Openreach, the UK network provider owned by BT, has announced an additional 79 UK locations which will see an end to the traditional copper networks. Further acceleration in the firm’s plan to switch off traditional voice services by 2025, means a stop-sell has been issued to additional locations.
With a proposed date of December 2025 for end-of-life for traditional services (ISDN & PSTN), telecoms providers are being urged to encourage customers to sign up for future-proof digital services to avoid disruption. Once a stop-sell has been issued in an area, telecoms businesses can no longer sell or upgrade customers on the traditional services.
The 79 exchanges included in the next steps of Openreach’s plan cover 500,00 premises including homes and businesses. They include areas such as north Wales, rural Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Sussex coast, Birmingham, Liverpool and Bristol.
What Will This Affect My Business?
Last year, Openreach began its stop sell campaign in preparation for “The Big ISDN Switch Off.” This means businesses will no longer be able to purchase ISDN lines after the stop sell date, this differs depending on the region.
If your business is currently operating on a traditional ISDN system, now is a good time to start thinking about upgrading.
What Are My Options?
There are a number of options for your business depending on your current setup, budget and future plans.
- SIP Trunks – If you have an existing on-premise system and are tied into a contract, SIP trunking is the best alternative for your business. Using virtual phone lines, SIP can integrate with your existing on-premise telephone system, giving your business more flexibility to scale up or down instantly.
- On-Premise VoIP – If you would like to manage your services internally and have the resources to do this such as in internal telecoms or engineering teams, on-premises VoIP will future-proof your systems.
- Cloud-Hosted VoIP – If your business is coming close to the end of your contract and you no longer want an on-premise system, hosts VoIP could be the best solution. Hosted VoIP uses your businesses internet lines and hosted everything in the cloud, meaning maintenance and changes can be easily managed from a remote location.
What Are The Next Steps?
If you would like to speak to us about upgrading your current system or you’d like to discuss your options, we have a team of engineers and product managers to answer any questions you have.
