Way back in 2015 – which seems like a lifetime ago now, especially given recent events – BT announced that they will be switching off the PSTN and ISDN in 2025, marking the biggest change in the telecoms industry for over 30 years.
The Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) allows calls to be made over copper telephone lines and fibre telephone lines using analogue signalling and is known as “traditional telephony”.
As broadband services have increased in reliability and quality over the past 10 years, PSTN has evolved to support this change to an almost completely digital network using digital technology. This means there will no longer be a requirement for the majority of traditional fixed line telephony users for fixed-analogue services in the coming years and traditional fixed lines and calls will cease to exist.
The priority for Openreach moving forward, is to maintain a high availability fibre first network, as a result their legacy infrastructure and equipment serving the PSTN is now ageing and becoming more difficult to maintain. At the end of December 2025 traditional telephony, including fixed lines and services in the PSTN (ISDN2 and ISDN30) will be switched off and withdrawn from service.
What does this mean for your business?
This means the end of using traditional phone lines, and telecommunications will be entirely driven by VoIP. Businesses should start preparing for the future, and as an added bonus, moving away from the PSTN is cost-effective, which is why most businesses are making the switch now.
There are efficient and low cost VoIP solutions suitable for small and micro-sized business, which can include SIP trunks. If your business invests in SIP trunks, this will enable you to extend voice over IP (VoIP) telephony past your company’s firewall without needing an IP-PSTN gateway.
Businesses can also maximises their profitability and unleash the true potential of their business with a cloud solution.
Speak to Excel Communications as soon as possible if you are still using a traditional phone line. We can help future-proof your business and save you money.
Are there any benefits in switching now?
Yes, there are many benefits. As technology is constantly evolving, keeping up to date with this and improving efficiency is essential. Moving away from traditional telephone lines to our newer technology also brings a number of benefits and widens your capabilities.
- Save money with internet calls
- Call between sites/offices absolutely free
- Keep your existing phone numbers
- Automatically record your calls
- Display call statistics on a screen
- Route calls to the right users
- On hold marketing messaging
