We have spent this week on the switch-off, and the picture that emerges is not complicated. But it's just being ignored. Five months remain before the old network closes on 31st January 2027, and most of the businesses affected still do not know they are affected. Here is the whole week in one place, with the sources behind every claim, so you can check the lot yourself.
Check what your business broadband actually runs on
Line rental rose in April, rose again in July and rises once more on 1st October, which doubles what a legacy line cost in 2025. Openreach set that out in its pricing announcement and has separately confirmed the deadline will not move again. The part people miss is that older broadband travels down those same wires, so it stops when they do. We covered that in why your bills are rising.
Sort out split billing before 31st October
If one company bills you for the phone and another for the internet, you are in the fiddliest group to move, and those lines have been drifting to the back of the queue. Openreach has now covered the connection cost for exactly that situation, as reported in August, but the offer ends on 31st October. More in how to sort split lines.
Find out whether fibre has reached your street
Nine in ten UK premises can already get a gigabit connection. The rural remainder is funded separately, and the August figures put that programme at roughly 296,770 of 846,770 contracted premises, or about 35 per cent. Plenty of businesses are sitting on an old connection with a modern one already at the kerb. We went through the numbers in how far the rollout has reached.
Have an answer ready if it has not
Where fibre is years away, satellite has become a serious option rather than a last resort, and a new Wi-Fi 7 router has just surfaced in official filings. It suits some sites and not others, which we were candid about in the new Starlink Wi-Fi 7 router.
Plan for the power going off
Old lines carried their own power. Modern ones do not, so a power cut now takes the broadband, the phones and the card machine together. Ofcom revised its resilience guidance in June and treats three to four hours of backup as good practice for new street cabinets. Inside your building is your own responsibility, as we explained in what happens in a power cut.
Do not buy business broadband on price alone
Being forced to change is exactly when people buy badly. The connection is often identical to a consumer one, so what you are really buying is what happens when it breaks. Sometimes the cheap option genuinely is right, which we set out honestly in business versus home broadband.
If you would rather hand the afternoon to someone else, we will audit your lines and tell you where you stand. Have a look at our business broadband options or call us on 0800 711 7111.
