Openreach confirmed the safety net for lines that miss 31 January. It now carries broadband, and it costs more than moving.

Openreach confirmed on 24 September 2026 how the final closure of the analogue phone network will work for lines that have not moved by 31 January 2027. Customers still on the old network may be transferred by their provider to EVAc, which Openreach describes as "a limited last-resort phone service designed to maintain access to essential calls". The new part is broadband. Where technically possible, Openreach will now keep linked broadband services running when a line is transferred, and it says that protection is available to both residential and business customers, "including some who may not realise their broadband depends on the PSTN".

What it costs, and what it is not

EVAc will cost communications providers £35 a month for WLR3 Basic and £38.60 for WLR Premium. That is the wholesale price, so the figure on your bill will be higher once your provider adds its own margin, a point ISPreview made the same day. Openreach's notes to editors set out the limits: EVAc cannot be ordered in advance, it will only be used after the PSTN closes for eligible lines that have not already migrated, capacity is not unlimited and cannot be reserved, and future price rises need only 28 days' notice. Single lines that cannot be migrated to EVAc "will be ceased by Openreach in tranches". James Lilley, Openreach's Managed Customer Migrations Director, put it this way: "EVAc is temporary, limited and more expensive than modern alternatives." The closure date is unchanged, and Openreach is explicit that keeping broadband alive does not extend it.

Which broadband this touches

Openreach says PSTN closure is about voice, but a small number of broadband services still depend on the legacy platform. The products it names are standard ADSL, Fibre to the Cabinet and G.fast, all of which use copper for at least part of the run to the premises. If your office broadband is full fibre, this is not your problem. If it is an FTTC line with a phone number attached, it might be. ISPreview asked Openreach why some lines could carry broadband forward and others could not, and reported that the answer is still under development, with EVAc-plus-broadband migrations not expected to take place until mid-April 2027 onwards. Openreach now estimates around 1.2 million lines are still on the old network, including around 350,000 business premises, and says it has migrated around 15 million since the closure was announced in 2017.

Vodafone's partners have a closer date

The same morning, ISPreview reported that Vodafone, which supplies lines wholesale to other providers, has set its own target of 1 October 2026 for withdrawing legacy services. Migration orders submitted after 30 September cannot be guaranteed to complete before the existing service is ceased. Vodafone told ISPreview the aim is to reduce the risks of ageing PSTN equipment that is harder to maintain and more prone to faults, and that October marks the start of formal service withdrawal and cease notifications for customers still on legacy services, subject to contract terms and customer protections. Some of its partners told ISPreview they were concerned about the effect on older and more vulnerable customers. The date applies to Vodafone's wholesale partners, not to Vodafone's own consumer base. The practical point for a business is that you may not know who your provider buys its lines from, and that answer now decides whether your deadline is January or this week.

There is also the rent. Openreach's July price schedule, which we covered last week, raised the WLR basic rental by 20 per cent on 1 April and by 40 per cent on 1 July, and raises it by a further 40 per cent on 1 October 2026, taking it to double the price at the start of the year. So the last-resort service costs more than moving, the line it replaces costs more from next week, and the queue for engineer slots between now and January only gets longer.