News in the Channel - issue #19

PSTN SWITCH-OFF DELAY

Dominic Norton , director, Spitfire “Our message to customers is unchanged. Although this revised date buys more time and indeed may now seem some way off, the huge task to move to an all-IP future- proofed service remains. Customers should still aim to take action now, as the announcement only provides a one-year extension, and we are still likely to experience resource bottlenecks as the “Economic forecasts suggest that the UK will be in a slightly better place by 2026, which is when the revised switch-off date will need to be budgeted for – of course, if BT stick to the 2027 deadline - so that may give companies a chance to budget appropriately instead of rushing into a solution. “This obviously only applies to the organisations that knew the switch-off was coming. Study after study, as well as Jamie Snaddon , EMEA MD, 8x8 “A lot of organisations will be delighted at the news of the PSTN delay. So many organisations, from local authorities, housing associations and health trusts to micro-businesses, told us that they weren’t ready to switch over. “Now, you would think that 18 months or so would be plenty of time for most organisations to make a switch, but the reality is that time wasn’t the main factor here: it was cost. A lot of businesses are struggling in the current economic climate and having to find funding for a major digital transformation project like this was an issue that many didn’t have the capacity to deal with.

months go by. “Prices are also likely to continue to increase on the old network services for analogue, ISDN and broadband, with decent cost savings already available on their all-IP voice and fibre broadband alternatives, not to mention the other additional benefits including more flexible working.” though: who is going to foot the bill for the running costs of this legacy technology? The delay may not be the blessing that it seems because there is going to be a cost here. “For companies that can switch over earlier than 2027, it may make sense to do so as legacy technology only gets more expensive as time goes on. We’ve seen businesses save up to £500,000 over three- year periods when moving from legacy to cloud communications. Sometimes it is more expensive to do nothing and wait.” from what I hear on the ground, show that about 30% of businesses were completely unaware of the December 2025 cut-off date. With this new deadline, the industry, Ofcom and the Government, whomever that is post- election, need to work together to make this seamless and easy. The comms industry was trying hard and many of them came together for the Fit to Switch campaign. It’s not enough though: we will need Ofcom and the Government to be more involved. “There’s a question from the announcement of the switch-off delay

Jamie Snaddon

8x8.com

Dominic Norton

spitfire.co.uk

Louise Elliott , chief customer and operations officer, BeFibre “It's unfortunate that BT has delayed this initiative for another two years because it hasn’t been properly prepared. This was originally announced in October 2016 – eight years in the making. older analogue and copper connections. So, they’re only harming themselves and their customers by delaying this transition further. “The best way for customers to get the

Louise Elliott

speed and service they need, while avoiding future disruptions when BT reaches their 75% threshold, is to take control and switch to a fully digital provider.”

“Moving to digital technologies like VoIP and ultrafast broadband offers significant benefits and opportunities compared to BT’s

be-fibre.co.uk

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