Preparing for the PTSN Switch-Off UK ARC IP Migration Survey

Friday 31 July 2026 - BSIA Comms

With just 6 months remaining until the retirement of the UK's Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) on 31 January 2027, the BSIA is urgently seeking an updated view of the industry's readiness for the final phase of the transition to All-IP communications.

In September 2025, BSIA conducted a State of the Nation survey of UK Alarm Receiving Centres (ARCs) to understand the volume of alarm signalling systems still reliant on PSTN services. While the responses provided some useful insight, participation was limited and did not provide a sufficiently clear picture of migration progress across the sector; our best estimate at that time was that between 5% and 10% of PSTN-connected systems remained – this equates to an approximate number of between 50K – 80K fire and security systems.

 With the switch-off date rapidly approaching, it is therefore vitally important that the industry obtains a more current and representative view of the remaining challenge.

Openreach has also indicated that customers still reliant on PSTN services after 31 January 2027 should not assume those services will continue unchanged. Remaining single-line voice services will begin to be migrated in bulk to Openreach’s Emergency Voice Access (EVAC) product; however, EVAC is a limited emergency fallback rather than a suitable long-term solution for alarm signalling. It is voice-only, capacity-limited, without broadband capability, subject to reduced functionality compared with current PSTN services, potentially affected by exchange exit activity, and may require a further cease-and-re-provide migration to move to a full IP service.

 For ARCs and installers, this reinforces the need to identify any remaining PSTN-dependent systems now and ensure they are proactively migrated to appropriate IP-based signalling solutions before the deadline.

 We are therefore asking all ARCs to complete a short (no more than 10 minutes)  follow-up survey to help establish:

  • The estimated number of alarm signalling systems still operating over PSTN-based services.
  • The key barriers preventing completion of the transition.
  • Any risks ARCs foresee as the January 2027 deadline approaches.

The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete, and all data will be treated in confidence. Individual responses will not be identified. The results will be aggregated and published as an anonymised industry-wide status report.

Why is this important?

The industry has made significant progress, but there remains uncertainty regarding the number of legacy alarm systems still dependent on PSTN services. As the deadline approaches, reliable data will help industry stakeholders, government bodies, telecommunications providers and security companies understand where further action is required to minimise disruption and protect end users.

The findings will also support BSIA's ongoing engagement with Openreach, government departments, signalling providers and other industry stakeholders involved in the migration programme.

Complete the survey here: Preparing for the PSTN Switch-off: UK ARC All-IP Migration Survey - July 2026 – Fill out form