The UK’s PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) switch off is the biggest change to business phone lines in decades. Openreach’s switch off date is 31 January 2027, with a final deadline of 31 March 2027 for ISDN and multiline services. If you run hotels, hostels, visitor attractions or betting and gaming venues, now’s a good time to check which of your systems still rely on the old copper network.
Some of your busiest and most remote sites may still run on traditional landlines, ADSL or ISDN. Moving them to digital services early keeps bookings, payments and guest calls flowing through your peak seasons, and gives you time to plan each site properly.
What is the PSTN switch-off?
The PSTN is the copper-based network that’s carried UK phone calls for well over a century. Openreach is retiring it, along with ISDN, in favour of digital, IP-based services such as SIP and VoIP. GOV.UK guidance on moving landlines to digital technologies confirms that all UK landlines need to be upgraded by January 2027.
The timeline has changed before, and our guide to PSTN switch off dates explains why. If you’d like the fundamentals first, read what is the PSTN switch off? and the PSTN switch off: it’s more than just telephones. This blog picks up from there and looks at what the change means for leisure and tourism sites.
What’s changed in Openreach’s switch off plans
Openreach has updated its guidance on the switch off, and the key dates now depend on the type of line you use. Here’s what it’s announced:
- From 31 January 2027, Openreach will start moving eligible single PSTN lines to its Emergency Voice Access Service (EVAc), exchange by exchange. Existing analogue lines and devices should keep working, although the migration isn’t guaranteed. We’re working with Openreach to keep your services running wherever possible.
- Openreach is developing a product to keep existing ADSL and FTTC broadband connections that are linked to PSTN lines working after 31 January 2027.
- For ISDN and multiline services, migration and number porting orders need to be placed by 31 January 2027 and completed by 31 March 2027. These services are scheduled to stop working from 31 March 2027, and any lines and numbers that haven’t moved by then will be ceased.
- Openreach plans to announce further price increases before 31 January 2027.
We recommend upgrading to modern all-IP services such as SoGEA, FTTP and VoIP where you can, so each of your sites runs on a service built for the long term. Your account manager can talk you through what the changes mean for your sites.
Why the PSTN switch off matters for leisure and tourism
Your operations probably span several locations, with some in remote areas and some open for only part of the year. Many of the systems that keep those sites running sit on analogue, ADSL or ISDN lines. The government’s guide to the analogue to digital landline transition lists lift alarms, burglar alarms and card payment systems among the equipment businesses should check.
Here’s where the switch off is most likely to show up across your sites.
| System | Where you’ll find it | What to check |
| Guest and reservation phone lines | Hotel receptions, hostel desks and booking teams | Move numbers to a cloud phone system so guests can still reach you |
| Card payment terminals | Shops, visitor centres, cafés and betting shops | Confirm terminals connect over broadband rather than a phone line |
| Alarm and emergency lines | Lifts, fire alarm monitoring and out-of-hours contact numbers | Ask your alarm provider whether the equipment is digital-ready |
| CCTV and access control | Entrances, car parks and high-value areas | Check how the system sends alerts and footage off-site |
| Remote and seasonal site connectivity | Smaller sites that open for part of the year | Identify ADSL lines and ageing on-site equipment that’ll need replacing |
| Multi-site network links | MPLS and other WAN connections between locations | Review whether a cloud-managed network suits you better |
How the switch off could affect your operations
With a well-planned move to digital, your guests won’t notice a thing. Planning ahead helps you avoid:
- Missed booking enquiries and reception calls.
- Longer outages at remote or seasonal sites, where a hardware fault on ageing equipment can take days to fix while parts and engineers are arranged.
- Card payment problems that affect your takings.
- A rushed redesign of multi-site networks built on MPLS and PSTN-based lines.
- Disruption to the visitor experience during peak season, when there’s little time to recover.
Why leisure and tourism businesses face extra challenges
If you run lots of sites with a small IT team, a migration takes more planning. Two of our customers show what this looks like in practice.
Hostelling Scotland runs more than 60 sites across Scotland. Some of its smaller, seasonal hostels relied on older connections and on-site hardware, so a single equipment fault could mean two to three days of downtime while a part was ordered and an engineer arranged. Together, we replaced five separate on-premises phone systems with one cloud-based phone and contact centre service. Guests can now reach a 24/7 contact centre whatever a hostel’s opening hours, and the organisation is ready for the switch off.
A. McLean Bookmakers, Northern Ireland’s largest independent bookmaker, had run its network across 64 sites on a traditional MPLS setup that relied on PSTN-based copper lines for over a decade. We moved it to a secure, cloud-managed network one site at a time, running the new network alongside the old one so each shop switched over without losing service. The team now manages every site from a single view.
Is your leisure and tourism business ready for the PSTN switch-off?
Working with an experienced provider who understands leisure and tourism environments makes the move much easier to plan. We’d suggest these five steps:
- Audit every site, including smaller and seasonal locations, to find the lines, alarms and payment systems that still depend on PSTN or ISDN. GOV.UK guidance notes that your provider can’t see which devices are plugged into your lines, so your own audit gives you the full picture.
- Choose the right connectivity for each site, based on what’s available locally and what that site needs day to day.
- Move guest and reservation lines to a cloud phone system or contact centre, so calls reach the right team wherever they’re based.
- Redesign multi-site networks where it makes sense, moving away from PSTN-reliant MPLS towards a more flexible, cloud-managed network.
- Plan a phased migration around your trading calendar so busy sites move outside peak season, then keep everything secure and supported with ongoing monitoring and cyber security.
Our PSTN replacement services cover each of these steps, and our step-by-step planning tool helps you map out your timeline.
Why it pays to start your migration now
Remember that you will need time to test each site, train your teams and if it’s still possible, move at a quieter time of the year for you. Remote and seasonal sites usually take longer to arrange, so planning them first protects the guest experience and keeps bookings and payments flowing. If you use ISDN or multiline services, placing your orders well before 31 January 2027 gives them time to complete by the 31 March 2027 deadline. It also helps you avoid the extra cost of last-minute changes, especially as Openreach plans to announce further price increases before 31 January 2027.
Get ready for the PSTN switch off with Wavenet
Visit our PSTN switch off page for more information, or try our interactive PSTN switch off game to see how ready your organisation is.
You can also download our PSTN switch off planning toolkit and find out more about how we support the leisure and tourism sector.
Frequently asked questions
When is the PSTN switch off?
Openreach’s switch off date is 31 January 2027. From then, it’ll start moving eligible single PSTN lines to its Emergency Voice Access Service, exchange by exchange. ISDN and multiline migration and porting orders need to be placed by 31 January 2027 and completed by 31 March 2027, when those services are scheduled to stop working. GOV.UK guidance says all UK landlines need to be upgraded by January 2027.
Will our single phone lines stop working on 31 January 2027?
Openreach plans to move eligible single PSTN lines to its Emergency Voice Access Service from 31 January 2027, so existing analogue lines and devices should keep working. The migration isn’t guaranteed, though, so we’d recommend moving your sites to an all-IP service such as SoGEA, FTTP or VoIP before then.
Which leisure and tourism systems does the PSTN switch off affect?
Anything that uses a traditional phone line, including reception and booking lines, card payment terminals, lift and fire alarms, CCTV, door entry systems and some multi-site network links.
Will my card payment terminals need upgrading?
Terminals that connect through an analogue phone line will need to move to a broadband or other IP connection. Check with your payment provider which models you have, and include them in your site audit.
Do seasonal sites need upgrading if they’re closed for part of the year?
Yes. The changes apply whether a site is open or closed, so it’s worth migrating seasonal sites while they’re closed. That way they reopen on digital services, ready for your first guests of the season.
Can we keep our existing phone numbers?
In most cases, yes. Numbers can usually move across to a cloud phone system, so guests and suppliers can keep calling the numbers they already know. If your numbers are on ISDN or multiline services, place your porting order by 31 January 2027 so it’s completed by 31 March 2027.
How long does migration take for a multi-site business?
It depends on the number of sites and the systems at each one. A phased plan, like the one we used across A. McLean Bookmakers’ 64 sites, lets you move one location at a time without losing service.
Download your PSTN switch-off planning tool here
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