The Countdown Is On: What The UK Landline Switch-Off Means For Small Businesses

By Emma Lewis, bOnline

For decades, the humble landline has been the backbone of small businesses (and of course households) across the UK. From high-street retailers and professional services to tradespeople and growing startups, copper phone lines have quietly kept businesses connected to customers, suppliers and partners.

But that era is coming to an end.

By the end of this year, the UK’s analogue phone network, including PSTN and ISDN, will be switched off for good. While the change has been widely talked about for years, many small business owners still don’t know about it – or what to do next.

Why Are Small Businesses Being Forced to Change?

The landline switch-off isn’t just a tech fad, it’s an absolute necessity. The copper network is ageing, expensive to maintain and increasingly unreliable. Fault rates are rising, parts are becoming scarce, and fewer engineers are trained to support it.

At the same time, almost every business now depends on internet-based services – from cloud software and online payments to video calls and remote working. Maintaining two parallel networks no longer makes sense.

The solution is digital voice, where calls are delivered over broadband using Voice over IP (VoIP). Even though VoIP itself has already been around for a couple of decades, for small businesses the switch can feel daunting.

More Than Just Your Phone Line

One of the biggest risks for small businesses is thinking that the switch-off only affects desk phones. In reality, there are a lot of essential services that still depend on analogue or ISDN lines. They include:

• Card payment terminals
• Alarm systems and CCTV
• Door entry and intercoms
• Fax machines (yes some businesses, for example those in the legal and financial sectors still use them!)
• Lift emergency phones
• Backup lines for broadband

When these lines stop working, the impact goes far beyond missed calls. It can disrupt payments, compromise security or even put businesses in breach of compliance requirements. For small businesses without dedicated IT or facilities teams, these dependencies are easy to overlook. Until they fail of course.

Stop-Sell Means The Clock Is Already Ticking For Small Businesses

Although very early 2027 is the final switch-off date, it’s not actually been possible to buy a new landline for over a year. Openreach has implemented “stop sell” exchanges across the UK, where new analogue services can no longer be ordered.

For small businesses, this means:

• You can’t add new PSTN or ISDN lines
• Upgrading or moving premises may trigger a forced migration
• Fault repairs may result in a digital replacement

In practical terms, many businesses will be migrated long before the end of 2026, whether they are ready or not.

It’s Actually A Great Opportunity

While the switch-off introduces risk, it also presents an opportunity, particularly for small businesses that have outgrown their existing phone systems. Modern cloud phone systems are no longer just for larger, well-established companies. They offer features that were once expensive or complex, such as:

• Calls to mobiles and laptops 
• Access to apps and intuitive online dashboards
• Call menus and call routing
• Integration with CRM and helpdesk tools
• Easy scaling as teams grow or shrink
• Support for remote and hybrid working

For small businesses, this flexibility can translate directly into better customer service and lower long-term costs.

What About The Cost To Business?

Replacing phone systems sounds expensive, especially in the current economic climate where every penny counts. But often, businesses are already paying more than they realise to keep legacy systems running.

ISDN lines, for example, are typically charged per channel, with additional costs for maintenance and upgrades. Digital alternatives often consolidate voice and data into a single, predictable monthly fee.

The biggest costs tend to arise when businesses delay, leading to rushed installations, limited supplier options or emergency fixes when services fail.

Power Cuts, Resilience and Risk Planning

One important difference between traditional landlines and digital VoIP phone services is power. Traditional landlines work during a power cut; VoIP systems generally do not unless resilience measures are in place.

For small businesses, this makes planning essential. Options include:

• Battery backup for routers
• Mobile failover connections
• Call diversion to mobiles during outages

These solutions are widely available, but they must be taken into account as part of the migration, not as an afterthought.

What Should Small Businesses Be Doing Next?

Getting prepared for the landline shutdown doesn’t have to be a massive headache, but it does require action. Small businesses should start by asking a few simple questions:

• What phone services do we currently use?
• Are any alarms, payment systems or devices connected to phone lines?
• What happens if our broadband or power goes down?

Speaking to a provider like bOnline early allows time to consider options, budget properly and make the switch in a totally non-stressful way. After all, there’s nothing worse than a last-minute panic.

The End of the Landline (and a New Chapter)

The landline switch-off marks the end of a familiar technology, but not the end of business phone calls. For small businesses, it’s a moment of transition – one that can either be a big disruption or a transformative step forward.

Business owners who act early can modernise their phone system, improve flexibility, and build resilience for the future. Those who wait may find the countdown runs out faster than expected. Now is the time to make the jump to VoIP.