My exchange is closing and I've been told to migrate: what next?

Under Openreach's published exchange exit programme, around 4,600 of the UK's 5,600 telephone exchanges are closing as part of the move to full fibre, with the PSTN switch-off scheduled for January 2027. If your business has received a letter telling you to migrate, or your current provider has quietly doubled the price of your line, this is what is going on and what your options actually are.

What "exchange closure" means in plain English

Most UK broadband and phone services historically ran out of a local Openreach telephone exchange. The exchange is a building on a back street, full of equipment, that connected your line to the rest of the network. As the country shifts to full fibre, most of those exchanges are no longer needed.

Openreach is doing this in two stages. First, a "stop sell" is announced at an exchange, typically around 12 months before closure according to Openreach's process documentation. After stop sell, no new copper-based services can be ordered at that exchange. Then comes the actual closure, when the exchange shuts and any services still relying on it stop working.

Your provider knows the dates. They're legally required to migrate you before the closure date. The question is whether the migration they're offering is fair, or whether they're using the moment to push your price up.

Why your price has doubled

A common pattern reported on UK business forums is the same: a small business on a long-running line is told their service is being upgraded as part of the exchange closure, and the new monthly price is roughly double what they were paying for what looks like the same broadband. Anecdotally, many SMEs report price doubling around the migration moment.

This isn't because full fibre is more expensive. Equivalent full fibre packages from challenger providers are often the same price as the old copper-based line, sometimes less. It happens because the major providers use forced migration as a chance to move you onto a more expensive tier of their own portfolio, often with a new multi-year contract attached.

You aren't obliged to accept that. You can switch to another provider during the migration window.

What to do this week

1. Find the migration letter. Note the exchange name, the stop sell date if mentioned, and the new price the provider is proposing.
2. Check what is available at your address from other providers. If your area is being closed down because full fibre is now available, you should have at least one or two alternative providers offering FTTP (fibre to the premises), often on fairer terms than the forced upgrade your incumbent is pushing.
3. Compare like for like. The comparison is monthly price, contract length, included services (phone, hosted phone system, static IP), and SLA. Many small businesses end up paying the incumbent's higher price for fewer features.
4. If you intend to switch, do it before the old service is forcibly migrated. Switching while you have an active service is easier than restarting from a cold migration.
5. If you can't get FTTP yet (the rollout is uneven, especially in business parks and rural premises), a 4G or 5G interim service can bridge the gap while you wait. This avoids a service outage.

How Inspire can help

If you've been put in this position, the practical move is to switch your line to Inspire Telecom. We migrate your service onto full fibre on the Openreach network at the new address profile, hold the price fixed for the contract length, and run the changeover in co-ordination with your old provider.

Where there's a gap between the old service stopping and the new full fibre going live, we can put you on a 4G or 5G interim line so your business stays connected. Once the full fibre is in, we move you across without you having to manage it.

The promise is the same as our business broadband: fixed monthly price for the contract length, UK based support that answers in about 60 seconds, no mid-contract increases, and a dedicated account manager who knows your account.

For larger sites or businesses where downtime carries a direct revenue cost, a leased line is often the better option than business broadband. We can talk through which fits.

What to ask your existing provider before you decide

Even if you stay with your current provider, ask these questions. The answers tell you whether the price rise is justified or whether you're being pushed:

• Is this a "like for like" upgrade, or am I being moved onto a different tier of your portfolio?
• What speed will I actually get on the new line? (Should be at least the speed I had before, ideally higher.)
• What does the contract include? Phone line rental, hosted phone system, static IP, support SLA.
• What is the contract length and when does it end?
• Is the new monthly price fixed for the contract length, or will it rise mid-contract?
• What happens to my existing phone number? (It should be portable in nearly every case.)

If they can't give you straight answers, that's your signal to look elsewhere.

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