Plusnet and the post-PSTN future - 'digital voice' / VOIP

Out of curiosity, is there any news about Plusnet and how it's going to handle their post-PSTN future?

I'd guess they will follow a similar path to their parent, BT, in offering a 'digital (IP) voice' type service, using rebadged BT Home Hub kit.

But given that their FTTP launch seems to have suffered delays, I'd also guess this won't be happening immenently!

They just launched a rebadged BT Smart Hub 2 complete with VOIP port.
FTTP with VOIP coming in the coming months.

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

They just launched a rebadged BT Smart Hub 2 complete with VOIP port.
FTTP with VOIP coming in the coming months.

Thanks, yes if I'd looked a bit harder I would have seen the thread on this board about Plusnet's new Hub Two router (the aforementioned BT Smart Hub 2 with a rebadge).

Given that BT's own-brand retail offerings seem to be ahead of the game in the switch over to VOIP, I wonder if Plusnet might end up moving pretty quickly on this front too.

In reply to a post by binary:

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

They just launched a rebadged BT Smart Hub 2 complete with VOIP port.
FTTP with VOIP coming in the coming months.

Thanks, yes if I'd looked a bit harder I would have seen the thread on this board about Plusnet's new Hub Two router (the aforementioned BT Smart Hub 2 with a rebadge).

Given that BT's own-brand retail offerings seem to be ahead of the game in the switch over to VOIP, I wonder if Plusnet might end up moving pretty quickly on this front too.

It's all back to front. Ofcom need to get their [censored] in gear, and mandate that before you're forced to accept proprietary 'Digital Voice' solutions from the major ISPs, you have the ability to port away your landline number to your own choice of VoIP supplier (without it killing the broadband account !)

In reply to a post by broadbandjockey:

It's all back to front. Ofcom need to get their [censored] in gear, and mandate that before you're forced to accept proprietary 'Digital Voice' solutions from the major ISPs, you have the ability to port away your landline number to your own choice of VoIP supplier (without it killing the broadband account !)

+1

Edit: Maybe worth posting as an Opening Post in the General Broadband Chatter forum?

Edited by pluralist (Tue 02-Nov-21 19:10:46)

In reply to a post by broadbandjockey:

It's all back to front. Ofcom need to get their [censored] in gear, and mandate that before you're forced to accept proprietary 'Digital Voice' solutions from the major ISPs, you have the ability to port away your landline number to your own choice of VoIP supplier (without it killing the broadband account !)

I agree - furthermore I'm far from convinced that even now there's a reliable and hassle-free path in terms of porting your 'landline number' from one ISP which has switched you to their 'Digital Voice' / VOIP service over to another ISP which wants to put you on their own such service.

I've read of Sky Broadband customers who wish to change to a different provider having to negotiate extensively with Sky's customer services to get their landline reverted from Sky's 'Internet Calling' service back to a 'traditional' PSTN service, all in order to allow their number to then be ported to their new provider.

It seems like in the near future there's a great potential for anti-competitive lock-in simply for either the inability to port a number, or the lack of confidence that said number will be successfully ported to a new provider.

That's on top of the potential equipment tie-in, with customers potentially investing in a whole ecosystem of proprietary (or at least vendor locked) DECT cordless phones that will only work with one provider.

Is it not posssible to just order a new FTTP broadband service which may come with its own digital voice service and then when that is working port the number from the old DSL service to a VOIP provider thereby terminating the DSL service?

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

Is it not posssible to just order a new FTTP broadband service which may come with its own digital voice service and then when that is working port the number from the old DSL service to a VOIP provider thereby terminating the DSL service?

Yes, but an awful lot of people aren't served by FTTP yet. And many of those with FTTC will see their landline service migrated over by their provider to that provider's own proprietary 'Digital Voice' / VOIP system before FTTP becomes available at their address.

So for those who want to port their landline number to a VOIP provider, at present they either need to:

(1) Get a new copper line installed for a new DSL broadband connection, then port the old landline number to a VOIP provider which will in turn cease any associated broadband service on the old line, or...

(2) Go through the above process but instead substitute a temporary mobile broadband service between the landline being ceased after the port away of the number to a VOIP provider, and the same copper cabling then being reused with a new DSL broadband service ordered with a new contract.

The second option would avoid the extra installation costsk,and a property having a second copper line installed only for both lines to be used for a short crossover period. It might well involve the expense of purchasing a 4G/5G mobile broadband router in order to keep the household connected, obviously alongside a mobile broadband plan.

I'm in two minds. I gave up quoting our landline number years ago, and 90+% of received calls are now scams. It may just be easier to set up a new VoIP number, and pass that on to the handful of <cough> Octogenarians and Nonagenarians that ring us on the landline.

On the other hand I am annoyed it may be a struggle to keep hold of our 22 year old number (mind you, I've had my mobile number for even longer !)