lines are the ones that still need care.
- Will my home phone work in a power cut?
- Traditional PSTN lines often did. Digital voice rides on the broadband router, so it usually dies when the mains die unless you have battery backup. If 999 access or a care alarm depends on the line, ask the provider about backup before you migrate.
- Do I have to keep a landline with full fibre?
- No. Many full-fibre products are broadband-only. You add digital voice if you want a number. Do not assume “like-for-like”.
- What about lift lines and shop alarms?
- They are the reason this is not a lifestyle article. Speak to the maintainer before any cease. A tidy broadband switch can still leave the wrong device silent.
- Is this the same as One Touch Switch?
- No. One is a rule for changing provider. The other is the closing of a network.
Sources
- House of Commons Library briefing CBP-9471, 2026
- Openreach PSTN / WLR withdrawal, January 2027
- Ofcom consumer information on upgrading landlines
Figures move. Prices, coverage and eligibility must be confirmed with the provider. OneTouchSwitch is not Ofcom, TOTSCo or a broadband network. Last fact-checked 10 September 2026.
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