The BT Openreach PSTN Switch Off

What's the PSTN and ISDN Switch-Off? 

The Public Switch Telephone Network is getting older and will be ending its life cycle in December 2025. Openreach products are supported by the PSTN. Communication Providers, (CPs), purchase these products at regulated prices and sell them to consumers and businesses. These packages include line rental, broadband, and call package deals. These include: Wholesale Line Rental, (WLR), and Integrated Services Digital Network). 

ISDN2 allows you to have either 2 or 8 ISDN channels. ISDN30 is available for larger businesses. It allows you to have up to 30 ISDN channels per service. One ISDN channel can provide 1 concurrent call to a customer. Traditional telephony will cease to be available at the end of December 2025, which includes fixed lines as well as services in the Public Switch Telephone Network. 

Why will Openreach end its PSTN and ISDN networks in December 2025, 

The Public Switch Telephone Network is also known as traditional telephony. It allows calls to be made via copper telephone lines or fibre telephone lines using analogue signal sling. The PSTN evolved over the last 10 years to accommodate the evolution to a nearly entirely digital network that uses digital technology. In the future, there will be no need for traditional fixed-analogue fixed line telephony users to use fixed-analogue services. Traditional fixed lines and calls will also cease to exist. Openreach's priority is to keep a high-availability fibre first network. As a result, their legacy infrastructure and equipment that serves the PSTN are becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. 

Which other lines and services will be affected by the 2025 closing? 

WLR, ISDN2 & ISDN30, Local Loop Unbundling, Shared Metallic Path Facilities, (LLUSMPF), Narrowband line share, and classic products are all supported by the pstn switch off. Providers often mention these products when they discuss the PSTN Withdrawal. However, most providers neglect to mention connectivity products like Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber lines (ADSL Broadband) and Fibre To the Cabinet (FTTC Broadband), which will impact the WLR End of Life project. The reason is that the underlying product line is being withdrawn and there is no underlying WLR phone service to support broadband. 

Will Openreach offer the PSTN replacement products or services? 

Openreach was established in 2006 by British Telecom (BT), and the Office of Communications (Ofcom). The agreement provided equal access to the UK's telephony networks. Communication Providers (CPs), through their WLR (including ISDN telephone products), were able to offer their own telephone service at a fair and regulated price. Openreach's priorities have changed as technology has advanced and telephone services are now available over Voice Over Internet Protocol. Openreach is now focusing on building the fibre network, and will not offer the high-quality VoIP lines required to provide voice. 

Openreach products are now a Single Order (SO), variant of ADSL and Fibre broadband services. These products will be known as Single Order Generic Ethernet Access, which is Openreach’s Broadband-only FTTC replacement. Openreach's broadband-only ADSL replacement will be the Single Order Transition Access Product (SOTAP). It will be available in areas that don't have fibre. These broadband services are expensive and can only be purchased through communications providers like Digital Wholesale Solutions. These Single Order (SO), broadband products will not have voice over the phone line or dial tone. This means that the CP will need some type of VOIP service such as a Hosted PBX license or Session Initiation Protocols (SIP Trunking). This would replace the ISDN or WLR telephone lines. 

When and how will Openreach begin withdrawing services? 

Openreach is yet to confirm their withdrawal process for ISDN and WLR telephony products. The strategy of Openreach for UK-wide withdrawal is not yet clear. This includes whether it will be at the exchange level, in a geographical area, or at the premise technology availability. Openreach has begun to trail withdrawals in two exchanges. The first started as early as September 2019. Openreach expects to notify CPs of a stop sale in their Salisbury Exchange (Wiltshire) by this date. This is the Openreach Full Fibre Trial. It is the first of two Openreach Trial Exchanges. WLR and ISDN will be fully withdrawn by this exchange by December 2022. Mildenhall Exchange will be the second exchange. The first Single Order (SO), trial will begin in January 2020. The exchange will also focus on the complete withdrawal of services by December 2022, even if there is no fiber available. The Mildenhall Exchange will replace premises that were served by SOGEA or SOTAP products. Communication providers will also need to offer an over-the-top VoIP replacement service, such as a hosted IP PBX license or SIP Trunking. 

Will new fiber products be more costly than WLR? 

This concern has been raised by many providers. Consumers can buy a line to make and receive calls for as low as PS10 to PS15. A full Fibre to the Premise service (FTTP), can cost as much as PS50 per month. This is an increase that could be considered significant for customers who just want to have their voice heard. A low bandwidth option is available for customers who only need to speak on their lines but don't require broadband. However, very little information has been published. 

What happens to alarm lines, payment terminals, and special line rental services? 

All services affected by the closure of the Public Switch Telephone Network must be tested using new IP technology and SO products. Equipment manufacturers must test alarm line companies, traffic light systems and payphone lines, as well as emergency pendants, dialysis devices, telemetry devices, and traffic light systems. Openreach has the ability to provide equipment testing facilities that can be used to test each line configuration. 

What does the 2023 stop sell date mean for me? 

Open reach will stop selling new supply WLR from September 2023. We need to clarify what is meant by "new WLR" when we refer to it. This could include a transfer of CP to another CP. This is part of the nationwide PSTN WLR/ISDN Withdrawal. It means that there will no new installations of WLR or ISDN lines, including conversions from WLR Lines to ISDN Lines, increased ISDN channels, changes of address, and start of a stopped line. Consumer rights will not be affected by this change. Line transfers will be accepted provided that the installation is unchanged when the line is moved from one provider to the other. With the exception of two trial exchanges where restrictions may apply, all calling and network features such as caller display and presentation number, as well as features to prevent nuisance calls like anonymous call rejection will be permitted.

 

Will Open reach meet December 2025 Deadline 

Open reach insists that the December 2025 deadline has been set in stone. Public Switch Telephone Network line (PSTN), if they have not migrated to alternate services by April 2025, will be deemed Orphaned assets. Open reach plans to work with CPs in order to identify these customers and migrate them to other products before the December 2025 deadline. This will ensure that no customer is left without service. While the exact actions required are still being defined, the difficulties in identifying the user of the line and in some cases the end customer are still unknown. However, Open reach intends to work with CPs to identify and migrate these customers to alternative products by the December 2025 deadline. Customers will also be affected if they do not move within the time frame.