The Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is being switched off in 2025. What does this IP switchover mean for you?
At the end of 2025 the traditional telephone network, which includes fixed lines and services in the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) will be switched off. This is because Openreach is looking to move to a fiber first network. As such, all providers will be looking to migrate you away from your current services by that date.
Services that are affected by this change are WLR, ISDN2 and ISDN30, Narrowband Line Share, Local Loop Unbundling Shared Metallic Path Facilities (LLUSMPF), Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Lines (ADSL) Broadband and Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) Broadband.
It is expected that PSTN products will stop being sold in 2023, giving at least 2 years for a migration away.
So what services will you have in the future after the IP switchover? These will be Fiber broadband Services (Fiber To The Premises) or a Single Order (SO) variant of ADSL (Single Order Generic Ethernet Access). These products will not offer a voice or telephone line, which means you will no longer have a dial tone. Instead, you will need to use a VOIP service for your telephone communications through a SIP trunk or PBX system
When these Single Order (SO) broadband products are provided there will be no voice on the telephone line and no dial tone, this means the CP will need to provide some form of VOIP service like a Hosted PBX License or Session Initiation Protocol (SIP Trunking) service to provide the voice telephony element which would replace the traditional WLR or ISDN telephone line.
There are wider implications than just internet to your property and your phone line. If you business uses an alarm line, traffic light system, payment terminal, payphone line, dialysis machine, emergency pendant or telemetry device, you will need to check whether these work with the new services.
It’s a big switch with lots of implications for lots of businesses. Luckily, there are still several years before the impact hits.