Posts about Full-Fibre Future

The beginning of the end for copper-based telephony: what it means for you This week marks the beginning of the end for a technology that has served us well but is increasingly no longer fit for purpose – the ‘stop sell’ of traditional copper telephone lines and the services that use them. From 5 September 2023, Openreach – the BT Group subsidiary that looks after the UK’s telephony infrastructure – will no longer sell new copper telephony services, as we move towards the full retirement of the copper lines in December 2027. This blog looks at what this means for your organisation and how you might prepare for the final switch-off.

Many small businesses get internet connectivity in what might be called the “traditional” way. That means they order a public switched telephone network (PSTN) telephone line (also known as a “landline”), and then order a broadband service on top of it.

Covid-19 only accelerated what was happening already. According to one calculation, over 101,000Gb of data crisscrosses the internet every second, and that astonishing figure is only going to rise.

While it can be tempting to sign up to the first broadband contract that comes along, there are good reasons why you shouldn’t. And if your current broadband isn’t up to the task, you shouldn’t cling to it either.

In 2025 legacy ISDN and PSTN telephony networks will be switched off for good. The transition to an all-IP network means that, from December 2025, all voice data will need to travel over an internet connection, as it already does if you make a TeamsLink call. There will no longer be an analogue option.

Organisations of all kinds were already busy implementing digital transformation policies before the COVID-19 pandemic, and they will be accelerating those processes now.

That’s certainly true with connectivity, as more and more businesses are beginning to find out. When even startups and small businesses are turning to cloud storage, SaaS solutions and HD video conferencing, internet connections are bound to start feeling the pressure. And as we get ready for an all-IP future with the switch off of PSTN in 2025, the demand for bandwidth is bound to accelerate.

Covid-19 only accelerated what was happening already. According to one calculation, over 101,000Gb of data criss-crosses the internet every second, and that astonishing figure is only going to rise.

Organisations of all kinds were already busy implementing digital transformation policies before the COVID-19 pandemic, and they will be accelerating those processes now.