BT Urges Critical Infrastructure Providers to Get Off UK Copper Network
Telecoms giant BT has today “urged” providers of Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) to “move off” the “outdated copper network” as it is becoming “increasingly unstable“. BT claims its own data shows that 60% of CNI customers in the UK currently have no plan in place to start migrating off the legacy analogue network.
Just for some context. Sites or networks designated as CNI are those facilities, systems, sites, information, people, networks and processes, necessary for a country to function and upon which daily life depends. It also includes some functions, sites and organisations which are not critical to the maintenance of essential services, but which need protection due to the potential danger to the public (e.g. civil nuclear and chemical sites).
However, to be clear, BT’s call is more focused on the looming switch-off of the legacy Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) in favour of IP-based digital phone (VoIP etc.) services, rather than the much longer winded withdrawal of physical copper lines themselves that will take many years to complete. Openreach are withdrawing their old Wholesale Line Rental (WLR) products as part of this, while BT are retiring the related PSTN.
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The big switch-off itself was last year delayed to 31st January 2027 in order to give internet service, phone providers, telecare operators and consumers more time to adapt (details). But the main focus of this delay was the 1.8 million people who use vital home telecare systems in the UK (e.g. elderly, disabled, and vulnerable people), which aren’t always compatible with the replacement VoIP / IP-based digital phone services. For everybody else, the deadline is still technically Dec 2025.
Suffice to say that BT are now pushing for key network and CNI providers to get off the PSTN before the deadline, not least due to its lack of support. This will help to stop the switch-off disrupting critical public systems, such as water monitoring sensors, phone lines for doctors and pharmacies, fire and burglar alarms, lift alarms, emergency phone lines by roads, help points at train stations, and some older card payment machines.
Ofcom’s recent Connected Nations report underlined the issues by highlighting that, in 2024, the number of significant PSTN resilience incidents reported increased sharply by 45% (here). Despite this, BT itself found that 60% of their CNI customers are yet to put a strategy in place for transitioning to digital networks.
However, progress is being made in key sectors: 80% of BT customers in the energy industry and 64% in the water industry have a plan in place or are advanced in their migration journeys. BT added that they moved customers off almost 300,000 legacy business lines in 2024, but many more have yet to follow.
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Bas Burger, CEO of Business at BT, said:
“With the ageing copper landline network becoming increasingly fragile, it’s simply too risky to run the UK’s essential public services on outdated networks. BT is committed to moving these services onto future-proofed modern connectivity well ahead of the closure of the analogue copper network – but we can’t do it alone.
We’re urging all Critical National Infrastructure providers to act now to help protect their services and reap the long-term benefits of going digital. Waiting until the analogue switch-off is too late. We’re working with customers to review their technology estate, test their critical devices and switch to more reliable connectivity by the end of 2025.”
As part of the national move away from the PSTN, it’s already no longer possible to sign up to legacy BT phone or broadband services. From 31st December 2025, any existing PSTN-connected business services may change in preparation for the full retirement of the network by the end of January 2027. But any technology still relying on the PSTN will stop working when the old network is retired.
The Government recently announced the PSTN Critical National Infrastructure Charter, which outlines the safeguards that Communication Providers (CPs) and Network Operators (NOs) must put in place during this change to the UK’s connectivity infrastructure. BT is thus urging these organisations to act now, and work with its team (or their existing ISP) to review their technology estates to identify any impacted devices, test whether these devices are compatible with alternative connectivity and make the switch in 2025.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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The ironic thing is, not specifically related to this, but if you take an EAD from BT/Openreach, the management is over a copper broadband connection. You would think they would already have a solution for this, as long term it will cost them a fair chunk to go behind and convert
I had an EAD via Openreach and any management function to the ADVA was done over the fibre connection.
They do. It’s FTTP if available, or SoGEA or SoADSL.
All oblige the no dialtone criteria.
BTs refresh is not about removing all copper, merely exchange based dial tone
In new builds the ont is powered by a battery during power outages but not the ones Installed in an old builds!
Old age pensioners and folks with disabilities etc I can get my head around, but there absolutely no excuses if you’re a Critical National Infrastructure operator to be “asleep at the wheel” on this. None. They should have a plan in place and be taking action now.
Spot on.
CNI providers have known about this for ages.
Any CNI provider who hasn’t got this close to completed already isn’t fulfilling their responsibilities in my opinion. The fact that so many are at planning stage and so many don’t even have a plan is massively concerning.
I really hope BT has protected itself and can pass on the additional costs if dates are not met.
The plan for the ones I’m aware of is to switch to fibre when it becomes available. There are vast numbers of everything from traffic lights to two way radio systems still hanging off ADSL (apparently ADSL is seen as more reliably than VDSL when speed isn’t an issue) all waiting for Openreach to pull their finger out and actually provide fibre.
This looks like Openreach pointing fingers at others in order to distract from their own failing if there are any issues.
How can you plan for critical network infrastructure, it all needs internet to be running 24/7 yeah you have emergency backup systems for power cuts, but if the internet is down then it will be a useful as a chocolate tea pot. Is too risky and dangerous. especially residential people who are disabled and need critical systems. All will useless with a network outage… Russia only a few days ago was sniffing around the English channel spying on the infrastructure…
@Blue Shirt Guy
It has more to do with the relevant authorities and agencies not having the funds to get these programs started. Openreach has covered the majority of the country with fibre and the targets will be delivered on schedule at the end of 2026.
“Openreach has covered the majority of the country with fibre”
I’m in a major city where this is absolutely NOT the case. We are waiting on Openreach.
@BSG – are other FTTP suppliers available to you?
@Blue Shirt Guy
Openreach has achieved RTS for more than 50pc of the properties in the UK so the use of “majority” is valid.
Always find it funny, that BT until a couple of years ago was sweating copper and telling us FTTC was good enough, until competition came along.
Now, getting rid of PSTN will save them money as many exchanges not required, and recycling of copper, and all of an expedited process to get people off citing it’s now unstable as a reason. Sure, long term parts etc would be an issue, but they would have known this quite a number of years ago, not suddenly.
When it suits BT they can move fast, but they expect everyone else too. I would have preferred use of the ONT for digital voice provision, and decoupled from a rubbish ISP router. Would have made it a lot easier for consumer and catered for voice only circuit if customer did not want broadband. The Pants originally had a phone port until the newer cheaper one produced.
I’d have been happy with either:
1) POTS in PSTN
2) An ISP provided ATA
3) Provide the SIP details so I can use an ATA/PBX
Having it in the router was a PITA for me, especially since modem mode is rare these days.
I do have a separate VOIP provider, but that too gave me problems, especially trying to find one with unlimited landline/mobile.
This isn’t BT moving especially quickly, we’re eight years into the process. I have very little sympathy for anybody managing a system that dials up over a PSTN line that has been sitting on their hands because “it works fine”.
They did. PSTN closure was on the cards back when ADSL2+ was new technology. The other part of the 21CN project was to replace it with an IP based solution (albeit using exchange based equipment). This didn’t happen for a number of reasons, and at that time BT mentioned the risk of future unreliability as the PSTN switches get older.
The oldest switches are now in their mid 40s and the youngest are approaching 30. One of its manufacturers no longer exists and the other doesn’t really want to support it anymore. I’m not surprised that BT now say it’s becoming harder to maintain.
As for how BT has chosen to deliver its new service, I suspect you’d never be happy with it. But they have very valid reasons for combining it into the router and the handful who can’t accept it can go broadband only or go elsewhere.
None of which reflects the reality of what was happening in BT that caused the delays in the final decommissioning.
You seem to be confusing PSTN closure and getting off copper. This story is about PSTN closure, the copper is not going anywhere any time soon, and BT is not saying the copper is bad, it is the 40+ year old PSTN equipment that is unreliable now. ADSL copper to the exchange broadband, some emulated PSTN over copper and FTTC will all continue for years. We won’t see copper being ripped out of the ground and sold until the 2030s.
‘A couple of years’
More like a decade.
@ 125us
The shutdown of the PSTN network commences in 2028 following the completion of the phase one exchange shutdowns. The dates for the phase four shutdowns all fall in 2031 as far as I am aware.
Pensioners like my parents rely heavily on a landline, we haver gone to VOIP. When the electricity cuts, it does happen then they are reliant on their mobile phones. So the VOIP while good needs a way to keep it running when the power goes. I am thinking of getting a battery backup for my ONT, pfsense and Wireless.
Don’t forget that many people with PSTN are using it with cordless handsets that go off when the power fails. It used to regulation that at least 1 phone in the house didn’t need mains power to work but I believe that regulation dropped some time ago.
All this applies to customers of Cityfibre, Gigaclear, B4RN etc.
In twenty years!
Company who could have given us fibre 30 years ago but decided not to complains about people using copper.
lol
That just ignores all the history around the subject and all the obstacles that have been encountered along the way.
“all the obstacles that have been encountered along the way”
Those obstacles can be summarised as “Openreach”. 🙂
I assume you’re referring to the couple of trials of FTTP done in the 80s that went nowhere. I believe there was a political reason behind it not going ahead: At the time the licences for the early CATV franchises had been awarded and they pushed back against BT (still publicly owned at the time I believe) rolling out FTTP as it would render their infrastructure outdated as part of the trial there was talk of the terrestrial channels being delivered over FTTP at that point. So, yes, had there not been blockers put in the way we could have had FTTP since the late 80s and the current discussion around ditching OTA broadcast would likely be a thing of the past. Coulldawoulashoulda….
This is oft repeated nonsense is based on an interview with the BT Chief Technical Officer claiming that fibre optic data equipment would be cheap than the copper equivalent. He negelected to factor in the many 10s of billions of pounds needed to install the fibre many decades before there was any significant demand for high data speeds.
@Old Blue Shirt Guy
No, that is a personal grudge against the organisation speaking.
“That is a personal grudge against the organisation speaking”
Openreach have a personal grudge against themselves? That would explain a lot.
@Blue Shirt
There is no basis for your claims, they are just your own invention.
BT in 1980 issued a SIN Supplies Information Note, cannot remember the number. It announced the withdraw of the D.C. path, there are still numerous services still using it, many are CNI services. The question is how does BT enforce the withdrawal of copper based services, pull the fuses out on the MDF, cutting off Power, Water, Sewerage, Lift Phones, various services for the Financial Institutions in London etc. It has same problem with users of the PSTN, too many organisations will not spend the cash to modernise, as the copper network is to be removed, and that’s another argument.
What services for financial institutions need a copper connection?
That is no argument at all. The PSTN is being shutdown. The exchages will be shutdown before the network is turned off – but it will be turned off.
The critical lift alarm is triggered when power to the lift is lost.
Lift us upgraded to use fibre / IP product.
Power fails, so does the lift Comms. the ability to use a secondary power source (exchange lane) will have to be factored into all these applications too.
Utilise a battery backup unit or UPS power. Not that hard really. Voice comms can be stood up for several days by such without too much drama or cost.
Which must be happening in all new builds where only fibre is available.
The exchange lines are going. Why does it have to be an exchange line? Why do you think a telecom provider is obliged to provide a power supply?
They cant move off in areas where you havent rolled out FTTP BT, BT jumping the gun here, is still large swaths of the country that is copper only from OR.
You are confusing two completely different programmes.
This is with regard to removing PSTN services. The replacment Voice-over-IP (e.g. BT / TalkTalk / Vodafone / Zen Digital Voice and Sky Internet Calls) will work over broadband-only provided on copper (e.g. SOGEA, SOADSL) as well as full-fibre.
The other programme is the replacement of copper for broadband delivery with fibre and will run for years to come.
You can order an EAD to pretty much anywhere in the country.
“This is with regard to removing PSTN services”
This is actually about the copper network (the hint is in the title) but even if it wasn’t, nobody in their right mind is going to move a critical copper landline based service to a VDSL connection on the same flaky copper cable. That’s just adding not only another point of failure, but another set of hardware upgrades needed before moving to actual fibre.
The industry is waiting for Openreach to pull it’s finger out and provide fibre. Pointlessly replacing copper equipment with more copper equipment before that happens is a non-starter.
The figures suggest that BT is on target to complete the fibre roll-out at the end of 2026. The decommissioning of the exchanges will start before 2030 with the bulk of the closures happening after 2030.
As reported recently on this site, ISPs now have just under 75pc of premises covered by FTTP with the average increase in premises covered running at about 12pc increase per annum.
“The figures suggest that BT is on target to complete the fibre roll-out at the end of 2026. ”
So they’re not there yet. You understand decisions to upgrade are made nationally or at best county wide? Openreach do not yet have the same availability of fibre as they do copper, far far from it. Therefore upgrading many services to fibre is a non starter until Openreach are actually ready nationally.
@Blue Shirt Guy
Openreach is on course to complete the roll-out of the fibre network by early 2027. The exchange shutdown program started in 2024 and the first exchanges (in the trials) will be shut down in November of this year, with the phase one shutdowns starting in 2028.
If people are happy with what they have let them keep it . Its not that its unstable its just that BT dont want the cost of running two networks.
Read above. The equipment is obsolete. All new builds have just fibre.
The demand for the PSTN is in decline just like postal services. It is already at the point that it is no longer economical to keep the service going. It has nothing to do with pet hatred of BT making a profit.
Who would want to move to FTTP services. Unless they lived literally right next to a major BT exchange. Because, FTTP is dependent on Grid electricity with minimal backup in the event of power failure. FTTP is almost a flaky, as the Mobile phone phone network. Where your local mast may or may not have backup generation. If you live near a major BT exchange, and have a Copper live at least you can be guaranteed you will have voice service if nothing else. Because all those exchanges have backup generators…
> FTTP is dependent on Grid electricity with minimal backup
Tell me you haven’t visited an Openreach FTTP headend exchange without telling me you haven’t visited an Openreach FTTP headend exchange 🙂 They all* have UPS and gennies.
* not including subtended headends
That isn’t quite right.
FTTP provided by OR has, with the exception of rare cases (subtended head ends), the same level of resilience as provided by the PSTN. It is provisioned from exchanges with backup generators. Indeed, it is provisioned from the larger exchanges which are more likely to be staffed and have larger fuel reserves – it may well offer a higher level of resilience than is currently provided to many PSTN users.
Of course, FTTP doesn’t include the provision of power for the users’ equipment so there is an additional cost to users requiring a high level of resilience but that argument is over and rehashing it won’t get anyone anywhere.
Actually the statistics show FTTP is more reliable
Don’t forget copper cables are just as likely if not more likely to be damaged than fibre cables. Flooding in 2007 knocked out the main cable from the exchange to our estate and we were without landline service for more than a week until it could be replaced. Unbelievably ADSL just about managed to stay on although very unstable.
None of that is really true Charlie.
Every single BT exchange has battery backup and a generator.
FTTP is a passive network. There is no power involved other than that at the exchange.
@125us – Virgin Media and other others have street cabinets with mains power and batteries for FTTP.
That is just invented nonsense. You are welcome to acrry on with such stories, but the real world is moving on.
Remember the entire BT network EXZCEPT the local look is already IP based ie optical
Optical doesn’t equal IP based. The old PDH/SDH networks which carries POTS traffic were optical, it’s only the breakout where it becomes electrical. This was no at all IP based
Those two things don’t mean the same thing.
An optical system can be PDH/SDH/SONET or Ethernet. Any of those might or might not be carrying IP traffic. IP traffic may be Internet traffic, or it might not. The public Internet is an IP network, it doesn’t follow that all IP traffic is Internet.
@lee @ 125us
BT Openreach started the cut-over to an IP over Ethernet network more than a decade ago. SDH will more than likely gone by now.
The current social media campaign from the National Grid promotes the use of a PSTN “Plug In”phone
for use in the advent of power cuts ,amongst other things, like having a power bank to charge your mobile.
So here we have one CNI operator , National Grid, recommending the use of another CNI’s ( BT/OpenReach)
infrastructure for communication resilience in cases of power outages, seemingly unaware that the PSTN network is being taken out of service at pace.
Perhaps someone in National Grid’s communications team is in the dark as to the digital switch over
and the lack of power resilience for the end user.
You couldn’t make this stuff up !
I am on digital voice via FTTC. My power went off at 11am during Storm Éowyn. After 2 hours of using our mobiles we got an update to say power should be back by 3pm the next day. I have a 100ah leisure battery I use for my caravan. I cut the lead off an old hub power supply and connected to the battery. I was doubtful the street cabinet would have backup power but was glad to find it did as the BT hub synced up. We were able to use our devices like that until the power was restored at 1am. So 14 hours. I wasn’t even prepared for this and had it running pretty quickly so it can be done.
BTW I didn’t do this to fix the DV line, my main concern was getting broadband back on so we could watch the news and streaming services. The mobile masts stayed powered anyway so we’re ok for voice calls but very congested for data.
The regulator is totally to blame for allowing this situation. Most people also forget that if it was not for Government grants this most probably would not have happened. Any other business upgrade would have to obtain finance through the normal routes or from shareholders. The end user is now confused and is having to power the equipment. Large enterprises are forced to move to SIP which will no doubt involve purchasing licenses. The customer comes last – as per usual.
Most of the upgrades to the network are being financed by BT and its financial backers. Government funding is there to speed up the roll-out of full-fibre to areas where the investment would not otherwise be financially justified.
The same applies to all customers of FTTP. Whoever supplies it.
No, your claims are simply invented.
# Pete
Lets face it, with the pre-load of comms chaos caused by the piecemeal, economically driven and near random geographical introduction of the new systems, if the Russians could get a flock of Starlings to fart in unison at a critical point, the UK telecomms system would fall over.
Bits of it do everyday anyway from apparently normal use, what chance surviving a concerted mass action to de-stabilise.
Utter nonsense.
Most of the old PSTN is end of life and maintain it is getting increasingly difficult. BT will have to start migrating people from it soon rather than just relying on stop sell which could take for ever
The stop sell is designed to ensure there are no more new connections, which means the number of connections via the pstn can only go down; they will never increase, which helps to drive down the percentage of pstn connections to relatively low levels [ie 1-2%]. Eventually, those who cannot be bothered to migrate away from the pstn, or come up with some flannel/excuse as to why they refuse to move, will then be forced off it.
The same thing is inevitably going to happen with the minority of people who seem to be obsessed with staying on ADSL connections when they can perfectly migrate to VDSL or FTTP: such a forced migration will happen once exchanges begin to be closed, where they don’t get a choice, and the same will happen again when VDSL/FTTC services are decommissioned, those users will then be moved over to FTTP. Its just a matter of time.
Which is all very well, but the current digital voice product insists on a rubbish ISP router with a phone plugged in that is tied to that ISP.
The original ONTs had a phone port on them. My view is that it would have been better to provision that port instead of reliance on an ISP router. It means the phone service could be independent of internet potentially too making it easier for customers to just switch broadband providers if required. The newer ONTs have this phone port removed now to reduce the cost for BT.
Instead of battery back up to an ONT that uses little, you now have to factor an ISP router which is anything from 8 watts to 18 watts on average. If you want to use your own far better router, then you hit a roadblock, as digital voice wants the ISP router to work. SIPGate is no longer open to consumer as a free SIP service, and others charge quite a bit for this scenario.
@ anonymous
Most customers are giving up their fixed line numbers and are relying on their mobiles for voice communications. The figure quoted by BT in a report towards the end of last year was quite striking – it was something like a 12pc decline per quarter in the number of landline numbers.
To the anonymous reply. The phone socket on the earlier Openreach ONTs was to allow FTTP Internet services with copper based PSTN to continue. I’m having a brain fart as to the name of the service but either way it’s been withdrawn and wouldn’t have made any difference. Openreach would have to create their own service provision of IP voice and incorporate an adaptor in to their ONT to do what you suggest which I’m pretty sure is would put them against a lot of the original ofcom agreements of what Openreach were set up for (Ie to not be an ISP or Communication Provider)
Regarding the having to use the ISPs router. That is true for residential services. It’s the most straight forward way to convert to an IP voice service without needing to outlay for new equipment. If you want to use your own equipment though, there are a whole host of solutions, from business providers to 3rd party Voip providers you can go with. The choice from some providers may not be huge at the moment, but there’s thousands of providers out there.
The actually pretty good router is in BT’s control (separate to Openreach), it can work over any access technology (did you consider all those FTTC customers?) and provides features that ONT based voice cannot, such as multiple concurrent calls and HD voice.
As has been said, landline use is dwindling, and the number of people who wish to keep a landline and use their own router is a fraction of that. Not that you’d be signing up to BT anyway because they aren’t symmetric.
In the BT world you have the option of taking a business line & cloud voice where their router is not required. It’ll cost more than £0/month Sipgate however – perhaps that’s why they pulled their consumer product?
The migrations have already started. The early trial shutdowns started in April 2024 and three are due to be completed by December of this year. The phase one exchanges will start in the spring of this year and are due to be completed in 2028.
BT boat is being rocked:-
https://youtu.be/nJq7J2uzSlc?si=_2F-Nfnuq_e3oKsI
and as usual they are making a mountain out of a roadside cabinet