By January 2027, the foundation of Britain’s telecommunications network will be shut down entirely, and this change affects far more than telephones and dial-up internet.
That higher-level process is already beginning, according to BT, and companies that have yet to set up their transition plan should take steps to ensure that their existing business infrastructure is ready for the switch before the network is shut off entirely by the start of next year.
The rest of this year, therefore, is critical for businesses that manage older buildings and older telecoms infrastructure to audit their needs and get in touch with specialists who can help them make the switchover.
What you need to do as a business may differ from others depending on your circumstances, and to explain why, it is important to explain what is being switched over and what will be lost as a consequence.
What Is The Digital Switchover?
A digital switchover is when an older, analogue system is switched off and replaced with a newer, more reliable, more capable digital system.
In the UK, the most famous example of this was the digital switchover from analogue to digital terrestrial television. This allowed the entire signal band devoted to television in the UK to be dedicated to digital signals, allowing for more channels, higher quality broadcasts and greater reliability as compared to the five channels available via analogue.
In telecoms, the digital switchover will consist of turning off the two oldest legacy platforms that made up the landline network: the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN).
Despite the name, ISDN relied on the analogue PSTN in order to deliver digital networked services, and once the latter is turned off, the former will no longer work.
What Will The Digital Switchover Affect?
Much like how the television digital switchover also led to the end of Teletext and a number of services that relied on analogue terrestrial broadcasts, the digital switchover of telecoms will affect not only some of the more obvious aspects of your networks but also some rather more unexpected elements.
The obvious changes will be seen with landline telephones, which will switch from PSTN to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
Some companies have already made the transition, with many desk phones and so-called internet phones already designed to be used over IP rather than through a traditional landline.
Whilst dial-up internet and ADSL-based broadband internet have long been superseded by broadband and fibre optic internet lines, some legacy hardware relies on an ISDN connection to work, some of which are more surprising than you may think.
Emergency Lift Services
One of the biggest and most concerning of these is the emergency telephones used in lifts.
These phones, often integrated into the system itself, allow for communication with emergency services if, for example, the electricity supply powering them goes out.
What allows this to be the case is an unusual quirk of the old PSTN system: the network of analogue pulses generates enough electricity for the phone to work without power, enabling it to work as a failsafe.
Once the network is switched off, these emergency phones will stop working entirely, but a replacement using VoIP technology would not work in the same circumstances.
This means that not only do companies with older lift systems have to take out and swap the emergency call systems, but these new systems will need to be equipped with battery backup systems that allow for at least a few hours of use.
Security Alarms And Access Control Systems
Many older alarms and door control systems were designed under the assumption that PSTN would last forever; after all, it had been used in one form or another since the development of the telegraph.
However, with the shutdown of PSTN imminent, these systems will need to be replaced with updated security systems in order to continue working. Once it is shut off, it will revert to either fail-safe (automatically opening) or fail-secure (automatically locking).
Card Payment Terminals
Some older card payment terminals still use PSTN to transmit payment information, and these will need to be switched over to new, upgraded models.
What Do You Need To Do To Prepare For The Digital Switchover?
- Do a full audit of the buildings you operate in and all of the systems that are connected to copper lines.
- Look for hidden dependencies with the help of facilities managers, veteran members of staff and landlords.
- Examine how these systems can be replaced with future-proof alternatives. Many like-for-like replacements are available which use either fibre optics, mobile networks or hybrid internet-of-things technologies.
It is also important to start planning now and act as soon as you are ready; the closer to the deadline, the more expensive upgrading will become, either due to the price of new equipment spiking or due to the increased costs of upgrading equipment quickly before the shutdown date.
