SWITCH-OFF
Focussing on the Switch-off
With two years out, how is the rest of the industry preparing for the end of PSTN?
Partner events are usually a great way to take the temperature of the channel and see what the focus will be over the next 12 months. This year’s Nimans 2025 & Beyond event was no different, where the PSTN Switch-off was at the front of everyone’s mind. Those of you in the know will know that PSTN licences are now officially unavailable ahead of the complete switch-off in 2025. Despite this, many businesses are not ready for the great switch-off. In fact, according to findings from the ‘Switch Off Hesitancy’ survey commissioned by Spitfire Network Services in May, nearly half (43%) of UK SMBs are yet to begin making the switch to all-IP ahead of the 2025 analogue and ISDN Switch Off deadline. According to Stephen Warburton Managing Director, Consumer & Partner, Zen described progress so far as “slow” but added that there have been some extenuating circumstances that have affected the rollout. “I think it’s fair to say it’s been a pretty slow start. There has been lots of talk but not quite enough traction; but for good reason. In that time we have been dealing with COVID, changing economic conditions, and there’s always an element of ‘we’ve got bigger fish to fry’ because it’s one or two years away.
“We are seeing transitions start to accelerate in the last couple of years, but we still have a long way to go. There are 17 million WLR Networks across both consumer and business customers still to move, and we’ve got 15 million broadband lines left to migrate. “To give you some context, if you take the last quarterly trajectory [BT PLC Q4 FY23], and continue the current trend forward, we get to December 2027. As it stands, we overshoot by two years, so there’s clearly more work to do, to kind of get on the right trajectory to get those dates.” Perspective Overshooting a brief by two years may sound like a catastrophe, and the potential effects of businesses not being prepared will end in a lot of disruption. Yet, Nick Birtwistle, CEO, Booms Coms said that the UK market is full of opportunity at the moment. “Looking at the UK market, it’s fair to say we are on the cusp of a massive opportunity that has been presented, by and large, by two things. We, as a business and as an industry, have been talking about the great ISTN switch-off for many years but it is here now. “The other aspect, of course, is the world has changed. With hybrid working, people now need remote connectivity, they need a flexible solution. Therefore they need a solution that delivers on the unified communications promise, starts to aggregate together and delivers on the features that customers need, which is support for wider software and wider applications. So there’s a real real opportunity ahead of everyone in the UK.” Although this is an opportunity for connectivity providers, Birtwistle said that there is a danger that there will be a “mad panic rush” when the lines get cut at the end of 2025, drawing parallels to the digital switchover for television.
Stephen Warburton Managing Director, Consumer & Partner
zen.co.uk
I think it’s fair to say it’s been a pretty slow start. There has been lots of talk but not quite enough traction; but for good reason.
CONTINUED
ucadvanced.com
43
Powered by FlippingBook