All-IP networks: time to put your house in order

Dom Norton at Spitfire Network Services argues that, despite the warnings, businesses are still too slow to start the process of switching over to all-IP

Amid all the miserable headlines concerning energy prices, inflation and interest rate rises you might not want to be thinking about technology challenges. However, there is no escaping the fact that the SME sector appears to be ignoring the rather large telco elephant in the room - the analogue and ISDN Switch-Off, 2025.

The Switch-Off that we are referring to here relates to the end of all legacy analogue and ISDN telephone networks here in the UK. Having been the mainstay for nearly 150 years, the UK’s copper telephone network is no longer a viable option as we consider the infrastructure of the future - in essence, a UK fibre network with all-IP traffic.

Many UK businesses will still be relying on analogue telephone services that use copper cable. The telephone handsets in the office may be connected to your phone system (PBX) or directly to a BT telephone line using wall sockets. Copper cables then run from your office to the local telephone exchange, with calls thereafter routed to their terminal destination via the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).

It is not just the telephones that you can see on desks either. Lift lines, building access intercoms and other services such as alarm systems all use these lines as well. Then there is the vast majority of broadband circuits, which rely on a telephone line to deliver your Internet service.

So, with the analogue network approaching the end of its useful life, Openreach has already served notice that it will be switching off analogue PSTN and ISDN telephone services in 2025. It is very important that businesses heed this notice and take the time to understand how the proposed switch-off will impact day-to-day operations and make the necessary arrangements in preparation for the UK all-IP fibre network.

Somehow though, the message doesn’t seem to be filtering through to the business world.

Indeed, our own research has highlighted a specific problem relating to hybrid and remote workers with respect to the replacement of legacy services. When we conducted our survey only last year, it became painfully clear that UK SMEs hadn’t considered the impact of the switch-off with respect to employees working remotely.

Specifically, our survey revealed that 66% of SMEs hadn’t considered how the productivity of employees working remotely could be impaired by the elimination of these services. A very high proportion when you consider the adoption rates of hybrid working amongst businesses all over the UK.

So, what could be driving this apparent lack of action on behalf of SMEs? Are we witnessing the hangover from Covid-19? This certainly caused untold disruption for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Did the demands caused by the pandemic force businesses to prioritise accordingly, pushing the Switch-Off further down the to-do-list?

Perhaps. Or is it that we seem to be embroiled in another patch of great uncertainty - massive increases in energy prices, rampant inflation, rising interest rates and skyrocketing national debt. It is easy to see how businesses could be overlooking the Switch-Off in the face of so much current upheaval. Or it could just be good old-fashioned procrastination - after all, 2025 is a long way off so I don’t need to get moving on this just yet.

But maybe the biggest culprit here, a classic case of mixed messaging, has come from Openreach themselves who have now temporarily halted plans to replace residential phone lines with broadband connected VoIP ones, in the wake of concerns highlighted by the media.

With some landlines already ripped out in favour of fibre-optic cables, some customers were unable to call 999 during stormy weather earlier this year. In light of the ensuing public outcry (especially concerning the elderly and vulnerable), Openreach has now put switch-off plans on hold for consumers, as customers using the new broadband phones were unable to call for help when their power went out, with no internet access during two separate storms.

Nonetheless, as far as businesses are concerned nothing has changed. Fibre roll-out and the Switch-Off target remains the same. On this basis businesses need to focus on preparing for the move to all-IP. Getting ready now will help to avoid the disruption caused by waiting too long to switch. If you wait till the last minute, you will undoubtedly form part of a huge rush that will overwhelm the process. Start the ball rolling now and avoid the stress and panic of tardy decision-making.

If you consider switching over now as part of a broader digital transformation journey then you put your business ahead of the curve, perhaps enjoying a competitive edge over your competitors to boot. Don’t let the Switch-Off be something to cause your business stress - make the smart move and get the ball rolling today.

Dom Norton is Sales Director at Spitfire Network Services Ltd

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com