BT is urging charities still using analogue landlines to switch to digital by the end of next year, as the UK’s historic copper telephone network approaches the end of its life.

The call comes as new research from BT suggests one in five small businesses (22%) still define themselves as “analogue”, relying heavily on traditional or 20th century technologies.

The UK’s traditional copper telephone infrastructure is set to be retired by the end of January 2027, and BT warns that businesses failing to migrate sooner will face increased outages as the ageing network becomes more fragile. Ofcom’s recent Connected Nations report highlights that the number of incidents on the legacy Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) increased by 45% in 2024.

BT is working with its UK customers to move them off legacy analogue landline connectivity by 31 December 2025.

A national survey of small businesses by BT found one in five (22%) still define themselves as “analogue”, primarily using traditional processes such as physical filing systems, paper contracts, and older technology such as fax machines.

BT has warned that organisations that fail to make the switch to newer digital networks could risk missing out on the productivity gains of workplace advancements like AI and augmented reality, reliant on faster, high-bandwidth, future-proofed connectivity.

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