New analysis from business communications provider Crystaline shows that 40.1 per cent of telephone exchanges in the East Midlands are scheduled to enter an FTTP-related stop sell phase between August 2026 and June 2027. A further 56.9 per cent have already entered stop sell. The restrictions apply at eligible premises where digital alternatives are available and can limit the copper-based phone and broadband services that businesses are able to order, upgrade or move.
The changes form part of the UK's move away from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), the traditional copper-based telecoms infrastructure that has supported business phone lines and broadband for decades. As this network retires, businesses must move affected services to digital alternatives to maintain continuity. With the UK’s copper network switch-off entering its final phase, businesses that delay migration risk being unable to make essential connectivity changes or upgrade their services when required.
Based on Openreach stop sell data, Crystaline’s analysis suggests that the move away from traditional copper-based services is now an active operational risk. The findings show that 56.9 per cent of East Midlands exchange areas are already on the cliff edge, where restrictions are already in force, while 40.1 per cent are in the warning zone, scheduled to enter a stop sell between August 2026 and June 2027. Just 2.5 per cent remain outside a defined timeline. In total, more than 97.5 per cent of East Midlands exchanges analysed have either entered stop sell or have a published date to do so.
The next wave will begin on 19 August 2026, when exchanges including Loughborough, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Goscote and Desborough are scheduled to enter stop sell. Further restrictions will follow in November 2026, February 2027 and June 2027 across locations including Kegworth, Spalding, Grantham, Corby, Belper and Measham.
The practical impact extends beyond office landlines and broadband. Card payment terminals, alarm systems, lift emergency lines and building entry systems may still depend on copper connections, often without the business realising until a service needs to be repaired, replaced or moved. Where stop sell restrictions apply, organisations may be unable to reorder the same legacy service and could need to migrate the equipment to a digital alternative instead.
The PSTN switch off is already limiting what organisations can do today. In affected areas, businesses can no longer order certain legacy services where fibre alternatives exist, making it harder, or even impossible, to change, expand or fix existing systems at short notice.
“Many businesses still see the copper switch off as something happening in the future, but with the stop sell, the transition is already here,” said Kristian Torode, Director and Co-Founder of Crystaline. “For businesses still relying on old phone lines, the window to act is getting smaller. This is no longer just an infrastructure change, but a business-critical continuity issue.”
Crystaline warns that businesses leaving migration plans until late 2026 could face increasing delays as demand for installations grows. With a typical migration taking 30 to 60 days, businesses leaving it late may face delays with surveys, installations and number transfers as providers handle a surge in demand.
“Autumn is likely to be a crunch point,” Torode added. “If too many organisations try to move at once, there will be pressure across the industry. The risk is not the deadline, but whether businesses can complete their migration in time, and that’s getting harder to guarantee.
“The UK is standing on a copper cliff, and businesses are closer to the edge than they think,” said Torode. “The safest approach is to identify every service that depends on a legacy line and start planning migration now. Waiting until a service fails or an order is blocked leaves too much to chance.”