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A new Opinium survey of 2,000 UK adults, conducted during June 2025, has revealed that 28% of respondents aged 18-27 years old (Gen Z) still have a landline phone at home and 21% of that same group only retain it “as a decoration”. But interestingly, 43% of respondents remain unaware of the looming change to digital phones by the end of 2027.
The reality today is that most people don’t make much use of their home phone services (if they still have one), often preferring to use VoIP, mobiles or internet messaging services. At the same time, the old legacy phone networks have reached end-of-life and the market is gradually switching over to fibre optic broadband connections and digital (IP-based) landline alternatives.
The switch-off of legacy phone services is currently expected to complete on 31st January 2027, which was last year delayed from December 2025 in order to give broadband ISPs, phone, telecare providers, councils and consumers more time to adapt (details).
The main focus of this delay was the 1.8 million UK people who use vital home telecare systems (e.g. elderly, disabled – vulnerable users), which aren’t always compatible with digital phone services because telecare providers were slow to adapt. But this overlooks that, for everybody else, many telecoms providers will still be working to the original Dec 2025 deadline to have their customers off the PSTN network.
The new survey, which was commissioned by Uswitch.com and should be taken with a pinch of salt given its small sample size, indicates that such landlines may still be quite popular with some unexpected groups, like Gen Z. But the findings are quite limited.
Additional Survey Findings
➤ 24% of Gen Z who own a landline say they use it frequently, compared to just 11% of the older Gen X (aged 44-59).
➤ Other top reasons for having a landline include speaking to family based abroad (25%), for emergencies (23%) and better call quality (23%).
➤ Gen Z don’t have the same nostalgic attachment as older generations, with just 19% able to recall their childhood phone number, compared to 50% of Gen X and 43% of Millennials.
➤ 43% of Gen Z think landlines are ‘old-fashioned’.
➤ 44% of respondents still have a landline.
➤ 11% of respondents say they prefer using a landline to a mobile phone and that a landline feels more “personal” than a mobile phone (13%).