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Copper switch off

gwez — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 17:49:47 GMT

Anyone advise what bt are going to for people like myself..we have copper broadband and phone which will be turned off in January..we only have copper lines there is no other..i cannot get a clear answer if they are just going to cut us off..the cut off date is no for away now

Re: Copper switch off

imjolly — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 18:18:54 GMT

There are numerous posts on the forum which explains this if use search. It in the copper broadband that is being switched off and that will continue. It is the PSTN phone and it will be switch to digital voice. So you would just keep what you have and only change is phone would connect to green socket on back of hub instead of current wall socket

Re: Copper switch off

WSH — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 18:33:52 GMT

The copper lines are not being turned off in January. That's a popular misconception.

What is being turned off is the old analogue phone service, the PSTN or Public Switched Telephone Network. Instead the phone will become a digital service delivered as part of the broadband connection, be it copper or fibre optic. I myself was on BT's Digital Voice (DV) service for nearly three years before being upgraded to fibre optic. DV works fine over copper based broadband.

EDIT: Oops, seems imjolly beat me to it.

Re: Copper switch off

Kimberlin — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 19:30:41 GMT

It never ceases to amaze me how many new contributors come to the forum and just don’t use the search function or Google for the answer first. For those that think that’s too tough an ask, it’s actually more faff signing up to use the forum.

Re: Copper switch off

WSH — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 19:49:32 GMT

That's a matter of opinion and, personally, I don't mind answering it if I have the time. (And if I don't you won't hear from me. Simple as that).

Re: Copper switch off

chrisjp — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 21:15:12 GMT

BT itself has part caused this confusion by announcing that the copper network is "to be retired" in early 2027. Journalists have then picked this up and reported that BT will be "ripping out the old copper" in 2027. I even read one report which said this was so BT could profit from the scrap value of the copper!
None of this is true - as others have said, it is just the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), colloquially referred to as the "analogue phone system", that is being switched off. There is no deadline for retiring the copper network and it will continue to be used to provide broadband and digital voice telephone for all areas where full fibre is not yet available.