The landline phone digital switch over

[FarTallKnight]

The landline phone digital switch over is being rolled out from around now to be completed by 2027. This only affects landlines. Look up the PSTN switch-off! The old technology that powers landline telephones in the UK will be switched off in 2025. Landline operators in the UK will switch every home phone in the UK to an internet-based connection instead of a traditional copper-wire landline

It's arguably the biggest social project since analogue television was retired some 10 years ago: the UK's telephone network is also going digital. The telecoms industry has even set a deadline that's backed by the UK government – the old copper network will be switched off at the end of 2025. These changes will affect everyone who has or still uses a landline and they'd like to keep using; soon these will only work via a broadband connection instead referred to as 'VoIP' (VoIP, in full is "Voice over Internet Protocol") PSTN stands for public switched telephone network – it's the copper wire phone network that has delivered analogue landline phone services for several decades inherited from the old post office. The plan is for it to be switched off at the end of 2025 and for all landline services to be digital.  Estonia and the Netherlands have already switched off their PSTNs, France, Germany and Japan are also in the process of winding theirs down. The demise of the PSTN is linked to the roll-out of full fibre broadband in the UK, although the two aren't on the same timeline. While phone services will no longer use the copper network by the end of 2025, the aim is for full fibre coverage to reach 85% in the same year and I believe 100% by 2027.

If you weren't aware of plans to switch off the PSTN (public switched telephone network), you aren't alone. When telecare providers (who look after elderly and vulnerable with telecare alarms) surveyed a representative sample of more than 2,000 UK adults in March 2021, they found that 91% were unaware that all phone lines would become digital by the end of 2025. Your landline provider will get in touch with you when it's close to the time for you to choose if you want to continue with a landline or not. 

Short and curlies of it is: if you don't use a landline you've no need to be concerned, if you do then you may need an adaptor to plug it directly into your router or a new phone especially as some DECT phones might no longer work (DECT = Digital European cordless telecommunications) 

one downside is once we've all moved to the new digital system, although your landline will mainly work as it always has, although there'll be some differences – for example, it won't work if there's a power cut unless you have a battery backup. It is said in the community that nearly all of us have mobiles of some sort and question "Is it the end of the line for landline phones?" even the familiar phone box in the street is under review as expensive and outdated as you can't plug one of them into a router! 40% of us have stopped using a landline phone altogether, 4 million ditched the landline in 2021 and while 95% of over-65-year-olds still cling to a traditional landline phone, most don't even use it, nearly half of under-25s don't even have a landline installed at all. 

Dinosaurs eventually die out!

[HenryQ]

I had a worrying experience last week. A few weeks ago, a VM technician visited to connect my land line to a new Router (which he brought with him). This went smoothly. But last week, there was an Internet outage, so I went to phone 150 from my landline - which of course was now DEAD, DEAD, as it needs an Internet connection.

I don't use a Smart phone, so had no way of looking up a real phone number for VM as I have only ever used the 150 short code.

People have always relied on land lines continuing to work during an outage (e.g. a power cut) - and I think quite a few will be unpleasantly surprised when they discover this essential safety feature is being quietly discontinued.

[FarTallKnight]

Case in point! There will be a small percentage that, like yourself will find it problematic if an outage occurs and not every one has a smart phone, indeed not everyone has a mobile phone, and not everyone even has internet.

I do think this percentage will be small and like I said earlier - it'll be treat as "tough luck me auld dinosaur, evolve or become extinct"      

[Yorkist]

Last information that I read stated that you had until the 5th September 2023 to change to another provider (probably this only applies to landlines) and that the analogue system to be switched off in December 2025.

The copper wiring will still be utilised after December 2025 otherwise every residential building would have to be cabled (or use the satellite system).  What I have been told is that their will be an adaptor sent out to the providers customers (hence, I guess the provider lock in of 5th September 2023 as understandably they will not be interested in supplying non-customers).  This adaptor will convert the analogue telephone tone (one can keep one's present phone) to a digital tone.  The 56kb/s limit of copper wire will not, I'm informed, be a real limit to the VOIP conversion as voice frequency is accommodated.  This is no different to using a modem from the 1980's onwards until DSL came along.  So, we will be getting a better ideal when our analogue2digital adaptors arrive and we plug in to our present socket.  <shrug>

[ptw99]

I haven't booked a technician and would like advice on whether I should.

Plugged in to my Virgin landline socket at present is an assembly of plugs/sockets that connects the telephone instrument on the wall nearby with extension leads into two other rooms. In those other rooms are extension telephones. The Virgin hub is in one of those rooms conveniently near an unused extension socket.

What I am hoping is that by unplugging from the landline socket and connecting the hub to the extension everything will just work. All the existing extensions and the phone on the wall near the old landline sockets will see the new VOIP connection.

Is this so? And do I even need to unplug from the old landline socket, which by then will be unused and presumably open circuit?

[goslow]

You can get VM to modify your phone wiring (free of charge) as part of the switchover process.

If you happen to have an existing phone socket next to the VM hub (and it is linked to the other phone sockets) then VM can do what you have described.

In this past topic

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Forum-Archive/HUB3-to-Master-socket-adaptor/m-p/4507007#M262932...

an adapter lead was used to connect the phone socket on the back of the hub into the adjacent telephone socket. This 'backfeeds' the phone connection from the hub into the telephone sockets and connects them to the hub.

VM often does this once the switchover is completed because it is advisable to disconnect the old incoming telephone cable from the street from the master socket so as to prevent the new telephone connection from the hub being fed back out into the street equipment via the old incoming telephone cable.

How successful the above method is might depend on the quality and reliability of your existing phone interconnections.

Also worth noting that the new connection from the hub has a REN of 3 (so typically 3 devices can run from the hub phone line). A conventional phone line has a REN of 4.

[HenryQ]

Yesterday, I had the same experience as reported above. Internet went down so I reached for my phone to dial 150. No dial tone, obviously - I had forgotten the VM chappie who called round earlier this year to disconnect me from the old "reliable-in-an-emergency" copper-wire connection to VM's new but stupid "dead-in-an-emergency" fibre-optic solution.

Cannot the clever children at VM provide a phone connection that still works when their Internet goes down?

[HenryQ]

Today, we had a power cut. No lights, no power to the fridge or anything. As ever, I reached for my land line (which always worked in previous outages), but the silly people at VM have discontinued the old, reliable, copper wire connection, We now have a fibre-optic phone line that immediately failed.

If VM's Internet connections will now be cut off with each and every outage, how are we supposed to be kept informed? It just seems like technological advancements are making things worse.