Team Partners Telecommunications

Death of the telephone

Posted on Sep 27, 2023  | Tags: phone lines, phone systems, broadband

From time to time, we are, all of us, prone to fall foul of that old adage ‘out of sight, out of mind’. Our ability to conveniently forget things is a large contributor to the reason why history so often repeats itself; much as we promise ourselves not to get caught out again or to deal with something by nipping the problem in the bud, we don’t and then have to live with the consequences.

Perhaps oddly we’re not referring to the current situation in Ukraine, but we are referring to the death of the telephone as we know it. For those who know nothing about this let us quickly assure you that this is not a tomorrow or next month thing, but it is a thing nonetheless, and long-term readers of this blog may remember us mentioning the steps we’ll all need to take for life to continue more or less as normal in the past.

But first, an update. As of 5^th September 2023, Openreach, the national telecoms infrastructure provider, are no longer accepting new orders for traditional copper phone lines or related broadband products such as:

• Analogue phone lines (PSTN)
• Multi-lines and ISDN line
• ADSL broadband
• Fibre To The Cabinet (FTTC) broadband

If you presently have any of these services, they will continue to work but you will need to get them converted to a fibre/digital service before the technology is switched off in 2025.

How might this effect you? It depends! Openreach’s intention is for everyone to be able to smoothly transfer to their infinitely more efficient FTTP (Fibre Through To Premises) broadband lines but as not everyone has the possibility of being connected to fibre yet, an alternative has had to be found. That alternative enables the continued use of copper wires for broadband but not for analogue telephone line services. If you want a phone line, you will need to order a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service from your provider and get your number ported, which all good providers will be able to do.

And therein lies the potential problem. Your old analogue based copper wire phone system didn’t need any battery backup. Given a power cut your ‘phone kept working, but with an internet-based line this isn’t the case. Now think alarm systems and telecare services, think pensioners and other vulnerable people who presently depend on their ‘phones to work, power cut or not. Those responsible for their care will have to find an alternative way to ensure continuous ‘phone availability, whatever the circumstances. If this is you, give us a call, we can help.