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PSTN Switch Off in 2026

Image illustrating the copper switch off and move to full fibre technology
The changes in 2026 will see more people move to Openreach full fibre services. Those who can’t yet get full fibre will be able to use their copper phone line for broadband but most will need to move their phone to connect to their router and Digital Voice service.

There’s been a lot of discussion around upgrading the old copper phone network (PSTN, or public switched telephone network) to full fibre services. This is often referred to as “upgrading to Digital Voice“, PSTN switch-off, or WLR Withdrawal. During 2026, we’re expecting many to receive letters in the post about switching services, but what does this actually mean?

(We also have an expert guide on Digital Voice and how to migrate telephone extensions over, following PSTN Switch Off, which you may want to read after finding out what is going on).

Back in the original days of broadband, you needed a phone line (since Openreach, this has been called Wholesale Line Rental or WLR), which meant your phone service, and then you added ADSL or FTTC broadband over that line. It’s now about to turn the other way around, where telephone services are provided over the broadband service.

The basics

  • In simple terms, if you have a telephone connected directly to a phone socket, your telephone service will be phased out during 2026 (or soon after), and you’ll pay more in the next few months if you don’t switch soon.
  • You can still use your existing telephone, but it will plug into your broadband router or another device connected to the router. You may need to talk to your broadband (and/or phone line) provider to discuss the options.
  • If your broadband is delivered through your copper telephone line (FTTC or ADSL) and you can’t get full fibre, you can continue to use it for Internet access, but you’ll need to switch to a different service (known as SoTAP or SoGEA) where your copper line will only provide a broadband service, and your telephone service will be delivered through the Internet.
  • You can keep your telephone number.

The scenarios

(1) You have an “FTTC” part-fibre broadband connection delivered over your phone line. This is known as a ‘fibre to the cabinet’ service, which is typically marketed at speeds of up to 40-80Mbps downstream. The speed depends on how long the telephone line between your local FTTC cabinet and home is.

The current service would look like this:

Diagram for a WLR/PSTN Phone line with FTTC Broadband service showing a phone connected to a microfilter, split in street cabinet before a fibre and copper phone line heading to the telephone exchange

After the switch to Digital Voice, it will be like this:

SoGEA setup replacing FTTC with phone connected to router, a copper line to street cabinet and fibre to the exchange.

(2) You have an “ADSL” broadband service delivered over your phone line. This technology links your home back to the telephone exchange, and typically you’ll have speeds of up to 24Mbps (on ADSL2+), but it depends entirely how long your telephone line is.

The current service would look like this:

Diagram showing phone and router connected to a micro filter, and a copper line all the way through a street cabinet to the telephone exchange where PSTN voice and Internet service is split up.

After the switch to Digital Voice, it will be like this:

SoTAP replacing an ADSL service with phone now connected to router and a copper line all the way through the street cabinet to the telephone exchange where it ends on a DSLAM with Internet connectivity and phone service over the Internet connection

(3) You have a phone line (from BT or anyone else) which you plug a phone into directly (with no broadband on), even if you have a separate full fibre (FTTP) broadband service. You don’t need a broadband service, but the phone-only service will eventually end. This is more likely if you kept your phone line with a different provider from your new FTTP broadband service. These lines may last a little bit longer. It could also affect ISDN users, although these are rarely used at home any more.

If one of the above applies, during 2026 you will probably be charged additional fees by your broadband/phone provider to keep your PSTN voice service working until you take some action, which essentially involves moving your telephone connection from a “BT Phone Socket” over to a router or separate device which uses the Internet to provide a telephone line, rather than the phone cable directly. Your phone line provider is going to see price increases from April 2026 and further increases in July and October, which will result in the wholesale cost of the ‘phone’ line element doubling later this year.

Poster with "Keep calm and carry on talking" in style from the war.

If you’re able to order a full fibre broadband connection, this is the route you will be expected to take, even if you want to keep to a more basic level of service around 100 Mbps. This will be more reliable and better in just about every way. You then connect your phone to the router for a digital voice service.

If you can’t get full fibre, you can just move to a “no voice line” version of the same ADSL2+/FTTC copper product; it’s just called something different (yes—the product naming isn’t really friendly!).

Openreach is withdrawing copper based **phone/voice** lines and encouraging everyone to migrate to a Digital Voice service, a type of VoIP system that uses the Internet to route your phone calls. But, if you can’t get full fibre broadband, you still need the copper line for your **broadband** service.

So for those who aren’t able to upgrade to full fibre, here are the two paths you’re looking at:

  • WLR/PSTN Phone Line + FTTC Broadband –> SoGEA (FTTC) Broadband (+optional Digital Voice phone line)
  • WLR/PSTN Phone Line + ADSL Broadband –> SoTAP (ADSL) Broadband (+optional Digital Voice phone line)

These terms mean Single Order Generic Ethernet Access (SoGEA) and Single Order Transitional Access Product (SoTAP), which essentially mean “FTTC without PSTN” and “ADSL without PSTN”. What makes this confusing is “SoGEA” is used more widely. The broadband technology isn’t changing, just the fact Openreach doesn’t want to sell you a telephone service directly over that copper line. This means they can decommission voice switching equipment in the telephone exchange, as your new service just runs over the Internet.

Nothing changes in the home except you move your telephone from the phone socket/micro-filter, and you plug it either into the router, or a special box your broadband supplier can provide, or you can stop using a landline (which may be the preferred option for most).

You don’t technically need a micro-filter any more as it was used to split the voice and data signals, however, it’s probably the easiest way to connect the broadband router’s RJ-11 socket to the BT phone socket, so most will probably keep using it.

A word of warning — If you have any systems connected to your phone line, like a personal care alarm (telecare) used by some elderly at home, you need to make sure they continue to work under the new system. Intruder alarms could also need updating, although those on RedCare would already have been moved onto alternative services.

Power outages — If you rely on your landline for safety reasons (e.g. you have no working mobile service), you may also want to look at getting a battery unit that protects your broadband fibre termination equipment (NTE) and router so you can still make phone calls in the event of a power outage. Your provider can advise you, especially if you’re vulnerable, but otherwise you can also look at our guide on how to stay online during power outage.

We also have an expert guide on PSTN Switch off including Digital Voice and how to migrate telephone extensions over.