The News: Copper's Countdown Has Started

For years, "the NBN copper switch-off" felt like a distant, someday event. In 2026 it became a scheduled, named program with real dates attached. NBN Co has confirmed a Targeted Upgrade program that will force around 130,000 homes and businesses still running on ageing copper to upgrade to full fibre — or ultimately be disconnected.

The premises first in the firing line are those on fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) and fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) — technologies now considered legacy because they still rely on a length of copper to reach the premises. The plan is to start with 130,000 premises and then work through the rest at a steady cadence of roughly 20,000 premises per month.

Running alongside this is a carrot to match the stick: from July 2026, around 600,000 additional FTTC premises became newly eligible for on-demand fibre upgrades after NBN Co removed a speed-tier requirement that had previously locked them out of its Fibre Connect program. In other words, more people can upgrade voluntarily now — and a growing number will eventually be required to.

FTTN, FTTC, FTTP: A Quick Translation

The acronyms hide a simple idea — how much of the journey to your door is fibre versus copper.

The whole program is about closing the gap: eliminating the copper "last stretch" that limits speed and reliability, and getting fibre all the way to the premises.

The Full Timeline to Disconnection

• July 2026 — Around 600,000 additional FTTC premises become eligible for on-demand fibre upgrades after the speed-tier requirement is removed.
• From July 2027 — Eligible households and businesses in the Targeted Upgrade program receive a formal notice, starting a six-month window to request a free FTTP upgrade.
• From January 2028 — Premises that did not respond within their window have their copper-based service suspended; the first cut-offs begin.
• Ongoing — The program continues at roughly 20,000 premises per month, working through the legacy-copper footprint over time.

Two things stand out. First, the free upgrade is genuinely a good deal — for Targeted Upgrade premises the cost is waived and so is the usual requirement to order a faster plan. Second, the downside for ignoring the notice is severe: losing your connection entirely. For a business, that is not a broadband inconvenience — it is your phones, your card terminals and your internet all going dark.

Who Is Affected

You are potentially affected if your premises still connects via FTTN or FTTC — which covers a large share of established suburbs, older commercial strips and regional town centres. The businesses most exposed tend to be:

If you are not sure what technology your premises uses, that uncertainty is itself the first thing to fix — because the disconnection deadline is real, and it does not care whether you were paying attention.

The Hidden Risk: Your Phone Line

Broadband gets the headlines, but for most businesses the sharper risk in a copper switch-off is the phone line. Many businesses still run voice over an old copper landline, or a legacy service quietly riding on the same copper. When that copper is disconnected, the phone goes with it — and if your main business number is tied to that line, you are suddenly at risk of losing the number customers have used for years.

This is the same lesson Australian businesses learned the hard way through the 3G shutdown and reinforced during the recent major carrier outages: anything tied to a single ageing piece of physical infrastructure is a liability. Copper is now on a published countdown. Betting your phones on it is betting against the calendar.

Why a Cloud Phone System Removes the Risk

Here is the reassuring part: if your phone system is already in the cloud, the copper switch-off is almost a non-event. A cloud phone system does not depend on any particular copper line — it runs over your internet connection, wherever that comes from.

• Connection-agnostic: whether you're on FTTN today or FTTP tomorrow, your phone system doesn't change. When the fibre upgrade happens, your calls simply keep working.
• Your numbers travel with you: business numbers live in the cloud, not on a copper pair, so an upgrade — or even a move to new premises — doesn't put them at risk.
• No line rental to lose: there's no legacy copper phone line to be disconnected, because there wasn't one to begin with.
• Resilience beyond the switch: because it's software, calls can fail over to mobiles and apps if a single connection drops — useful long after the copper is gone.

In other words, moving to the cloud doesn't just prepare you for the copper switch-off — it takes the whole category of "our phones depend on one physical line" off the table for good.

Your Pre-Switch-Off Checklist

• Identify your NBN technology. Find out whether your premises is on FTTN, FTTC or already FTTP.
• Locate your phone services. List every number and phone line, and note which ride on copper.
• Watch for notices. Keep an eye out for upgrade or disconnection notices from NBN Co or your provider — and don't ignore them.
• Move copper-dependent phones to the cloud. Migrate before any deadline so you keep your numbers and avoid a rushed cut-over.
• Take the free fibre upgrade. If you're eligible, upgrading to FTTP is free and improves reliability for everything, including your cloud phone system.

How Uniden Voice Makes It Painless

Uniden Voice Over Cloud is built to make the copper switch-off a shrug rather than a scramble.

The copper switch-off is coming whether businesses prepare or not. The ones who move their phones to the cloud early will barely notice it; the ones who wait for a disconnection notice will be doing an urgent migration under pressure. There is no prize for leaving it late.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is NBN really forcing homes and businesses onto fibre?

Yes. Under a Targeted Upgrade program, NBN Co plans to move around 130,000 premises still on ageing copper (mainly FTTN and FTTC) onto full fibre, or those premises will eventually be disconnected. Eligible premises get a formal notice and six months to request a free upgrade, with first cut-offs expected from January 2028.

When will copper NBN connections be disconnected?

Notices are expected from around July 2027, giving six months to request a free FTTP upgrade. Non-responders face copper suspension, with first cut-offs from January 2028, then a rollout of about 20,000 premises per month.

Does the fibre upgrade cost anything?

For Targeted Upgrade premises the upgrade is free and the usual higher-speed-plan requirement is waived. Separately, from July 2026 around 600,000 more FTTC premises became eligible for on-demand fibre after a speed-tier rule was removed.

How does the copper switch-off affect my business phone?

If your phone relies on copper, the switch-off is a hard deadline to modernise. A cloud phone system removes that risk because it runs over the internet, not a specific copper line — so upgrades and moves don't threaten your numbers.

What should businesses do before the copper switch-off?

Check your NBN technology, watch for upgrade notices, and move copper-dependent phones to a cloud phone system well ahead of the deadline — keeping your numbers, avoiding a rushed cut-over, and gaining modern features.

What to Read Next

Preparing for the copper switch-off is part of building a resilient, modern communications setup.