Openreach's last-resort eVAC safety net now keeps broadband alive — at £35 a month

29 September 2026. With 124 days to go until the UK's copper telephone network closes on 31 January 2027, Openreach has confirmed the fine print of its last-resort safety net: customers who fail to migrate can be moved to Emergency Voice Access (eVAC) — and, in a late change, the service will keep linked broadband running where technically possible, for residential and business single lines alike. The catch: eVAC costs £35–£38.60 a month at wholesale (Basic vs Premium) from 1 February 2027, it is temporary, and the closure date hasn't moved.

The timetable: exits close before the network does

Openreach's update sets out the order in which the last doors shut. The WLR3 exceptions process closes on 30 October 2026 — a month from today — emergency copper restoration excepted. 6 November 2026 is the deadline for letters of authority for novations and transfers of service. 31 January 2027 is the final date for migration orders, bulk submissions and provider-requested ceases. 1 February 2027 brings new WLR3 pricing, service levels and contract terms, with managed migrations to eVAC beginning. Orders that would complete after 31 March 2027 will be cancelled, and from mid-April 2027 Openreach expects to migrate lines with associated broadband while preserving the broadband using a short-term solution.

A safety net with a price tag and an expiry date

Business lines had been set for a hard stop with none of the consumer protections — now they at least get the same last resort, though only on single lines. eVAC keeps only essential and emergency calls working, and it is dearer than the digital lines it outlasts: the wholesale floor of £35 a month means retail will be higher still. It is temporary, and broadband retention doesn't extend the deadline — whether a line's broadband survives depends on it running over legacy ADSL, FTTC/VDSL or G.fast. Around 1.2 million UK lines remain unmigrated, roughly 350,000 of them business premises. James Lilley, Openreach's migrations director, was blunt: no one should wait for the PSTN to close before upgrading, and the safety net is "not a reason to delay".

The cheaper route: keep the number, not the copper

For a business single line, the asset worth carrying forward is the number. Porting it to a virtual number service moves inbound calls onto IP before the deadline — answered on mobiles or on a SIP desk phone or softphone, with call forwarding, voicemail-to-email and business-hours routing included, from free pay-as-you-go to a £9.97-a-month Pay Monthly plan. One month of eVAC costs what three and a half months of that plan does. Alarm and CCTV signalling is the exception that needs a managed IP route rather than a simple port — see the Redcare closure explainer.

Related: The PSTN switch-off guide · First exchange closures land on 30 October