BT has urged small businesses to go digital by the end of the year as the UK’s historic copper telephone network approaches its closure.

The move comes as the telecoms giant unearths data showing that one in five small firms are still analogue in 2025.

It also follows the recent publication of figures from Ofcom which revealed that incidents on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) have jumped by 45 per cent in the past 12 months.

A national survey of small business by BT found that 22 per cent still rely heavily on traditional or 20th century technologies.

With the copper telephone infrastructure set to be retired by the end of January 2027, the company has warned that those who fail to migrate soon will face "increased outages as the ageing network becomes more fragile."

It also said that organisations that fail to make the switch to newer digital networks could risk missing out on the productivity gains of workplace advancements like AI and augmented reality, which is reliant on faster, high-bandwidth, future-proofed connectivity.

As part of the national move off the PSTN, BT moved customers off almost 300,000 legacy business lines in 2024.

It’s no longer possible to sign up to legacy phone or broadband services and from 31 December 2025, any existing PSTN-connected business services may change in preparation for the full retirement of the network.

Any technology still relying on the PSTN will stop working when the network is retired.

"The UK’s analogue copper telephone network has a proud history, but it’s no longer up to the task for businesses," said Kerry Small, chief operating officer - business, BT. "It’s simply too risky to build the economy on a shaky foundation, and we’re calling on all businesses to move before the end of 2025 – well ahead of the switch-off."

She said that analogue companies making the move now can benefit from "rock-solid digital connectivity" to help keep them in business for years to come.

Small Business Britain, an organisation which champions the UK’s 5.5 million SMEs, is supporting BT’s digital call.

Michelle Ovens CBE, founder, Small Business Britain, said: “Small businesses are the engine of the UK economy, but to reach their full growth potential entrepreneurs need to embrace digital opportunities as much as possible. We see a huge appetite among UK business owners to embrace technology and build digital skills – particularly since the pandemic when growing this capability helped many to adapt and survive.

“However, business owners also need support to make these transitions – which is why we highly value our ongoing partnership with BT to help small businesses on their digital journey so they can face the future with confidence."

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