Fixed Telecoms Tracker
Fixed Telecoms Tracker expanded to include a new benchmark detailing the PSTN switch-off, including consumer protection measures from operators and regulators
We've added a new PSTN Switch-off benchmark to our Fixed Telecoms Tracker. It benchmarks efforts being made around the world to migrate end users from the PSTN to IP-based networks, including current progress, start and completion dates, notice periods for customers, consumer protection measures (particularly support for vulnerable customers) and coordination with the copper retirement process. With BT delaying its switch-off from December 2025 to January 2027, the UK has fallen behind several other countries, with Australia, Germany and Switzerland among those to have already completed the shutdown.
Overall, we’re tracking 15 countries, of which six have already switched off the PSTN. Eight are yet to complete the process, but have published concrete plans to do so. If they remain on track, New Zealand and Spain will be the next countries to complete the process, with both working to 2024 deadlines. Of those with published intentions to migrate from PSTN, France has the most distant deadline, with Orange targeting a gradual switch-off until an end-point of 2030. As the US regulates PSTN-based services at the state level, states have made varying levels of progress with the switch-off in the absence of a nationally coordinated policy.
Notice periods for each country’s switch-off vary significantly, ranging from just 90 days in New Zealand to five years in the case of France, although some countries (including Italy, Japan and the Netherlands) have not published a clear notice period for the process. Several countries have decided to coordinate the PSTN switch-off with the copper retirement, with the aim of simplifying the processes for consumers and reducing disruption. Of those we’re tracking, the majority (eight) are coordinating deadlines for both PSTN and copper retirements.