All-IP Programme

PXC's All-IP Programme forms a key part of the UK-wide All-IP initiative, driven by the end-of-life of the PSTN network in January 2027.

• To reduce migration volumes, a national WLR Stop Sell has been in place since September 2023, restricting new supplies, migrations and modifications where strategic alternatives such as SOGEA or FTTP are available.

• All customers must migrate to IP-based services before the national switch-off at the end of January 2027.

• All WLR, PSTN and ISDN services have to move, or be ceased as we move through the year. Openreach expect to see momentum building and not all services left until the end of the year.

• Openreach have announced contractual changes, pricing increases and offers through 2026 to encourage people to move off these services.

• Read more about Openreach's All-IP programme called the Big Switch Off and signup to their newsletter here

PXC's approach to the All-IP Programme is built on close collaboration with our key partners to fully understand their end-to-end WLR estate. This includes detailed analysis of both PXC-provided WLR and Third-Party WLR services, across voice-only lines and all data variants.

Working in partnership, we will segment each partner's WLR base and co-develop tailored roll-off plans that reflect their commercial, technical and operational dependencies. This partner-led approach ensures controlled, phased migrations and supports a successful withdrawal of all WLR services, with completion targeted by November 2026.

Services that meet criteria, defined by Openreach, as of the end of January 2027 will be migrated onto a basic emergency voice service. This will be an extremely rudimentary telephony service that allows telecare devices to work but not much else. For instance, this service won’t support broadband services like SMPF. 

We are currently working with Openreach to understand which customers will be eligible to move onto this product.

Openreach EVAc Trials:

The WLR3 EVAc (Emergency Voice Access) trial is designed to test an emergency over‑run product that preserves access to lifeline and emergency services for customers who have not yet migrated away from WLR3 ahead of final withdrawal. EVAc is intended as a last‑resort, voice‑only solution and delivers a reduced service compared to standard WLR3, with no broadband support, no SLAs or Autocomp, higher pricing, and an overall poorer customer experience than SOGEA or FTTP.

Openreach intends to run a limited pilot of WLR3 EVAc in Salisbury and Mildenhall to validate processes, technology and industry readiness before any wider implementation. The trial will rely on CP engagement and feedback and is intended to support managed migration to better alternatives, with Openreach’s clear preference that all WLR3 services move off to strategic products before January 2027.