Telkom Copper Switch-Off: Moving Your Business Phones to Cloud PBX

Telkom has been retiring its copper network area by area, moving customers to fibre and wireless. For many businesses that means the analogue lines and ISDN behind their phone system are on borrowed time. The good news: the replacement is cheaper, more flexible and far better suited to how people work today.

What changes when copper goes

• Analogue and ISDN lines stop working once the exchange is switched off.
• Older on-site PBX boxes that depend on those lines lose their outside calls.
• Alarm diallers, fax machines and lift phones on copper need a new path too.

You can keep your numbers

Your existing geographic numbers — the 011, 012, 021 or 010 number your clients know — can be ported to a VoIP provider. Porting is planned with a cut-over date so calls keep flowing, and your clients never notice the change.

What a cloud PBX gives you

• Lower call costs — VoIP rates are typically well below traditional line rental and call charges, and calls between branches are free.
• Work from anywhere — your office extension rings on a desk phone, a laptop or a mobile app.
• Professional call handling — auto-attendants, ring groups, queues, voicemail to email and after-hours routing.
• Call recording and reporting — useful for training, disputes and service levels.
• Integration — 3CX connects with Microsoft 365 and many CRMs, so calls pop up with the client's details.

Plan for power and connectivity

Copper lines carried their own power; VoIP depends on your network. Put your router, switch and fibre equipment on a UPS, use Power-over-Ethernet switches so desk phones stay on during outages, and add an LTE or 5G backup link. With mobile apps on staff phones, calls continue even when the office is dark. Read more in our guide to fibre failover and SD-WAN.

A simple migration checklist

1. List every number, line and device on copper, including alarms and fax.
2. Choose your platform — 3CX or Mirta Cloud PBX — and your handsets, such as Yealink.
3. Design call flows: menus, ring groups, hours and voicemail.
4. Check bandwidth and quality of service on your connection.
5. Request number porting and agree a cut-over date.
6. Train staff on the phones and the mobile app, then switch over.

A note on POPIA

If you record calls, tell callers at the start of the call and keep recordings only as long as you need them. Recordings are personal information and should be stored securely, with access limited to the people who need it.

How MVT helps

Our cloud PBX and voice solutions cover design, number porting, Yealink hardware, installation and ongoing support, with business connectivity to match. Looking further ahead? See how an AI receptionist can answer and route calls for you.

Plan your move to cloud PBX →