PSTN switch off in 2025 - is this a good thing or a bad thing?

J_B

mwarby said:

The copper is staying, at least for the time being, the only thing which is going is the ability to use an analog phone directly attached to that copper.

Most ISPs will be providing a port on the router to plug your phone in to, your phone calls would then be routed over the internet connection

But ... if we don't have internet ... then what?

Chino

J_B said:

But ... if we don't have internet ... then what?

If you don't have an internet connection then you won't be able to have a landline phone service.

It's possible that communication providers will offer broadband products with speeds sufficient to support VoIP but nothing more. Whether such products will be materially cheaper than normal broadband products is another matter.

According to Opennreach, it will all be fine. So that's all right then.
https://www.openreach.com/mildenhall

littleboo

Chino said:

J_B said:

But ... if we don't have internet ... then what?

If you don't have an internet connection then you won't be able to have a landline phone service.

It's possible that communication providers will offer broadband products with speeds sufficient to support VoIP but nothing more. Whether such products will be materially cheaper than normal broadband products is another matter.

According to Opennreach, it will all be fine. So that's all right then.
https://www.openreach.com/mildenhall

You will need a data connection for a phone line, that might be provided over the same data connection which gives you internet, but it doesn't have to be. Openreach have announced a low bandwidth connection to replace analogue phone lines. There are plenty of requirements for standalone phone lines which wont go away, lift phones, lifelines etc

mwarby

J_B said:

mwarby said:

The copper is staying, at least for the time being, the only thing which is going is the ability to use an analog phone directly attached to that copper.

Most ISPs will be providing a port on the router to plug your phone in to, your phone calls would then be routed over the internet connection

But ... if we don't have internet ... then what?

A provider could use the same technology, but not offer internet access. I don’t see it being very popular, especially as at the moment many providers are giving away internet for almost nothing over the line rental 

onomatopoeia99

mwarby said:

J_B said:

mwarby said:

The copper is staying, at least for the time being, the only thing which is going is the ability to use an analog phone directly attached to that copper.

Most ISPs will be providing a port on the router to plug your phone in to, your phone calls would then be routed over the internet connection

But ... if we don't have internet ... then what?

A provider could use the same technology, but not offer internet access. I don’t see it being very popular, especially as at the moment many providers are giving away internet for almost nothing over the line rental 

They aren't giving it away really, they are inflating the line rental element a lot to make the internet part seem cheap.

mwarby

Indeed they are, and I’m not a great fan of this either

Virgin haven’t needed the copper pair for a long time for internet access, in some areas they do what is being proposed by Openreach, yet most of the time you get a phone line wanted or not to get best deal

iniltous

OR have a product , a 0.5Mb ‘broadband’ connection, that is more than capable of delivering a VOIP service, the wholesale price isn’t that different to the wholesale price for WLR , when the PSTN switch off happens, chances are those with a phone only service will have to migrate to this product, and will need to buy or be provided with some kit that enables their regular phone to use this OR product, ( possibly some sort of basic router with a standard phone socket  ) chances are it will be tied down to just internet telephony, stopping anyone who thinks 0.5Mb is sufficient for emails etc, and try’s to this cheaper product for a basic on line service as well as telephony.
There will be issues with power failures etc, but how many people use corded phones compared to cordless phones , and they won’t work during a power outage.
As far as niche products like lines in lifts, alarm lines etc , no doubt they will have to update the way they work, but TBH, a lot of these have switched to mobile telephony anyway, it won’t be reason enough to stop the PSTN switch off 

Browntoa

Battery backup possible on the customer premise unit , same as a burglar alarm . Maintains emergency phone access .

5g will provide greater speeds , we may see a battle between 5g home hub units and the new pstn IP system .

mwarby

For FTTP they’ve stopped providing battery backup at the customer end. I think they’ve been able to persuade Ofcom that with mobiles being almost universal that it wasn’t required. Of course nothing stopping someone else proving battery backup (a desktop UPS say)

virgo17

mwarby said:

For FTTP they’ve stopped providing battery backup at the customer end. I think they’ve been able to persuade Ofcom that with mobiles being almost universal that it wasn’t required. Of course nothing stopping someone else proving battery backup (a desktop UPS say)

Interesting. My FTTP ONT has battery backup but it is a couple of years old now. The whole thing is fed from a UPS so it's a bit academic anyway.