31 Jan 2027
Openreach PSTN copper switch-off deadline
100%
UK landlines moving to VoIP / Digital Voice by 2027
999
Emergency number, VoIP needs battery backup for power-cut resilience
1 number
You keep your existing landline number, no need to change
What is VoIP?
VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is a way of making and receiving phone calls over an internet connection instead of the traditional copper telephone network. The voice is converted into small digital packets, sent over your broadband line in the same way as web traffic, and reassembled at the other end. From the caller and the recipient\'s point of view, it sounds and behaves like a normal phone call, often with noticeably clearer voice quality.
VoIP is not a new technology, but it is now the default. Every home phone service sold in the UK in 2026 is a VoIP service, whether the provider markets it as Digital Voice (BT), Sky Talk on broadband, Virgin Media Talk or simply "home phone". The free apps most people already use to call friends and family, including WhatsApp, FaceTime, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Signal, are all forms of VoIP too.
How VoIP works
A VoIP call has three stages: capture, transport and reconstruction. The handset (or app) digitises your voice using a codec such as G.711 or Opus, the broadband router slices the audio into IP packets and sends them to the provider\'s servers, and the same process runs in reverse at the receiving end. Because the audio travels as data, the same broadband line carries it alongside web browsing, video streaming and gaming without interference, provided the connection is stable.
In practice the bandwidth needed is tiny. A high-definition HD voice call uses around 100 kbps of upload and download, well within the headroom of even a slow ADSL connection. The limiting factor is usually upload speed and jitter, not raw speed, which is why a basic FTTC fibre line carries voice just as well as a top-tier FTTP package. For a deeper dive into the underlying network, see our guide to Openreach.
You need three things for a VoIP service to work:
- A working broadband connection, FTTC, FTTP, cable or 4G/5G all work fine
- A VoIP service or account from a provider such as BT, Sky, Virgin Media, Vonage or Sipgate
- A compatible device, a standard corded or DECT phone plugged into the router, a softphone app on a smartphone or laptop, or an IP desk phone.
The 2027 PSTN switch-off: Digital Voice for everyone
The UK\'s copper Public Switched Telephone Network has carried voice calls for more than a century, but it is no longer economic to maintain. Openreach announced its retirement in 2017 and confirmed the final cut-over date as 31 January 2027. By that date every active home and business landline must have been migrated onto a VoIP service, whether routed over Openreach fibre, Virgin Media cable or an alternative network such as CityFibre, Hyperoptic or Community Fibre.
The migration is already well underway. BT began moving customers to Digital Voice in 2022, paused briefly in some regions after concerns about emergency-services resilience, and restarted in 2023 with stricter safeguards around vulnerable customers and battery backup. Sky, Virgin Media, Vodafone, TalkTalk, EE and Plusnet have followed with their own rollouts, and most new broadband contracts now ship as Digital Voice from day one.
For background on how the underlying access network is changing, see our guide to Openreach and the related fibre vs cable comparison.
Why is the PSTN being switched off?
Two reasons drive the change. First, the copper PSTN dates back to the 1880s in its earliest form and the spare parts and skilled engineers needed to keep it running are increasingly scarce. Second, demand has shifted: Ofcom data shows landline call volumes have fallen by around 80% over the past decade while broadband traffic has grown exponentially. Moving voice onto the IP network reuses infrastructure that is already there, costs less to run and unlocks HD voice and richer features.
Where does FTTP fit in?
Around 80% of UK premises can now order a full-fibre (FTTP) connection from Openreach, CityFibre, Virgin Media\'s nexfibre joint venture or one of the smaller altnets, and the figure is on track to pass 95% before the PSTN switch-off completes. VoIP does not need FTTP to work, a standard FTTC line offers more than enough upload bandwidth for HD voice, but full fibre is the long-term destination and removes the last dependence on copper. See our line rental guide for what changes on the bill when copper is retired.
What Digital Voice means for you: same number, new socket
For most households the change is straightforward and the migration takes minutes. The provider sends a letter or email, books a switch-over date, and on that day the existing landline number is ported across automatically. Nothing on the bill changes immediately, and the line continues to work exactly as before, except that the handset now plugs into the back of the broadband router rather than a wall socket.
Three practical points to keep in mind:
- Your number stays the same. BT, Sky, Virgin Media, Vodafone, EE, TalkTalk and Plusnet all port your existing landline number onto Digital Voice automatically. If you want to find your landline number before the switch, dial 17070 from the handset and press option 1
- The handset moves to the router. Existing corded and DECT cordless phones plug into the green telephone port on the back of the broadband router. Older alarms, telecare pendants and some monitored alarm dial-out boxes may need an ATA adapter or a Digital Voice compatible replacement
- Call quality and features improve. Digital Voice supports HD voice, scam-call protection, voicemail to email and improved nuisance-call filtering on most providers.
If you no longer use the landline at all, the switch-off is also a good moment to drop the phone service entirely and move to a broadband-only package, covered in our guide to broadband without a phone line.
Emergency calls and power cuts: what to know
The one significant difference between a copper PSTN line and a Digital Voice line is power. A traditional landline draws current from the exchange and keeps working when the mains fail. A Digital Voice phone relies on the broadband router, which needs household electricity. If the power goes off, so does the phone, unless you have a backup in place.
Under Ofcom\'s General Conditions, every UK provider must offer a free battery backup unit to any customer who relies on their landline to call emergency services and does not have a working mobile signal at home. The unit fits between the master socket and the router and typically provides around one hour of standby calling once the power cuts out, enough to dial 999 and keep a brief call open while help arrives. Backups can also be requested by anyone who feels they need one; provision is at the provider\'s discretion in those cases but most are accommodating.
There is a second option for households that prefer a self-contained device: a hybrid landline phone. These look and behave like a normal cordless handset but have an integrated battery and a small mobile SIM that routes 999 calls over the mobile network if the broadband fails. BT, Sky and Vodafone all sell or supply one to vulnerable customers on request.
Digital Voice vs traditional copper landline
The PSTN switch-off is happening whether households want it or not, but it is worth being clear about what is gained and what is lost. The honest comparison is below.
Advantages
- Digital Voice: same landline number, no need to tell contacts to update their address books
- Digital Voice: HD voice quality and built-in scam-call protection on most providers
- Digital Voice: future-proof, works on FTTP, FTTC, cable and 4G/5G home broadband
- Digital Voice: often included free with the broadband bundle, dropping the old line rental fee
- Copper PSTN: keeps working during a power cut without any extra equipment
- Copper PSTN: no broadband connection needed to make a call
Disadvantages
- Digital Voice: needs both broadband and mains power to work, a battery backup is needed for resilience
- Digital Voice: older alarms, telecare pendants and monitored security systems may need an adapter or upgrade
- Digital Voice: a small minority of rural homes still wait for adequate broadband for reliable HD voice
- Copper PSTN: being retired by 31 January 2027, no longer available to new customers in most of the UK
- Copper PSTN: lower voice quality, no HD audio and weaker nuisance-call filtering
- Copper PSTN: separate line rental fee on most providers, adding to the monthly bill
Provider Digital Voice rollouts at a glance
Every major UK home phone provider has its own brand name for the same underlying VoIP service. The table below summarises the position in July 2026.
| Provider | Service name | Status |
|---|---|---|
| BT | Digital Voice | Rolling out since 2022, all new customers default |
| Sky | Sky Talk on broadband | Default on Sky Stream and Sky Glass households |
| Virgin Media | Virgin Media Talk | Cable network already runs IP voice, migration in progress |
| Vodafone | Vodafone Talk | Default on Vodafone Pro II and full-fibre bundles |
| EE | EE Home Phone | VoIP by default on Smart Hub Plus customers |
| TalkTalk | TalkTalk Voice | Rolling out across FTTC and FTTP customers |
| Plusnet | Plusnet Voice | Aligned with BT Group migration timeline |
Provider rollout summary reviewed in July 2026.
Independent VoIP providers for second lines and business use
Alongside the big home broadband providers, a smaller group of specialist VoIP companies sells standalone services. These are useful when you want a second number for work, a memorable geographic number in a different area code, or a flexible system for a small business or home office. None of them include broadband, you bring your own connection.
Residential and home-office VoIP
Vonage remains the best-known residential VoIP brand in the UK and continues to offer unlimited landline call plans, a free mobile app and the option to keep your existing UK number. Setup is via a small Vonage Box adapter that plugs into the router. See vonage.co.uk for current pricing.
Sipgate is a German-owned VoIP provider with a long-running UK service. It offers pay-as-you-go and bundle plans, no minimum contract, a free local number and a softphone app that runs on phone and desktop. See sipgate.co.uk for current plans.
VoIPtalk, owned by business specialist Telappliant, sells low-cost residential VoIP plans starting at a few pounds a month, with a free UK number and voicemail-to-email included. See voiptalk.org for current pricing.
Business VoIP
For small businesses and home offices the market is dominated by cloud platforms that combine voice with chat, video and contact-centre features:
- bOnline, UK small business VoIP and broadband bundles
- RingCentral, full-featured cloud PBX with call, video and team messaging
- 8x8, global VoIP and unified communications, popular with mid-market firms
- Zoom Phone, Zoom\'s cloud phone bolted onto its video platform
- Microsoft Teams Phone, adds calling to a Microsoft 365 subscription, replaced Skype for Business.
Consumer apps that use VoIP
If you have ever made a video call from your phone, you have already used VoIP. The free apps below all route audio and video over the internet rather than the mobile network or the landline. They differ from Digital Voice in that they only call other users of the same app and do not give you a real phone number that can dial 999 or take calls from a landline.
- WhatsApp, voice and video calls between WhatsApp users on iOS, Android and desktop, end-to-end encrypted
- FaceTime, Apple\'s built-in audio and video service, free between iPhone, iPad and Mac users
- Google Meet, free for personal use, paid for Workspace, integrates with Gmail and Google Calendar
- Microsoft Teams, free for personal use, replaced Skype as Microsoft\'s consumer voice and video product in 2025
- Signal, end-to-end encrypted voice and video calls, focused on privacy.
Frequently asked questions
The PSTN switch-off is the planned retirement of the UK's copper Public Switched Telephone Network. By 31 January 2027, Openreach will have moved every UK landline onto an internet-based service routed through a broadband router, marketed as Digital Voice (BT), Sky Talk on broadband, Virgin Media Talk, Vodafone Talk, EE Home Phone, TalkTalk Voice and Plusnet Voice. The decision is driven by the rising cost and falling reliability of the 100-year-old copper network.
No. Your existing landline number is ported across to Digital Voice or VoIP automatically. The only change is physical: the handset plugs into the green telephone port on the back of your router instead of a wall socket. If you cancel rather than migrate, the number is released back to Openreach and is usually impossible to recover.
Not without help. A Digital Voice line needs both broadband and mains power to work, so a power cut or broadband outage stops the phone. UK providers must offer a free battery backup unit (around one hour of standby calling) to vulnerable customers and to anyone without a working mobile signal at home, under Ofcom's General Conditions. A charged mobile is the simplest backup; a hybrid landline phone with a built-in battery is another option.
No. Almost any standard corded or DECT cordless phone works with Digital Voice and most residential VoIP services. The phone simply plugs into the green telephone port on the back of the broadband router rather than the wall socket. Older phones with rotary dials or some monitored alarm dial-out boxes may need an adapter, known as an analogue telephone adapter (ATA).
Yes. WhatsApp calls, FaceTime audio, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Signal voice calls all route over the internet rather than the phone network, so they are technically VoIP. They differ from Digital Voice in that they only call other users of the same app and do not give you a real phone number that can dial 999 or receive calls from a landline or mobile.
Microsoft retired Skype in May 2025. Skype to Phone subscriptions ended and existing accounts were migrated to Microsoft Teams, which is free for personal use and now Microsoft's consumer voice and video product. WhatsApp, FaceTime, Google Meet and Signal are the other widely used consumer VoIP apps in the UK.
All of the major UK home phone providers are migrating customers, with the rollout due to complete by 31 January 2027. BT (Digital Voice) has been migrating since 2022, Sky Talk on broadband, Virgin Media Talk, Vodafone Talk, EE Home Phone, TalkTalk Voice and Plusnet Voice are all rolling out in parallel. Most new broadband contracts already ship as Digital Voice rather than copper PSTN.
Next steps
If your line has not yet been migrated, the provider will be in touch before the 2027 deadline. In the meantime, note down your existing landline number, check whether anyone in the household relies on a telecare alarm or monitored security system that uses the phone line, and request a free battery backup unit if a power-cut outage would leave you unable to dial 999. The guides below cover the related topics in more detail.