PSTN Switch Off Dates?

Hi. Is there a list anywhere of dates that PSTN will be switched off in certain areas? Everything I've found just states "by the end of 2025", but can't imagine the whole country will go off on 31st December 2025. Is there a website/document detailing exchange/region dates at all? Thanks.

In reply to a post by derby13:

Hi. Is there a list anywhere of dates that PSTN will be switched off in certain areas? Everything I've found just states "by the end of 2025", but can't imagine the whole country will go off on 31st December 2025. Is there a website/document detailing exchange/region dates at all? Thanks.

If everything has been migrated it should be a non event, I don't believe its being done as a phased power-off.

I believe this is for the whole of the country because PSTN switch off will occur regardless of whether exchanges achieve large FTTP coverage or not by December 2025.

We are all going to migrate to Digital Voice service and that will happen even in the place of copper as we can take an FTTC (SOGEA) service without analogue phone.

Just as I'm on BT FTTC with Digital Voice and I don't have Openreach FTTP available. DV will simply become the new default for all Openreach ISPs with or without FTTP service.

Plus many people who naturally upgrade to an Altnet FTTP network will abandon the analogue phone service anyway. They won't want to have to pay for 2 services separately, it's not rational. Some will switch to new Voice Over IP phone service, which of-course will naturally be cheaper than an analogue phone service.

And it’s only called DV on BT owned ISPs. Others have their own name, eg Sky Talk or don’t provide a voice service, eg Plusnet.

it more of a push to get people on a VOIP service, you will see a major push in 2025, there is still an issue with people who require a landling for emergencey. technicaly some analouge line could be arround untill 2030 (LLU), there are roumers it will get pushed to 2026, but my undeerstanding is BT wil announce the time frame for an excahge to close.

there is no way to move or get a new copperservice installed since september 2023

Edited by copex (Sun 25-Feb-24 20:55:58)

You can still get a copper service installed if that is all that is available.
For example one of my customers can still only get ADSL from Openreach.
If I wanted to install a new connection it would need a copper line as no one supplies SoADSL yet.

Thanks
Dan

In reply to a post by danielhyde:

You can still get a copper service installed if that is all that is available.

Copper for data isn't going for YEARS; but you won't get a WLR voice service over the copper, if you want a phone line it will be VoIP at the router.

pstn means voice service not adsl or vdsl2.

Put it very simply you will not have a dial tone for analogue voice post 2025.

I know that but currently you can't order ADSL without a regular PSTN line.
There is a replacement product that is the ADSL version of SoGEA called SoADSL but you can't order it yet.

Thanks
Dan

In reply to a post by danielhyde:

There is a replacement product that is the ADSL version of SoGEA called SoADSL but you can't order it yet.

Also known as SOTAP.

I believe you can still order a copper voice service if on LLU (according to my ISP anyway, not actually tested it)

Yup this doesn't apply to LLU. Even though they will be pushed to move away from it

I imagine there will be a split amongst the LLU providers between those who are being even more aggressive than BT to get people off analogue voice, and those who see an opportunity to sweat their investment for as long as possible by offering PSTN services to customers at an ever increasing monthly price because they are desperate to keep their lifts connected to an emergency phone.

In reply to a post by jpm:

and those who see an opportunity to sweat their investment for as long as possible by offering PSTN services to customers at an ever increasing monthly price because they are desperate to keep their lifts connected to an emergency phone.

This will sadly happen. You talk to 10 people in the street who have a landline and i suspect 7/10 will not even have heard of whats happening next year.

In reply to a post by copex:

there is no way to move or get a new copperservice installed since september 2023

That is definitely not the case here (Grange over Sands) "copper" was the only option we had when getting a new line recently. Fibre wasn't available at all (local cabinet full for FTTC) and FTTP not available from the exchange.

tbf i only know as i follow tech sites and sites like this. Without them im not sure i would know

In reply to a post by jpm:

I imagine there will be a split amongst the LLU providers

Who is left? You’ve got TalkTalk and Sky and Openreach in my local exchange. Sky focus on FTTC/FTTP, so perhaps its just TalkTalk whom are running exchange based LLU PSTN ?

And if/when Openreach shutdown the main exchange based PSTN, who knows if the LLU PSTN will still work if it was designed to use an Openreach interface in the same exchange?

Edited by jchamier (Mon 26-Feb-24 19:28:10)

In reply to a post by bobble_bob:

tbf i only know as i follow tech sites and sites like this. Without them im not sure i would know

I would echo that and if I had fttp years ago, i would be on tbb much so that info would have passed me by untill it hit the bbc/sky news. The tech news i normally cover has little to do with telecoms

AFAIK MPF isn't being withdrawn as a product until the exchanges start to close down, so people like TalkTalk Wholesale can get another five years out of it.

https://wholesale.talktalk.co.uk/resources/news-insi...

End customers don't *really* need to know much about PSTN closing, their provider should be handling it all for them and abstracting the complicated bits away.

In reply to a post by jpm:

AFAIK MPF isn't being withdrawn as a product until the exchanges start to close down, so people like TalkTalk Wholesale can get another five years out of it.

https://wholesale.talktalk.co.uk/resources/news-insi...

End customers don't *really* need to know much about PSTN closing, their provider should be handling it all for them and abstracting the complicated bits away.

Exchange closures will be done a exchange by exchange basis. Good Service providers would do that, bad ones not so much

i guess you fall under the "Except where stop sell policy permits or exceptions apply" as the only service avable was adsl.

Cumbria has a FTTP compleasion by the end of 2026 ( the last time i checked )

In reply to a post by jpm:

End customers don't *really* need to know much about PSTN closing, their provider should be handling it all for them and abstracting the complicated bits away.
L

should I agree. are they though ? Plusnet have not been in touch yet with two of my friends whom both have PSTN WLR!

In reply to a post by Taras:

Exchange closures will be done a exchange by exchange basis. Good Service providers would do that, bad ones not so much

Exchange closures are not happening concurrently with PSTN switch-off though.

There is a plan to close 100 exchanges by 2030, with an initial trial of five exchanges, but that's now dropped down to just three:

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2023/11/openre...

Apart from PSTN switch-off there's a whole load of other stuff that needs to happen before an exchange is closed, including getting all the LLU providers out, and all the leased lines which go through it.

Edited by candlerb (Tue 27-Feb-24 03:50:32)

In reply to a post by candlerb:

In reply to a post by Taras:

Exchange closures will be done a exchange by exchange basis. Good Service providers would do that, bad ones not so much

Exchange closures are not happening concurrently with PSTN switch-off though.

of course, you need every single service that fed through the exchange either rerouted, decommissioned or terminated before an exchange gets closed. Sorry it looks upon re-reading my reply that the second sentence was some how referring to the exchange closures.

In reply to a post by candlerb:

There is a plan to close 100 exchanges by 2030, with an initial trial of five exchanges, but that's now dropped down to just three:

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2023/11/openre...

semi surprising that its down to 3 test exchanges .

In reply to a post by candlerb:

Apart from PSTN switch-off there's a whole load of other stuff that needs to happen before an exchange is closed, including getting all the LLU providers out, and all the leased lines which go through it.

yup see my reply earlier 😂