A survey of 400 UK-based SME businesses, which was conducted by ISP Spitfire during March 2021, has found that nearly half (46%) of firms have no idea that their existing analogue phone and ISDN services will be switched-off completely by December 2025.
The “Switch On to the Switch Off” survey also highlighted that 83% of businesses have no visibility of when their services will be switched off, and over three quarters (77%) haven’t prepared for the disruption the switch-off of services may cause.
Openreach has already begun the gradual migration of traditional voice (PSTN / POTS) services to all-IP (VoIP, Cloud PBX etc.) technologies (here), which is due to complete by December 2025 and is occurring on copper lines (e.g. SOGEA). In other words, future phone services will need to connect over your broadband service (via a router, etc.) instead of a handset plugging directly into the old wall socket.
Meanwhile, most people switching from copper to Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband lines will also need to adopt digital voice style services. Admittedly, some people are still using transition products that mix analogue phone lines with FTTP lines, but the copper side of that will eventually also need to make the transition.
Both Openreach and various ISPs are currently in the process of trying to raise awareness about the switch so that both homes and businesses are aware of how things will change. Openreach has also launched the semi-related “Call Waiting List” campaign (here) and added new sections to their website to help.
In terms of the survey itself, we should highlight that not every provider uses Openreach’s network, and it’s thus unclear how many of those respondents might be at risk of confusion because they’re already on an IP based phone solution from a different network (e.g. Virgin Media).
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