Landline switch-off

The landline switch-off, sorted before January

On 31 January 2027 the old copper phone network closes and every landline moves to broadband. On a farm that means the phone, the alarm, the gate intercom and the card machine may all need attention, and the phone will die in a power cut unless you plan for it.

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Sound familiar?

What goes wrong

  • The phone will need the internet to work.

    Digital Voice runs over your broadband. If the broadband is poor or drops, so does the phone. On a farm with one bar of mobile signal, that's not a small thing.

  • Power cut, no phone.

    The old line was powered from the exchange. The new one isn't. Without a battery, a power cut takes the phone with it, 999 included.

  • The alarm dials out on the old line.

    Burglar alarms, telecare pendants, lift and gate auto-diallers and some card machines signal over the copper line. Some won't work over the new one, and some fail quietly.

  • The provider's letter came, and it's gone in a drawer.

    Providers must give notice before switching a line, but the notice is easy to miss and the switch is easy to get wrong.

What Daniel does

What he does about it

  1. A landline switch-off check of the whole farm.

    Every phone, alarm, dialler, intercom, fax, card machine and lift tested against the new service. A written list of what's fine, what needs changing and what it will cost.

  2. Battery backup where it matters.

    A battery that keeps the router and the phone running for hours, so a power cut doesn't cut you off. Providers must offer one to people who depend on the landline; Daniel fits a better one.

  3. A 4G backup for the phone and the broadband.

    When the broadband drops, calls carry on over mobile, automatically.

  4. Alarms moved to 4G or broadband signalling.

    Done with the alarm company where there's a monitoring contract, so the insurance stays valid.

  5. Your number kept, your handsets kept.

    Most existing phones plug into the new router or an adapter. Daniel checks them rather than assuming.

  6. The provider dealt with.

    The right package, the switch scheduled, and the engineer visit booked around milking.

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What it costs
Under the bonnetFor whoever in the family checks these things.

The kit

  • Battery backup units sized to run router, ATA and phone for several hours, with the provider's own unit kept as a spare
  • Analogue telephone adapters for existing handsets; DECT bases where the house needs cordless coverage
  • Alarm signalling moved to dual-path IP and 4G communicators through the alarm maintainer
  • Failover routers with a 4G SIM so voice carries on when the fixed line drops

How it’s done

  • Every device that uses the line listed and tested before the switch, not after
  • Insurers and alarm maintainers told in writing what changed
  • A test call from every handset and a deliberate power cut before Daniel leaves

Said plainly

What he won't do

  • Change a monitored alarm's signalling without its maintainer. Insurance depends on it being done by the right people.
  • Tell you it will all be fine without testing it. Some old alarm panels simply won't talk to the new line.

Questions people ask

Before you ring

When exactly is the switch-off?

The copper network is scheduled to close on 31 January 2027. Providers are moving customers in stages before then, so your switch could be any time. Check the letters from your provider, or ask Daniel to.

Will my landline number change?

No. The number moves to the new service. What changes is how the call gets to you.

Does the farm's broadband have to be good enough first?

Yes. A phone call needs very little, but it needs it reliably. If the line is poor, the broadband page and the signal checker are where to start.

Read first, if you like

Guides that go with this

Also

Jobs that often go together

A phone that works in a power cut. Radical, apparently.

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