Is PSTN still used today?

The public switched telephone network still operates in 2026, and calls still travel across it, but it now handles a small and falling share of the world's voice traffic and is being retired on a set timetable in most developed countries [1][3]. Two things are true at the same time. The network works, so a traditional analog line in a home or a business can still make and receive calls today. Meanwhile, the companies that own these networks and the regulators that oversee them agree that the underlying circuit-switched technology has reached the end of its serviceable life, so they are moving customers onto internet-based voice instead [1].

The direction of travel is easiest to see in the numbers. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission counted about 181 million traditional switched access lines, the circuit-switched connections that make up the PSTN, at the end of 2003. By the middle of 2025 that figure had dropped to roughly 15 million, while interconnected VoIP had grown to about 63 million subscriptions [3]. Regulators are candid about why the old network is closing rather than being repaired. The UK government points to ageing hardware and a shortage of spare parts, noting that suppliers no longer manufacture the components these exchanges depend on, and that Ofcom recorded a 45 percent rise in reported PSTN faults during 2024 [1].

What "still used" actually means

Whether the PSTN counts as "still used" depends on where you are and what you are counting. Measured by active lines, it remains in service for millions of homes and businesses, particularly for alarm panels and lift phones, and in rural areas that have been slower to move [1][9]. Measured by direction, it is a network in managed shutdown, because every large operator with a public timetable is closing it rather than expanding it, and several have already finished [2][6][7].

The PSTN is still in service across the United States, but the traditional network is shrinking quickly and carriers are now actively closing it. Federal Communications Commission data shows traditional switched access lines falling from about 181 million at the end of 2003 to roughly 15 million by mid-2025, while interconnected VoIP reached about 63 million subscriptions over the same period [3]. Put another way, VoIP now accounts for the large majority of fixed voice connections, and the circuit-switched PSTN carries what is left [3]. Major carriers have already retired tens of millions of copper lines, and the ones that remain are being phased out region by region [3][9].

There is no single national switch-off date in the United States. Instead, the change is happening through carrier filings and a lighter regulatory process. In March 2026 the FCC adopted its Network and Services Modernization Order, which removed federal approval steps that carriers previously had to clear before retiring copper and discontinuing legacy time-division multiplexing (TDM) voice service [4]. The practical effect is that shutdowns can move faster and with less notice than under the old process.

Individual applications show the scale. In May 2026, AT&T asked the FCC for authority to discontinue legacy TDM voice service for about 184,000 residential and 15,000 business customers across 360 California wire centers, with disconnection proposed on or after 1 June 2027 [5]. If you still run analog lines for alarms, elevators, or fax, the useful step is to confirm your carrier's retirement schedule for your specific exchange rather than assume a line will stay available [9].

The United Kingdom has set a firm end date for its PSTN: 31 January 2027, when BT Group retires the network and remaining analog phone services stop working [2]. The migration is industry-led, with communications providers moving customers onto digital voice that runs over broadband, and the government coordinating protections rather than running the switch itself [1]. Progress is already well advanced, since over two thirds of UK landlines had moved to digital voice by 2025 according to the government's guidance [1].

The reasons given are practical rather than commercial. The government describes the PSTN as having reached the end of its serviceable life, failing because suppliers no longer make the spare parts the old exchanges need, and it notes that Ofcom recorded a 45 percent rise in reported PSTN incidents during 2024 [1]. Openreach, which runs the physical network, reported in early 2026 that about 2.8 million lines still needed to migrate, more than half a million of them serving business premises [2].

To push the remaining lines across, Openreach is raising the price of legacy PSTN products through 2026, with increases in April, July, and October that together roughly double rental costs compared with 2025 rates [2]. Vulnerable and telecare users get specific handling: no telecare user is moved without a confirmed working solution in place, providers offer battery backup and engineer visits, and Openreach runs a 'Prove Telecare' service to migrate fixed-line alarm users safely [1][2].

Parts of Europe finished retiring the PSTN years ago, which makes the region a preview of where others are heading. Germany is the clearest large example. Deutsche Telekom declared its all-IP migration essentially complete in early 2020, having moved about 99 percent of its roughly 25 million fixed-line customers off the old switched network and onto IP [6]. The company described the effort as switching customers over while keeping service running the whole time, a reminder that a national cutover takes years of preparation rather than a single overnight event [6].

Germany is not alone. Independent research on Europe's copper switch-off programs documents incumbents in several countries retiring their legacy networks well ahead of the United Kingdom, with smaller markets such as Estonia among the earliest to close copper entirely [8]. The Netherlands is often grouped with them, having moved its incumbent network to IP over roughly the same period [8].

Europe also shows the end state directly: in more than one developed country the public switched network has already been switched off, and voice now runs over IP [6][8]. The equipment did not stop working on its own, so operators chose to close the old network because maintaining two parallel systems no longer made sense [6].

Australia has been closing its copper PSTN through the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN), rather than through a single announced switch-off day. As each area is connected to the NBN, the legacy fixed-line phone and internet services that ran over Telstra's copper are disconnected on a set date, after which those lines no longer carry calls or data unless the premises moves to NBN-supplied equipment [7].

The list of services being switched off is broad. It covers Telstra home and landline phone services, phone and internet services from other providers that used the copper network, and older broadband products such as ADSL and cable [7]. Because the disconnection is tied to the NBN build rather than to a national calendar date, the timing has varied by address, and NBN advises customers to check their specific disconnection date with their provider [7].

The result is that most of Australia's traditional copper telephony has already been retired, and new PSTN connections are generally no longer available where the NBN has taken over [7].

The PSTN survives in pockets because millions of lines still do a specific job that has been awkward or costly to move, and because a national network cannot be switched off all at once without stranding people who depend on it. The largest single reason is embedded equipment. Fire alarm panels, lift emergency phones, gate intercoms, security and monitoring systems, and some medical alert and telecare devices were designed for analog lines and often keep working on them long after voice calls have moved to VoIP [9]. Replacing that equipment takes budget, site access, and in some cases recertification, so building owners tend to keep the copper until they are forced to act [9].

A second reason is people who rely on the line for safety. Regulators have slowed migrations specifically to protect telecare and vulnerable users, which is why the UK paused its program more than once and built extra checks before moving those customers [1]. Rural and remote premises add another factor, since areas with weaker broadband or mobile coverage have been slower to gain a like-for-like replacement [1].

None of this changes the overall direction, because the count of traditional lines keeps falling and the remaining users are being migrated rather than left in place; the tail is simply long enough that the PSTN will still carry real traffic for a few more years in most markets [3].

The main risk is timing, because the PSTN can stop being available at your location with less warning than it used to. In the United States, the March 2026 FCC order reduced the notice and approval steps carriers must complete before retiring copper, so a discontinuation can now move faster than under the old process [4]. Concrete filings are already in progress, and AT&T's California application alone covers roughly 199,000 customers with a proposed cut-off from June 2027 [5]. If you hold analog lines, the practical response is to find out your carrier's plan for your exchange rather than wait for a shut-off notice.

Cost is the second issue. Where a hard deadline exists, incumbents tend to raise legacy-line prices to encourage migration, as Openreach is doing in the UK with increases across 2026 that roughly double rental costs versus 2025 [2]. Keeping an old line often becomes more expensive than replacing it.

Power and resilience deserve attention too. A traditional analog line drew power from the exchange and kept working in a blackout, whereas IP voice depends on local power and broadband, so regulators now require backup arrangements. In the UK, providers must ensure at least one hour of access to emergency services during a power cut, with extra support for those who need it [1]. If you run alarms, lifts, or telecare on the line, confirm the replacement handles those devices before the copper is removed [1].