28 01732 759725 SWITCH-OFF Leading business telephony and connectivity providers react to BT Group’s decision to delay the PSTN switch-off by a year This autumn, BT will be introducing an interim landline service, enabled by new equipment installed in local exchanges, that will allow landline-only customers to stay connected while they are moved off the PSTN. This ‘pre-digital phone line’ will give customers who don’t have broadband the ability to use their landline until a digital solution becomes available or until 2030, whichever comes sooner. This option will also be available to business customers with specialist connectivity requirements, such as alarms, lift and emergency lines, ATMs and payment terminals. In fact, BT Business is urging business and public sector customers to let them know if they're interested in testing the product. One of the benefits of the delay for businesses is that it will give them more time to audit their comms estates and identify any ‘specialist connectivity requirements’ that they might have, while also enabling them to develop a comprehensive All-IP comms strategy and secure additional funding that might be required to finance new equipment. Here, we ask providers of business communication solutions whether they welcome the delay, what it means for their business customers and whether BT/ Openreach and the government should be doing more to make the transition to All IP a success. David Yates, CEO and Co-founder, Gigabit Networks “First of all, I am not really surprised by the delay since there were just too many challenges, in the Telecare space in particular. I think it is positive for the channel in general because it provides us with some more time to get our customer base across the line and onto a digital service. “Awareness of the issues facing businesses across the UK from this switchoff is increasing, both among our Channel partners and their customers. That is a good thing, but we need more noise from Government and Openreach/BT about the programme directed at the UK business community in general. If we can switch businesses in the next 18-24 months, it will make a big difference and help fund more fibre rollout from the cost savings of supporting the legacy infrastructure.” Jamie Snaddon, EMEA MD, 8x8 “A lot of organisations will be delighted at the news of the PSTN delay. So many organisations, from local authorities, housing associations and health trusts to small micro-businesses, told us that they weren’t ready to switch over. “You would think that 18 months BT Group has extended the deadline for moving all customers – consumers and businesses – off the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and onto digital landlines, from the end of 2025 to the end of January 2027 – 10 years after the PSTN/ISDN switch-off was first announced. The delay, which effectively gives customers another year in which to make the move, has largely been welcomed by the comms industry. The switch-off campaign has been criticised for a lack of government engagement, low levels of awareness and a failure to meet the needs of vulnerable customers who rely on a landline, including 1.8 million users of telecare for remote support. Unlike the copper PSTN network, which incorporates a 48 volt DC signal that ensures continued operation during a power cut, modern digital equipment provides no such safeguard, potentially putting lives at risk. In December 2023, BT Consumer (and other communications providers) put a temporary halt to the forced migration of vulnerable customers to digital lines while it implemented the Government’s Charter to protect vulnerable customers and helped set up, in January 2024, the Telecare Action Board (TAB) to identify telecare users and others who will need to be protected in the switch to digital. BT says that so far only one quarter of local authorities and telecare providers have disclosed which phone lines have telecare devices. In April, BT’s Consumer division restarted forced migrations to its Digital Voice landline service, while continuing to offer and develop alternative options for vulnerable and landline-only customers who don’t have broadband or mobile connectivity. These include free battery units providing back-up power so that phones can continue to operate in the event of a power cut; and a hybrid phone with a battery back-up and the ability to make calls over the mobile network. Ask the experts Jamie Snaddon David Yates
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