PSTN Switch-Off: What the Communications Market Report 2026 Shows
In short: The PSTN switch-off on 31 January 2027 will retire the copper telephone network, and Ofcom’s Communications Market Report 2026, published on 30 June 2026, shows the migration is well advanced. Full fibre reached 42% of broadband lines (12.3 million) and managed internet voice rose to 12.9 million connections. The regulatory work now sits in the tail.
The PSTN switch-off on 31 January 2027 will end the analogue telephone network that has carried British voice calls for more than a century. How ready is the country for it? Ofcom’s Communications Market Report 2026, published on 30 June 2026, gives the clearest reading yet. Full fibre now reaches 42% of fixed broadband connections and managed internet voice has overtaken the old network on most fixed lines. The migration is no longer in doubt. What remains is a hard tail of copper lines, legacy voice services and vulnerable users that has to move before the deadline.
Key findings from Ofcom’s Communications Market Report 2026
- Full fibre reached 42% of the UK’s 29.3 million fixed broadband connections at the end of 2025, up 11 percentage points year on year, as full fibre lines grew by 3.4 million (38%) to 12.3 million. Source: Ofcom Communications Market Report 2026.
- Legacy copper broadband is contracting fast. Fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) fell by 2.6 million to 9.9 million lines and ADSL fell by over a quarter to 1.3 million. Source: Ofcom Communications Market Report 2026.
- Fixed voice connections fell by 2.8 million (12%) to 21.4 million. Managed VoIP connections rose by 1.4 million (12%) to 12.9 million as PSTN, emulated PSTN and ISDN lines continued to decline. Source: Ofcom Communications Market Report 2026.
- UK telecoms sector revenue was £34.7bn in 2025, down £0.3bn (0.8%) year on year. Source: Ofcom Communications Market Report 2026.
- Fixed-line call volumes fell 19% to 15 billion minutes, and 91% of all call minutes now originate on mobile networks. Source: Ofcom Communications Market Report 2026.
| Indicator | End-2025 figure | Year-on-year change |
|---|---|---|
| Full fibre broadband lines | 12.3 million (42% of connections) | Up 3.4 million (38%) |
| Fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) lines | 9.9 million | Down 2.6 million |
| ADSL lines | 1.3 million | Down by over a quarter |
| Managed VoIP fixed voice connections | 12.9 million | Up 1.4 million (12%) |
| Total fixed voice connections | 21.4 million | Down 2.8 million (12%) |
Regulatory background: who owns the PSTN switch-off
The PSTN switch-off is an industry-led programme, not a regulatory mandate. BT and Openreach are retiring the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and the Wholesale Line Rental products that run over it, and the government has confirmed 31 January 2027 as the industry target for full retirement in its guidance on the transition from analogue to digital landlines. Openreach stopped selling new analogue services nationally on 5 September 2023, so the direction has been fixed for some time.
Ofcom’s role runs alongside this programme rather than driving it. Its powers sit in the significant market power regime under Part 2 of the Communications Act 2003, in particular sections 78 to 93, under which Openreach holds market power in wholesale local access. Ofcom confirmed its three-stage copper retirement framework on 17 March 2026 under the Telecoms Access Review 2026-31, and it requires providers to protect customers who depend on their landline, including access to emergency services during a power cut. The framework mechanics are set out in our note on the Ofcom copper retirement framework for operators.
What the data shows: two migrations on different clocks
The Communications Market Report 2026 confirms the copper-to-fibre and PSTN-to-VoIP migration has passed the point of no return. Full fibre now stands at 12.3 million lines, up 38% in a single year, while FTTC and ADSL, the copper-based broadband products, are in steep decline. On voice, managed VoIP has already overtaken the legacy network: 12.9 million of the 21.4 million fixed voice connections now run over an internet connection rather than the PSTN.
The number reads as reassuring until you look at what is left. Openreach reports that around 2.8 million lines still sit on the PSTN and have to migrate before the switch-off, more than half a million of them serving business premises. Two separate processes bear on those lines, and they run on different clocks. Voice services have to leave the PSTN by the fixed date of 31 January 2027. Broadband services leave copper wholesale inputs exchange by exchange, over a longer horizon stretching into the 2030s, as each Openreach exchange passes through the three-stage copper retirement framework. Ofcom’s consultation on the second threshold calculation closed on 12 May 2026, with a decision expected in autumn 2026, and it will govern how fast copper charge controls fall away at each exchange. The wider fibre investment settlement is covered in our analysis of the Telecoms Access Review 2026-31.
Commercial and operational implications of the PSTN switch-off
For communications providers, the practical challenge is running two migrations at once against two different deadlines for the same customer. A single exchange area can have voice services that must leave the PSTN by January 2027 and broadband services that will remain on regulated copper wholesale inputs for years longer. General Condition C3 requires providers to take reasonable steps to maintain continuity of service through network changes, so migration planning needs to be exchange-specific rather than national.
The residual base is where the risk concentrates. Telecare alarms, lift lines, door entry systems, alarm circuits and payment terminals connected over analogue lines do not always signal reliably over a digital connection, and a failed migration on a telecare user carries a safety consequence, not just a service one. Ofcom and the industry have built protections around this group, including a commitment not to migrate telecare users onto digital lines without a confirmed compatible solution. Business customers still running ISDN or analogue-dependent equipment face the same 31 January 2027 cut-off as everyone else. Providers assessing how the switch-off and the copper retirement framework bear on a specific product or customer base can see our telecoms product launch advice page for when to bring in regulatory support.
Viewpoint
The headline in the Communications Market Report 2026 is that the fibre build has done its job: 42% full fibre and managed VoIP in the majority tell you the migration is real. In my experience the binding constraint from here is not the fibre footprint but the residual base. Identifying and safely migrating telecare users, alarm and lift lines and analogue payment terminals is slower, more manual and higher-stakes than converting a standard household, and it is where a switch-off goes wrong in public. The two clocks make it harder. The PSTN switch-off is fixed at 31 January 2027, while copper broadband retirement moves exchange by exchange under Ofcom’s three-stage framework, and the risk sits where those two timetables overlap on the same premises. That is the number I would watch in next year’s report: not the fibre percentage, but how far the PSTN tail has actually fallen.
Frequently asked questions
When is the PSTN switch-off?
The industry target for retiring the PSTN is 31 January 2027. BT and Openreach are decommissioning the analogue telephone network and the Wholesale Line Rental products that run over it. Openreach stopped selling new analogue services nationally on 5 September 2023, and the government has confirmed the January 2027 date in its transition guidance.
Is the PSTN switch-off a regulatory requirement?
No. The switch-off is an industry-led programme run by BT and Openreach, not an Ofcom mandate. Ofcom regulates the protections around it, including continuity of service under General Condition C3 and access to emergency services during a power cut, and it runs the separate copper retirement framework under the Communications Act 2003. The two processes overlap but are distinct.
How far has the fibre and VoIP migration reached?
Ofcom’s Communications Market Report 2026 records full fibre at 42% of fixed broadband connections (12.3 million lines) at the end of 2025, up 11 percentage points year on year. On voice, managed VoIP rose to 12.9 million of the 21.4 million fixed voice connections, so internet-based voice now carries the majority of fixed lines while PSTN and ISDN continue to decline.
What do businesses on copper lines need to check before 2027?
Businesses relying on ISDN lines or analogue-dependent equipment, such as alarm circuits, lift lines, door entry systems and payment terminals, face the same 31 January 2027 cut-off. The practical question is which services depend on the PSTN and whether replacement digital connections have been tested for that use, because some equipment does not signal reliably over a standard digital line.
Contact
For advice on the PSTN switch-off, copper retirement planning or wholesale access strategy through the transition, contact Rob Bratby at Bratby Law.
