31 October 2026

France’s copper network shutdown: 5 steps for your business

Check which sites and lines in France are affected, choose an alternative and test your equipment before cancelling. Follow these 5 steps to prepare.

A desk phone in close-up, with a blurred office behind it and light from a side window, in an editorial photography style

If you have sites in France, don’t switch every line on the same date. To prepare for the copper network shutdown in France, check each address, list everything that depends on each line, choose an alternative for each site and test calls before cancelling the old service.

In short:

Check each site’s address against the official shutdown schedule. An announced date for an area does not mean every line there is affected.
List the numbers, lines and equipment connected to copper, including alarms, elevators and payment terminals.
Assess the alternative for each site based on the connection available, whether you can keep your numbers and how you will handle calls if the internet fails.
Before cancelling a line, test incoming and outgoing calls, call forwarding and every device that depended on it.

Ask your provider to confirm which service the shutdown affects at each site and when it will stop working.

How can you check whether your site is affected by the January 2027 copper network closure?

To find out whether the copper network closure scheduled for January 2027 affects your site in France, check ARCEP’s timetable for its municipality. Then ask the provider of each line to confirm in writing the address affected, the applicable date and whether the notice concerns a commercial or technical closure.

ARCEP distinguishes between the two: commercial closure stops new orders for copper access; technical closure affects existing lines. A municipality’s closure date alone does not tell you what to do with each contract.

Send the provider the full address, contract reference and phone number. Ask for an answer for each line, and keep the notice you received. If your lines are with different operators, contact each one. Before comparing an IP telephony provider, establish who is responsible for your current service.

Which lines and devices should you check before the closure?

Before disconnecting a copper line at a site in France, check your bills and contracts to identify the numbers and lines in use. Map the office extensions, then check which phones, alarms, lifts or payment terminals are physically connected to each socket. Some of those devices may need adapting.

Make an inventory for each site, not one list for the whole company:

Numbers and contracts: record the provider and the line associated with each number.
Extensions: identify which desks use each line and where their calls are received.
Connected devices: record which socket each device uses and who maintains it.
Unconfirmed connections: flag any connection whose use you cannot verify.

Do not assume a socket is unused just because no phone is plugged into it. Check the inventory with the companies that maintain your alarms, lifts and payment terminals. If you need a way to organise the review, use this guide to reviewing your business phone setup.

Which option is right for each site?

The right option for each site in France depends on the connection available, the equipment that must keep working and whether your company already has its own PBX. Check these points before choosing internet-based telephony. Decide how you will handle calls if the connection fails.

Connection: check what type of access is available at the address. The announced copper network closure does not guarantee that fibre is available.
Equipment: ask the equipment suppliers how devices that need to communicate outside the voice network will work.
PBX: if you already have your own, consider SIP Trunk for businesses. A SIP channel carries calls between your PBX and your telephone provider. If you do not have a PBX, compare subscribing to a service with installing and maintaining one yourself.

Before you choose, ask the provider to confirm what each site needs to make and receive calls.

How can you move your calls without interrupting customer service?

To move calls from a site in France without missing customer calls, agree with your provider what will happen to each number. Set up opening hours, call queues and forwarding on the new service. Keep the existing line until you have checked that calls come in, go out and reach the right team.

Ask your provider whether you can keep each number and how to coordinate the change in France. Do not assume the same conditions apply as in Spain. If you are considering a cloud PBX for businesses, agree on the setup that site needs.

Before cancelling the existing line, test from outside your business:

An incoming call to each affected number.
An outgoing call and the number displayed to the recipient.
Opening hours, call queues and forwarding when nobody answers.

If a test fails, fix the setup and run it again before disconnecting the existing line.

What costs and failure scenarios should you plan for before switching?

Before retiring a copper line at a site in France, ask for separate quotes for connectivity, phone service, equipment, installation and backup. Agree where calls will go if the internet connection or power fails. Test that routing before cancelling the old line.

Ask the provider to itemise:

Connectivity: the main connection and a backup connection, if you choose one.
Phone service: the monthly fee, included calls and rates for the destinations you call most. Check international call rates separately.
Equipment: phones, adapters and the power supply they need.
Installation: configuration, travel and work at the site.
Backup: call forwarding and the conditions for activating it.

Disconnect the test connection and check where each call goes. Repeat the test with the office power switched off. If forwarding depends on equipment that is off, do not count it as a working backup.

Frequently asked questions

Will I lose my French landline number when I leave the copper network?

Not necessarily, but do not assume you can keep it. Ask your provider to confirm whether each number can move to the new service and what conditions apply to your site in France. Get confirmation before cancelling the old line, then check that the number receives calls after the switch.

Can I keep using the office phones?

It depends on the phones and the service you choose. A phone connected directly to a copper line may need an adapter or replacement. A phone that already uses IP telephony may have different requirements. List the models and ask the provider to confirm compatibility before buying new equipment.

What happens to an alarm or lift connected to the line?

Do not assume it will keep working when you replace the copper line. Ask the company that maintains the alarm or lift which connections the equipment supports and who needs to adapt it. Then arrange a test with that company. Testing office calls does not prove these devices can send alerts.

Will calls work if the internet goes down?

It depends on how the service is configured and what backup connection the site has. Before switching, ask the provider what happens to incoming and outgoing calls during an internet outage and a power cut. Test the planned call forwarding and check whether the phones stay powered.

Do I need to change provider to keep my landline service?

Not always. Your current provider may offer another way to deliver the service. Confirm what it proposes for each site, number and connected device. Compare its proposal with other options before agreeing to the switch. Request a demo to review how your sites in France would handle calls.

Request a cloud PBX demo and review how your sites in France would handle calls.

Written by Mehdi Chouikh, CEO.