The PSTN Switch off Clock is Ticking

The clock is ticking on the traditional telephone system albeit slower than it was after Openreachs announcement of a delay to the switch off of the traditional PSTN phone network.

With a new date of January 2027 for the switch off, if your business is still relying on copper-based or ISDN phone lines, it’s time to look at that digital upgrade.

Switch off updates

• The PSTN switch off is delayed: Despite the sales practices of some telecoms companies Openreach have confirmed the switch of date for their PSTN and ISDN network is now Jan 2027 rather than the original planned date of Dec 2025.
• The availability gap: Around a million UK businesses could benefit from full fibre right now, but many are either hesitant to make the move or their existing provider hasn’t advised them they can make the move. Anthony Temperton of KAT explains, “Over the last 6 months we have seen an increase in businesses who are connected to large national providers, such as OneCom or BT who havent advised their clients they can connect to full fibre. Not only are these businesses missing out on faster more stable connectivity but we are finding the new fibre connection would be a lower cost than their existing connection!”
• The rapid rollout: Openreach is rolling out their new full fibre network at quite a pace, with approximately 1,000,000 new premises added per quarter! If full fibre isn’t in your area yet, it may be soon so check with us at KAT for network updates.
• Reliability boost: Full fibre boasts significantly fewer faults than outdated copper connections. At KAT we see 80% less fibre related faults than traditional copper based broadband which translates to fewer frustrating service interruptions, less costly downtime and potentially less lost revenue.

The voice advantage

Navigating the Openreach switch-off is about more than just maintaining your phone service. Replacing your copper phone line is a critical part of the switch off process, but new all-IP based services bring additional benefits:

• KAT VoIP Solutions takes things a step further with powerful unified communications that cater from one to infinite lines, with the flexibility, scalability, powerful collaboration, ‘take-your-calls-anywhere’, management features and much, much more that modern growing businesses demand.

If you’re interested in the ultimate business voice solution, find out more here.

Upgrade your connectivity, and futureproof your business

If you haven’t already upgraded, the switch off will, by necessity, mean that your business needs a more modern broadband connection. Look on your bill for terms such as ADSL and FTTC. These services are now discontinued. Newer business broadband options like full fibre or SoGEA offer significant advantages over traditional copper-based services:

• Blazing speeds upto 1600mbps: Support bandwidth-intensive applications, cloud services, VoIP, video calling and seamless business collaboration.
• Enhanced reliability: Experience fewer outages and faster resolution times, minimising downtime for your business and lost business revenue.
• Future proofing: Ensure your business has the scalable connectivity it needs to thrive for years to come. All KAT business broadband solutions are available on rolling 30 day agreements meaning you can adjust your required speed to match your business requirements.

To find out more about our business broadband solutions visit our dedicated broadband page.

Advice to businesses: now’s the time to act

Before you make the move ahead of the PSTN switch off, we recommend a few steps for your business to follow to ensure a smooth transition:

• Properly prepare: Start by understanding the switch-off deadline and what it means for your business. This is not an overnight transition, and careful planning will ensure a smooth changeover with minimal disruption for your phone and broadband services.
• Tech audit: The switch off impacts more than just phone lines and broadband. Alarm lines, lift phones, card machines, fax lines, healthcare lines are all impacted by the switch off.
• Don’t delay: The closer the deadline, the greater the rush. Don’t use the delay of the switch off date delay your decisions. Use the extra 12 months to research solutions properly. Don’t do as many did during the pandemic and rush into long term agreements for solutions not approproate to their business. Also leaving things last minute could lead to longer wait times for installations, stock issues of new equipment such as routers and VoIP phones and an increased risk of unforeseen issues impacting your business.
• Protect yourself from price rises: Despite delaying the official switch off date to January 2027 Openreach still want you to move to fibre and voip if you are able to do so. Expect price rises on pstn phone lines and discontinued broadband services, and throttling of broadband speed on old technologies
• Don’t lose your number: For many businesses, keeping an existing contact number can be essential for brand recognition and customer convenience. Remember no action could mean you losing your business phone number no matter how long you have had it.

Is your business switch off ready? To find out more about the PSTN switch off and what you need to do now contact our team via phone or whatsapp to 01302260195 or email us on enquiries@katcommunications.co.uk