UK landline switch-off: how to check when your area changes

The UK landline switch-off is now less than three months away, and the question we hear most is "when does it happen in my area?" The honest answer: there's one national deadline, 31 January 2027, and no official postcode checker that gives your street a date. Your phone company moves you in its own order. Here's how to find out where you stand, what BT Digital Voice changes, and what stops working.

The short answer

• The deadline is the same everywhere: every analogue line has to be off the old copper network by 31 January 2027.
• There's no official switch-off date for your postcode. Your provider decides when your line moves and should write to you first.
• To check your line, look at your bill to see who provides it, then ask them. Openreach's checker shows whether full fibre has reached your address.
• Phones are the easy part. Alarms, card machines, lift and door phones, telecare and franking machines need checking too.
• Doing nothing isn't a plan. Lines left behind go onto a basic, more expensive emergency service.

Is there a landline switch-off postcode checker?

Not an official one that tells you a date. Openreach's own switch-off page gives a single date for everyone and says to call your service provider to find out what applies to you. The postcode tool Openreach does offer is its full fibre checker, which shows whether full fibre is available at your address. That's useful, because it tells you what your replacement line could be, but it isn't a switch-off date.

You'll find plenty of third-party "switch-off checkers" online. Treat any that promise a date for your street with caution. Phone companies move their customers in batches, on their own schedule, so the only reliable date is the one your provider gives you.

How to check, in practice:

1. Find out who provides your line. It's on your phone bill. Businesses sometimes have lines from more than one company.
2. Ask that provider when the line is due to move and what it will be replaced with.
3. Check full fibre at your address with Openreach's checker, so you know what's available.
4. Watch the post. BT says its first Digital Voice letter arrives about four weeks before your switch date.

UK landline switch-off locations: where things stand

You'll see lists of "switch-off locations" online. What they usually show is either how many lines are left to move in an area, or which telephone exchanges have stopped selling the old products.

Openreach said at the end of October 2026 that about 1 million lines across the UK were still on the old network, around 300,000 of them at business premises. East Anglia had 99,050 left to move. In September it published a league table of the big cities with the most lines left, led by London. Norwich wasn't in it.

Separately, as full fibre arrives, Openreach stops selling the old products at each exchange ("stop-sell"), so new orders there have to be digital. Its October 2026 build programme shows these Norfolk exchanges already stop-sold:

Our PSTN switch-off guide has the longer list of Norfolk exchanges and where each one stands.

BT Digital Voice: what changes

BT Digital Voice is BT's replacement for the analogue home phone line. Calls run over your broadband instead of the copper line. BT said in September 2026 that over 95% of its landline customers had already switched.

For most people, BT says, it's a case of unplugging the phone from the wall socket and plugging it into the BT Smart Hub on switch-over day. If the phone is a long way from the hub, BT offers a free adaptor. Your number stays the same.

Businesses aren't limited to BT. You can move your number to another provider's digital phone service, such as hosted VoIP, and keep it. See our guide to keeping your business phone number.

Common BT Digital Voice problems (and the fixes)

Most switches go smoothly. When they don't, it's usually one of these:

What stops working: alarms, card machines and lift phones

The phones are the easy part. These are the devices that catch businesses out, because nobody remembers they're plugged into a line:

• Intruder and fire alarms that dial a monitoring centre. Ask your alarm company about IP signalling with a mobile backup.
• Card machines. Most modern ones use broadband or a SIM. Older dial-up terminals need replacing.
• Lift emergency phones and door entry. Usually fixed with an adaptor and battery backup, agreed with your lift company.
• Telecare and personal alarms. Tell your provider before the switch. BT says telecare equipment is being checked.
• Franking machines and fax. Check with the supplier whether they can use the network instead.

Our guide to alarms, card machines and lift phones goes through each one in detail, with a checklist for walking your building.

What happens if you do nothing?

Openreach has said there won't be a hard cut-off on 31 January 2027. Lines that haven't moved will eventually go onto a temporary emergency voice service. That service is a last resort: more expensive, with fewer features, and not something to run a business on. Broadband on those lines is only kept "where technically possible".

Staying put already costs more. The final phase of Openreach's price rises for the old lines took effect on 1 October 2026, doubling the 2025 rental price, and more rises are planned from February 2027.

A quick checklist

1. Find every line on your bill, including the ones for the alarm and the lift.
2. Ask your provider when each line moves and what it's being replaced with.
3. List what's plugged into each line, and ask each device's supplier whether it works on a digital line.
4. Check your broadband, because your calls will run over it.
5. Plan for power cuts: a UPS for the essentials, and mobiles as a fallback.
6. Test everything the day after your line moves.

How we can help

We're a business phone provider in Dereham and a member of the Federation of Communication Services. We can check what's on your lines, move your numbers to a hosted VoIP phone system from £7 +VAT per user a month (plus £2.50 +VAT per number), and make sure your broadband is up to carrying your calls. You can also send us a message.

Not sure what's on your line? Call us on 01362 760100.