BT OpenReach Big Switch Off – the end of current Telephone Networks
Under the BT Openreach Big Switch Off plan towards the end of 2025 the last elements of the analogue (PSTN) and digital ISDN copper network will be turned off as an all-IP network replaces these legacy services. The impact on telephony and broadband services is huge, so you need to know how it will impact you and your business.
The rollout of the new all fibre (FTTP) network is speeding up with many areas already connected, communications from OpenReach are poor so it might happen far sooner than you expect, you can take action now in preparation.
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What services are affected?
Most business telecoms, both voice and data, use a copper line. The easiest way to comprehend the extent of this major project is to consider that every single Openreach service utilising copper lines will be affected. The most apparent services are analogue telephone lines (PSTN) and digital lines (ISDN) but it doesn’t stop there. It’s not just about telephone services. Any service that uses this infrastructure will also be impacted.
Analogue voice telephone services and any service that use these lines including fax, alarm systems, modem, PDQ machines.
ISDN 2e and ISDN 30e lines which are mainly used by phone systems.
- Broadband services that run over an analogue telephone line e.g. ADSL and also FTTC Fibre Broadband
National ‘stop sell’ date
September 2023 has been announced as the national ‘stop sell’ date – the point at which all exchanges will have reached their stop sell date. The project completes in 2025 as the last exchanges reach their shutdown date. The big analogue switch off project ends in 2025. From this date its all-IP or nothing.
What is happening and when?
Openreach will be switching off services at each exchange in turn. The first stage is to announce a “stop sell” date for each exchange. After this date no new affected services can be ordered and changes to existing services, no matter how minor, cannot be made.
Two years after the stop sell date all services cease at that exchange.
The rollout of the new all fibre (FTTP) network is speeding up with many areas already connected, communications from OpenReach are poor so it might happen far sooner than you expect, you can take action now in preparation.
Our role
Ensure that our customers are fully aware of the impact of the WLR switch off.
- Offer a choice of technologies to ensure every customer has a suitable service for the future for both connectivity and telephony.
- Ensure that every customer migrates to the new services as smoothly as possible
- Keep our customers informed of the elements of the project that impact them so they can make timely, informed decisions.
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