ISDN CUT OFF & WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU
Prepare for the Future: The End of Britain's Traditional Phone Network
An ambitious plan is underway to retire Britain's traditional phone network. By the end of January 2027, almost all landlines and ISDN lines will cease to function.You might think, "That's years away. I'll worry about it later." Unfortunately, the transition is more complex and changes are happening well before 2027, affecting a wide range of telecom services, including:
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Standard Landlines
Fibre Broadband (FTTC)
ADSL Connections
ISDN2 & ISDN30 Circuits
EFM (Ethernet First Mile) over Copper Connections
Alarm Services
Fax Services
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In some areas, you can no longer order a standard landline, ADSL connection, or FTTC broadband. Instead, Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) connections are the only available option, as these regions are ahead in moving away from the old Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).
The announced changes will impact you in three significant ways:
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Restrictions on New Orders and Changes to Existing Services: There will be limitations on what new services you can order and changes you can make to current services.
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Forced Product Migrations: Your communications provider will need to switch you to alternative products to prevent service interruptions.
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Discontinuation of Legacy Services: If you haven't migrated by the deadline, your legacy services will be discontinued.
What Will Happen to Standard (Analogue) BT Landlines?
They'll stop working at the end of January 2027 because the underlying wholesale product - Wholesale Line Rental - will be retired.
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If you want to keep your landline number, you will need to transfer that existing number to a VoIP service.
If you need your phone to work during a power cut, you and your ISP will need to arrange for a suitable backup power source to be connected to the Openreach equipment at your site and possibly to your broadband router too.
You won't be able to order new analogue landlines after September 2023. That restriction is already in place in some areas with high levels of full fibre coverage.
What Will Happen to Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC)?
Instead of using FTTC running over a working phone line, you'll be switched over to a service that provides FTTC on a dialtone-free line. This replacement service is known as Generic Ethernet Access, GEA or GEA-FTTC.
Once around 75% of premises on a telephone exchange are able to order FTTP or SOGFAST, it won't be long until those premises are barred from ordering FTTC (GEA-FTTC) or ADSL (SOTAP).
What Will Happen to ISDN2 & ISDN30?
These digital circuits - used to connect older business phone systems to the phone network - will stop working at the end of January 2027.
From September 2023, you won't be able to order new ISDN lines or change the number of channels you have.
Your options will be to switch to an IP-based alternative or get an ISDN/SIP converter, so your calls can run over the top of your data connection.
What Will Happen to ADSL Connections?
That will depend on how you get your ADSL.
If you have a standard analogue BT phone line over which an ADSL service runs, your underlying connectivity products will need to be changed prior to Feburary 2027. Your ISP will only be able to order ADSL's replacement (SOTAP) if there's no better broadband option available at your location. In other words, it's likely you'll need to switch from ADSL to FTTC's replacement (SOGEA), G.FAST's replacement (SOGFAST) or FTTP.
If your phone line physically doesn't plug into BT's exchange equipment but solely to that of a local loop unbundler at your local telephone exchange, your ADSL will be unaffected - for now. However, if you change communications provider, you'll be subject to the 'new order' restrictions in place at your premises. In other words, it's likely you'll need to switch from ADSL to FTTC, G.FAST or FTTP.
What Will Happen to Alarms powered by the PSTN?
You will need to talk to your alarm provider about installing an IP-based alternative. Alarms can no longer rely on your phone line being powered by the local telephone exchange. So you'll need to install a local power source and possibly a battery backup too.
This change will impact many burglar alarms, lift alarms and pendant alarms used by the elderly.
What Will Happen to G.FAST Broadband Connections?
They'll be replaced with SOGFAST connections (Single Order G.Fast).
What Will Happen to Fax Machines?
Fax isn't part of the PSTN switch-off plans. However the UK telecoms regulator - OFCOM - has indicated it is considering removing fax compatibility from the 'Universal Service Obligation.'
Assuming we know where this is heading, most business telecom providers, including hSo, will still offer fax-compatible phone services, but no one will be under any regulatory obligation to do so.
What Will Happen to Ethernet First Mile (EFM) over Copper?
hese are being commercially phased out, as they are based on the EFM connectivity provider (or their supplier) placing several orders for a 'Metallic Path Facility' product which is going to be subject to 'stop-sell' restrictions where FTTC and FTTP are available.
Why Is the PSTN Switch-Off Happening?
Switching from a copper-based telecoms network to a fibre-based one will slash costs - which will eventually lead to lower costs for consumers and businesses. Instead of needing 5600 telephone exchanges, Openreach will just have to pay for 1000. Fewer engineers will be needed, as fibre-optic transmissions are more reliable than copper-based alternatives.
Forcing customers to sign up for a VoIP service will also increase competition, especially in regard to telecom service features.
What Will Happen After December 2025?
At some point, we expect existing customers to be forced to migrate to FTTP from SOTAP, SOGEA and SOGFAST. We expect Metallic Path Facility (MPF) to be withdrawn, forcing existing users of MPF-based services to migrate to FTTP.
FTTP coverage isn't wide enough for this to happen yet, nationwide. Under nine million UK premises can order FTTP as of November 2022. By 2027, that figure should be 25 million. That means forced migrations to FTTP will be viable at an ever larger number of telephone exchanges.
BT's infrastructure division, Openreach, will start decommissioning 4600 of its 5600 telephone exchanges. Copper landlines may be pulled from ducts and melted down for use in electric vehicles, among other things. That will free up space in ducts for fibre-optic cables.
Meanwhile, another of our partners, Virgin Media, will upgrade much of its network from hybrid fibre/coax to full fibre.
We're likely to see industry consolidation among the full fibre network builders, with a handful of largescale providers left standing. We expect another of our partners, CityFibre, to retain its leadership among its peers.
With full fibre almost everywhere, typical maximum download speeds are likely to shoot up from less than 100Mbps today to multiple gigabits.
If you would like to chat to us about VoIP then give us a call on 0116 3667020
