Openreach prices its PSTN safety net and adds broadband retention
Providers with lines still on the analog network after January 2027 face a pricier fallback service. Openreach calls it a last resort, and has priced it like one
- Openreach estimates around 1.2 million lines remain on the analog network, including around 350,000 business premises.
- Openreach has moved around 15 million lines since the closure was formally announced in 2017.
- Future EVAc price rises need only 28 days’ notice.
- Lines that can't move to EVAc will be ceased by Openreach in tranches.
For resellers and MSPs still carrying unmigrated business lines, EVAc is a cost, not a product. Margin on laggard customers shrinks once the new rental applies, and it can shrink again with little warning.
That hands partners a dated, priced case to put to customers who have ignored the switch-off: move to single order generic ethernet access (SOGEA), full fiber or cloud voice on your timetable, or pay more for a limited service on Openreach's. Partners who wait also give up control of timing, and of whether the customer's broadband survives the move.
“EVAc is temporary, limited and more expensive than modern alternatives. It gives providers additional protection while they complete the job, but it’s not a reason to delay.”James Lilley, managed customer migrations director, Openreach
Openreach will try to keep copper broadband working on lines it moves to its temporary emergency phone service after the public switched telephone network (PSTN) closes on 31 January 2027, the company said on 24 September. The service, Emergency Voice and Access Continuity (EVAc), will cost communications providers £35 a month a line for WLR3 Basic and £38.60 for WLR Premium, both wholesale line rental products.
The closure date isn't moving, Openreach said, and broadband retention doesn't extend it. Providers remain responsible for moving their customers before the network closes, though Openreach expects a small number of lines could still be left after the deadline.
The broadband change addresses a risk Openreach itself identifies. Some asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), fiber to the cabinet (FTTC) and G.fast connections still depend technically on the PSTN, so a line switched to voice-only EVAc could have lost its internet service with it. Openreach will now keep linked broadband running for residential and business customers – but only “where technically possible”.
The small print in the Openreach release matters more to resellers than the headline. The new rental applies to every WLR3 single line, including those still waiting to be migrated. EVAc can't be ordered in advance, and its capacity can't be reserved.
Timing is also uncertain. ISPreview reported that EVAc migrations which keep broadband won't start before mid-April 2027. Openreach's release gives no start date.
