The Big Switch Off 2025

What is the 2025 Big Switch Off?

In favour of new services, BT Openreach intends to deactivate its PSTN and ISDN networks starting in 2023 and completely decommissioning them in 2025. As the legacy systems are phased out over the coming years, this change will take place gradually.

This modification is a part of a larger story that involves the government-driven upgrade of all UK communications infrastructure in order to make the country future-proof. You might be asking what steps you need to take because it is the biggest change the telecom and communications sector has witnessed in the past 30 years and likely since you started your business.

Simply put, it’s time to invest in VoIP, otherwise known as Voice over Internet Protocol. VoIP works over the internet and allows for fast voice and video calls at far cheaper rates. The traditional landline telephone network in the UK is known as PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). Since 1876, this has been a network of analogue copper lines allowing for telecommunication. Although it has since been improved upon and updated, the system is still quite outdated and unsuitable for the demands of the digital age. The PTSN network has gained capabilities, including the first wave of digital broadband lines in the 1980s. ISDN (or Integrated Services Digital Network) lines are what these are.

With these being slowly decommissioned to make room for a digital expansion, your business needs to be prepared and needs to have the systems in place to make switching easy, efficient and to ensure it causes minimal disruption to your business. VoIP is the modern solution to this issue and something you are probably fairly familiar with, even if you don’t recognise it by name.

2.4 million UK businesses still use ISDN lines for their telecoms hence they are not prepared for the switch off. The following actions can be taken by enterprises to future-proof their systems:

Make sure your internet connection is dependable and powerful, preferably full fibre. If not, now might be a good time to consider upgrading.
Learn when your contract expires. This will provide a general timeline for when to plan to make the changeover. It’ll also allow you to prepare for the switch and review whether you want to stay with your current provider (assuming they offer a VoIP upgrade) or if you are better off switching to a new company. It gives you both time to think about your next move as well as bargaining power for your next business mobile contract.

Simply renewing your present contract out of convenience is not a good idea. In the long term, switching now will save time and money.

Purchases of out-of-date hardware, such as desk phones and phone lines, should be avoided because they will soon become unusable. If a desk phone breaks, try and replace it with a digital mobile phone setup. This will allow you to minimise disruption, it also can save your company resources and allow you to use your current technology to its max.

The Big Switch Off 2025 is going to change how many companies do their business but this should be welcomed rather than feared. It gives your business the opportunity to expand and refresh their current technology as well as experiment with new technologies such as VoIP. VoIP also has various benefits over the current landline network which we will discuss in our next article. For now, remember to prepare for 2025 now as the deadline is starting in 2023 so the quicker you are upgraded, the easier it will be and the bigger the head start you will gain.