The last easy copper orders die in 18 days — after that, WLR3 is exceptions only

12 October 2026. The PSTN switch-off has a lesser-known deadline, and it lands in 18 days. On 30 October 2026, Openreach's WLR3 exceptions process closes — the route communication providers have used to place new orders on copper lines in exceptional circumstances since the national stop sell. After that date, only emergency restoration of copper (ERoC) cases qualify, and availability of even those varies by migration stage. It is the gate that turns the 31 January 2027 network closure from a date in a plan into a hard wall for anyone who has not moved.

The dates that follow it

The exceptions close is not an isolated cut-off — it is the first gate in a sequence. 6 November 2026 is the deadline for submitting letters of authority for Novations or Transfers of Service — the paperwork that lets a business hand its line, and its number, to a different provider. 31 January 2027 is the final date for migration orders, bulk migration submissions, CP-requested ceases and use of migration offers; from 1 February 2027 new WLR3 pricing, service levels and contract terms take effect and managed migrations to the eVAC safety net begin. Migration orders with completion dates beyond 31 March 2027 will be cancelled. The clock is running against roughly 350,000 business lines still on copper — a number Openreach has been publishing all year.

Why the paperwork deadline bites businesses hardest

Consumers who miss the deadline drift onto the Emergency Voice Access safety net, which from February 2027 costs providers £35 a month for WLR3 Basic and keeps some linked broadband alive where technically possible. Businesses get no such default: eVAC applies to single residential-style lines, and a business that has left it late inherits premium pricing on a service scheduled to disappear. The practical constraint is sharper than the network date: after 30 October, a provider cannot simply order a copper line to keep a lift phone, alarm line or fax working while a migration is arranged. Kit that secretly rides on PSTN — alarm signalling over dial-up included — needs a route off copper now, not in January.

What businesses can still do

Three moves remain open. First, audit everything that dials out over a phone line: alarms, payment terminals, lift phones, door entry. Second, if a change of provider was ever on the cards, get the letter of authority in before 6 November — after that, Novations and Transfers stop being an option ahead of the deadline. Third, give inbound calls a landing place that does not depend on copper at all: a virtual phone number answered over SIP keeps calls arriving on mobiles or desk phones whatever happens to the exchange, on plans from free pay-as-you-go to £9.97 a month. Resellers with customers still on copper can provision wholesale DID numbers independently of the legacy line estate. The full countdown, and what still runs on copper, is tracked in our PSTN switch-off guide.

Related: 350,000 business premises are still running on copper · The first exchange closures put lines off by 30 October