Dan Robinson, writing at The Register, reports that Openreach has told communications providers the UK legacy phone network will be retired on January 31, 2027, and the date will not move again. The warning went out this week in a letter to the providers that sell service over its network.

The public switched telephone network depends on copper cabling. Anything still plugged into it is at risk: ordinary phones, point-of-sale terminals, fire and security alarms, and personal care alarms used by elderly people. Customers who still want a landline will plug the handset into a broadband router for a Digital Voice service. Those without fiber are likely to be moved to SOTAP for Analog, with equipment in the local exchange so the old line keeps working.

Openreach has already delayed the switch-off once, after the government asked providers to hold off on vulnerable TeleCare users.…