The copper network is being retired: what that means for your business line

For most smaller companies the internet connection is a box on the wall that has worked for years. That is exactly why the copper-to-fibre migration is awkward: it touches something nobody had to think about for a long time.

The rules that apply

Germany's Federal Network Agency describes the process as a gradual replacement of the existing fixed-line infrastructure for internet and telephony. Three commitments matter to you as the line holder:

• No shutdown without a replacement. Without a capable equivalent alternative, the old copper network is not switched off.
• Only once everyone could switch. An area may only be fully decommissioned once all customers there have had the opportunity to change technology.
• One to two years of notice. At least one to two years should elapse between the first notification and the actual decommissioning.

What hangs off it in your building

The line itself is swapped by the provider. The effort arises behind it — and is routinely underestimated, because these devices have worked quietly for years.

1. 01

   Telephony

   Classic phone systems on a traditional trunk line need either an adapter or a successor. Check early whether your system still receives spare parts and updates — often the migration is the moment to replace it.

2. 02

   Router and firewall

   A fibre line terminates on a different type of device than DSL. Whether your existing firewall can connect directly or needs a modem in front of it decides how much configuration work — and how much fault-finding — the change involves.

3. 03

   Static IP addresses and remote access

   VPN access, vendor remote maintenance and port forwarding often depend on a static IP address. If it changes, more stops working on migration day than expected.

4. 04

   Devices with their own line

   Lift emergency call, fire alarm, intruder alarm, card terminal, franking machine: anything using its own trunk line needs its own answer. These devices appear in no IT documentation and are therefore the first to fail.

5. 05

   Migration day itself

   Plan it like a move: a time window, a reachable contact, a list of what gets checked afterwards. A mobile fallback for the day costs little and saves a day of being unreachable.

The opportunity inside it

A change that is coming anyway is the cheapest moment for two things that are otherwise hard to justify. First: a second line. If somebody is working on the connection anyway, a mobile fallback costs little and answers the question of what happens when a digger cuts the street.

Second: tidying up. Port forwards nobody can account for, remote access left by former suppliers, the wireless password from 2019 — all of it is on the table on migration day regardless. How we plan, build and support small networks is described on our page for smaller companies.

What you can do now

• Take stock. Which devices use a phone line? Which services depend on the static IP address? One page is enough.
• Dig out the contract. Term, bandwidth, committed fault resolution time. The migration is the natural moment to review it.
• Clarify who handles it. Who receives the provider's letter, and who decides? In many companies it lands in accounting and stays there.
• Do not wait for the letter to start planning. One to two years of notice is generous — it only becomes tight if it passes unused.