The digital telecoms switchover is currently being undertaken, and the effects have been and will continue to be remarkably dependent on how reliant your business is on older systems.
If you have recently upgraded your infrastructure or are planning to switch your utilities soon, there is a chance that you have already upgraded without really noticing much of a difference or disruption.
The benefits of moving away from the decades-old public switched telephone network service (PSTN) to a new service based on voice over internet protocol (VoIP) are significant, and most businesses will either feel the benefit or have already done so.
However, if you have older systems reliant on either PSTN itself or all of the systems added onto it later, it could lead to more significant disruptions, and whilst the best time to audit your systems was when the switchover was announced, the next best time is now.
With that in mind, which services, which businesses and which people will be affected by the switchover the most? The answer involves far more than landlines, and the best place to start is to understand exactly what is being switched off.
What Is Being Switched Off Because Of The Digital Switchover?
By 31st January 2027, all national analogue telecommunications services will be switched off. According to BT, the overseers of the network and by extension the digital switchover, this includes:
- The Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), the international analogue telephone system.
- The Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), a digital expansion of the PSTN that allows for data, voice, video, and other digital network services to be transmitted over the analogue copper wires. Dial-up modems used ISDN to function.
- The Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), a type of broadband internet service that uses existing telephone lines to provide higher-speed internet than conventional dial-up modems.
- The rest of the Wholesale Line Rental (WLR) network, which includes any other analogue services which piggyback off the PSTN.
As is likely evident from the wide range of services in this list, the digital switchover actually affects a lot more than conventional analogue landlines, and whilst many of the systems that would have been most affected have already been changed, there are a lot of technologies affected by the change.
What Will The Digital Switchover Affect?
Whilst the actual lines and technologies switched off are listed above, this may not entirely clarify how widely this can affect certain businesses, especially if they have not been diligent in auditing their technology and how such a fundamental switchover could affect them and their places of business.
The main changes caused by the digital switchover are:
- Analogue landlines that are not automatically switched over to VoIP solutions will no longer connect.
- Dial-up internet will no longer work.
- Older broadband internet packages reliant on landlines will no longer work.
These elements are unlikely to affect many people and even less likely to affect businesses unless they have particularly old switchboards and telephones.
However, the established nature of the technology means that a lot of vital technology is built into the PSTN in one way or another.
It is difficult to account for all of these systems, particularly ones that are relatively rare or have been depreciated, but there are far more than you might expect, and part of the reason the digital switchover has taken as long as it has is that the previous timescales put vulnerable customers at risk.
Here are some of the technologies affected most by the digital switchover:
Lift Emergency Systems
Passenger lifts are required by law to have an emergency telephone line that works in the event of a power cut or other emergency, which leaves people stranded in a lift with no electricity.
Mobile telephones do not work in lifts due to the makeshift Faraday cage they create, so the traditional solution was to use the PSTN system and the inherent electric charge it had to power an automatic dialler which contacted an emergency contact.
Whilst there are many advantages of VoIP technology, the biggest disadvantage, and a reason why a lot of PSTN technologies will simply stop working, is that the newer cabling and network solutions VoIP uses do not produce an electrical current.
This means lift operators need to replace their emergency phones with a new system consisting of a SIM card, access to the VoIP or cellular network and at least an hour of emergency battery life to maintain safety standards.
Older Security Systems
Many newer security cameras and sensors use a system based on the Internet of Things (IoT), which uses wireless internet connections to link various devices to each other.
However, other systems are wired up to the PSTN network to allow for the emergency services or security companies to be automatically contacted, and these systems will cease functioning once the PSTN is switched off.
Electronic Point Of Sales Services
An Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) system is any type of checkout, till and card payment system, but whilst many modern card machines already use the same internet connections as the digital switchover (and already have problems working in areas with poor signal), some older tills are wired to ISDN connections.
This means that, once the digital switchover happens, these tills will simply stop working and will need to be replaced.
Whilst for some retailers this is easy or has already been done, other companies have more integrated EPOS systems that are far more difficult to change.
Telecare
By far the biggest concern, and the one that has caused countless delays to the entire telecoms digital switchover, is a wide range of telecare systems.
Telecare and telehealth technologies include a range of monitors, sensors, detectors, messaging systems and personal alarms which allow carers and family members to know if a vulnerable person is in trouble and can provide aid.
Whilst the main communications providers in the UK have signed a PSTN Charter to avoid migrations that would leave vulnerable people without a telecare system.
This would affect care providers as well, who will need to make arrangements to ensure that any new telecare systems are working properly.
