If you’re still paying for analogue telephone lines from BT — whether to run a lift dialler, an intercom, a car park payment machine, or a building alarm — you may have noticed your bills quietly creeping up. The reality is BT has been significantly increasing the cost of analogue (PSTN) lines as it winds down the technology ahead of its full withdrawal. Businesses that haven’t acted yet are effectively subsidising an infrastructure that BT is switching off.

The good news: there is a better option. It costs less, works better, and in most cases you won’t need to change a single piece of your existing equipment.

Why Are BT Analogue Line Costs Going Up?

BT’s Openreach network is in the process of retiring the traditional copper telephone network — the same analogue infrastructure that has been in place since the 1980s. The switch-off is planned to complete by January 2027, and BT has been raising prices on analogue lines as part of a deliberate strategy to encourage migration away from the old network.

For businesses running multiple analogue lines — a common situation if you have lifts, intercoms, door entry systems, or car park machines across one or more sites — those price increases add up fast. Some businesses are paying two or three times what they were paying five years ago for the same lines, for a service that BT has confirmed it is switching off regardless.

The Problem With Just Waiting

Some businesses are taking a “wait and see” approach. This is risky for two reasons.

First, when analogue lines are withdrawn in your area — and withdrawal is happening on a rolling basis across the UK right now — your connected devices will simply stop working. No warning. No grace period. The lift won’t be able to call for help. The car park machine won’t process payments. The alarm won’t dial out.

Second, analogue lines offer no monitoring. If the line goes down today, you won’t know until a device fails to make a call in an emergency. There is no alert, no notification, no audit trail.

The Digital Alternative — and Why It’s Actually Better

Modern SIM-based digital connections replace your analogue line without requiring you to change your existing equipment. Your lift dialler, intercom, car park machine, or alarm continues to work exactly as it does today — it simply connects via a digital SIM rather than a copper line.

Here’s where it gets meaningfully better than what you have now:

Multi-network coverage. A standard SIM locks you to one mobile network. Our solutions use aggregated multi-network SIMs that automatically connect to whichever of the four major UK networks has the strongest signal at your location. If one network has an outage, the SIM switches automatically. Your devices stay connected.

Active monitoring. Every connection we provide is actively monitored. If a device loses connectivity — for any reason — we know about it immediately and alert you. With a BT analogue line, you only find out something has gone wrong when someone needs it and it doesn’t work.

A full audit trail. For lift diallers and fire alarms in particular, regulators and insurers increasingly expect documented evidence that your emergency communication devices were tested and functional. Our monitoring platform logs every connection, every test call, and every alert — giving you a ready-made compliance record.

You Don’t Need to Change Your Equipment

This is the question we hear most often: “Do I need to replace my lift phone / intercom / car park barrier?” In the vast majority of cases, the answer is no. The SIM-based unit connects in place of the existing phone line socket. Your equipment sees a dial tone and works exactly as before — it has no idea it’s no longer connected to a copper wire.

We carry out a compatibility check before installation to confirm this for your specific devices. In rare cases where equipment is very old and genuinely incompatible, we’ll tell you upfront — but this is the exception, not the rule.

What Does It Cost?

Less than you’re paying now. Analogue line rental from BT has risen steeply and continues to rise. Our digital SIM connections are available on straightforward monthly plans, with no long contracts required. For businesses running multiple lines across multiple sites, the savings can be substantial.

We’re happy to do a cost comparison for your specific situation — just tell us how many analogue lines you currently have and what you’re paying, and we’ll show you exactly what you’d save.

Who Is This For?

This solution is specifically designed for businesses running any of the following on analogue lines:

• Lift emergency diallers — critical for EN81-28 compliance; if your lift phone line goes down, you may not know until someone is trapped
• Door entry and intercom systems
• Car park payment and barrier machines
• Fire and intruder alarm communicators
• CCTV remote access diallers
• Any legacy device that uses a phone line to dial out

If you’re not sure what you have or how it’s connected, we can help you audit your existing lines and devices.

Act Before the Line Goes Dead

BT’s switch-off is not a future event — it is happening now, on a rolling basis across the UK. Businesses that act proactively get a managed, planned migration with zero downtime. Businesses that wait risk their devices going offline without warning on the day their local exchange is switched off.

If you’re paying for analogue lines and want to cut costs, improve reliability, and get active monitoring into the bargain — get in touch today. We’ll handle everything.