BT to shut down PSTN by 2025

[WaveyDipole]

Was anyone else aware of this?

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.ph...e-network.html

Progress I guess. I only became aware of this today. I live in a rural area and although I have FTTC for broadband, this still at least partially relies on the old PSTN copper network to provide a telephone service to the home. Will this be replaced with FTTP? Up until now it has apparently been too expensive to dig up roads and provide fibre to the home in many rural areas so I am curious where the funding is suddenly coming from?

I guess that since most of us have a mobile phone nowadays, we will be expected to rely on mobile network services in the event of a power outage?

[paulsherwin]

I think this is really about exchange technology. FTTC will continue, with POTS services provided from the cabinet rather than the exchange. Some parts of the world already do this. The entire PSTN will be superseded by VOIP - aspects of this have been underway for 20 years now.

Cabinets providing FTTC already have power, and I think they have a small UPS too for short power outages.

There are certainly no plans for universal FTTP provision by 2025 as far as I know.

[Stockden]

The linked article (if I've read it correctly) suggests that subscribers will derive their telephone service via their broadband router, using either a VoIP phone or an analogue phone connected to an ATA.

[broadgage]

Agree, FTTP is increasingly popular, but to every home by 2025 ? No way.
Apart from the expense, I doubt that it could be done in that time.
Also FTTP requirs an electricity supply to the subscribers premises, there are still a small number of telephone subscribers without mains electricity. Some have non continous supplies from generators, or non standard voltages from batteries. A very tiny number have no electricity whatsoever.

FTTC, is to become the norm, though by 2025 I expect this to be widespread rather than universal.

Whilst progress has its merits, I view with great concern the reliance on the public electricity supply to these road side cabinets.
Historically, a wired telephone connected to the PSTN would work in a power cut, the modest power requirements being met by a large battery at the telephone exchange, and often a generator also.

Under the new system life could be at risk in the event of fire or serious accident occuring during a power cut. I have very little faith in batteries in the cabinets.

[Cobaltblue]

I was recently looking at moving my BB supplier from Virgin and as BT also have fibre in the area they were my preferred option.

To my surprise they were not offering a landline of any sort.

Currently my landline is plugged into my Virgin Router.

I don't use my landline and it would not in any case work in a power cut situation.

So loosing my landline would not be a problem most calls are in any case via Signal (or previously Whatsapp) or Teams.
Other methods such as Zoom and Duo are also used.

Phone has cobwebs on it (or at least it would if SWMBO were not so houseproud).

Cheers

Mike T

[MrBungle]

FTTP is not going to happen before then. Despite it being available in my street it's not available at my house due to various problems. FTTC it will be for the foreseeable future. Annoying this is as I really want a 900mbit ADSL connection which is required to support two teenagers with numerous devices all hammering it when I'm working!

I haven't actually used my landline for 5 years though and my router has PSTN services built into it. I suspect it'll go down that route with VoIP and/or emulation.

[G6Tanuki]

That article dates from 15th May 2018 - I wonder if the outcome of the consultation mentioned therein is available online?

The basic premise is entirely sensible: the 'phone network' has essentially transitioned from being a voice-network-with-data-transfer-grafted-on to a data-network that very occasionally carries a bit of voice traffic (and the 'voice' traffic has been carried digitally on the backbone for decades anyway) - essentially moving the digitisation-of-voice out of the exchange and into cabs or the end-user's home - then treating onward carriage as an entirely-digital process - has both cost- and reliability-benefits.

I still have FTTC copper-pair-to-the-premises broadband here - haven't bothered with a landline phone for ages though!

[Nuvistor]

Originally Posted by G6Tanuki

That article dates from 15th May 2018 - I wonder if the outcome of the consultation mentioned therein is available online?

Found this from Feb 2019, quite a long read though.
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/asse...e-services.pdf

[paulsherwin]

I still have a landline phone, as it doesn't save very much to get rid of it, but I rarely use it, and almost all the incoming calls are scammers.

[G6Tanuki]

Thanks for that: it looks like there's some serious work going on.

Interesting to read the bit about maintaining (or not) geographic-numbering in a post-POTS world; I recently had a friend's twentysomething daughter refuse to believe me when I said you could tell where in the country someone was calling from by their phone-number!

[paulsherwin]

It does make you wonder what's going to happen to all the big telephone exchanges. The central Oxford one is a huge building built in the late 50s and extended in the 60s. It used to have hundreds of employees and had its own staff cafeteria and bar. It's been lights out for many years, and as far as I can see only continues in use because so many copper cables terminate there. There must be hundreds of similar old exchanges throughout the country.

[russell_w_b]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

There must be hundreds of similar old exchanges throughout the country.

Half the Carlisle telephone exchange (once a Main Switching Centre) has been a Travelodge for a number of years.

[G6Tanuki]

These days, even the big exchanges don't have so many copper cables terminating within: the whole point of FTTC is that it means they can now perform the A/D and D/A conversion for legacy voice circuits in the cabinet too, then only run a few fibres [carrying just digital data] back from the cabinets to the 'central' exchanges.

In the big exchanges you'll find.... a lot of empty space, some fibre patch-panels, and a few 23-inch racks of gear. What will become of the multiple floors/underground unused space, the stack of lead-acid-batteries in the basement, the big generators and bunded Diesel-tanks - all that space is costing BT a load of annual business-rates and many of the sites are in prime city-centre locations.... making them obvious targets for levelling followed by residential re-use. It'd be nice [but improbable] if the previous use of the sites were to be reflected in apartment-blocks being named 'Telephone House' or "The Exchange" or similar.

[stitch1]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

It does make you wonder what's going to happen to all the big telephone exchanges. The central Oxford one is a huge building built in the late 50s and extended in the 60s. It used to have hundreds of employees and had its own staff cafeteria and bar. It's been lights out for many years, and as far as I can see only continues in use because so many copper cables terminate there. There must be hundreds of similar old exchanges throughout the country.

Hadrian in Newcastle is similar, it was a trunk switching centre and the company I worked for had an interconnect room near the top and I remember in the early 90s they were ripping out old switches and drooping them out of the windows into skips. The floors were empty then, it’s still used by BT but mostly offices now.

John

[Brad-AU]

Here in Australia, the Federal Government did make an attempt to shift the nation from copper to 98% FTTP but even from the outset it was a pipe dream that wasn't going to happen because the original $36bn plan became 92% and $42bn after the election in 2007. Then it took 5 years to connect 55,000 in trial locations. This was closely followed by a change of government and the more economical, but some may argue pointless, shift to a multi-tech alternative, using HFC, FTTN, FTTC (don't ask why the inventor of this topology spells kerb as curb!), Fixed Wireless and Satellite, depending on one's location.

The exchanges are still around but instead of traditional exchange equipment these buildings house the gear for what is known as the National Broadband Network. The lesson learned is that even in a big country, fibre for everyone is possible, but very expensive and it takes time to roll out - lots of time.

[stitch1]

Presumably American, I’ve always used FTT Cabinet.

[llama]

The headline made me shudder! There's no way I'd use a mobile "telephone" in preference to a proper landline instrument (see what I did there?).

R-squared Walker would turn in his grave.

I don't wish to give up having a proper handset that's designed to fit the head, proper sidetone, full-duplex conversations, lack of space-monkey coding artefacts...

I think some folk have forgotten or never knew how engaging and natural a telephone conversation can be.
Graham

[Radio Wrangler]

All phone calls get converted to digital form for switching and onward transmission. All that's happening is that the analog/digital interfaces are moving one step nearer the consumer.

The difference in quality llama observes is that standards weren't dropped to get more profit as the mobile phone systems did.

David

[llama]

Phew!
Graham

[paulsherwin]

Mobile phones are just digital radio. When both ends are seeing a good signal the sound quality is very good, and certainly better than a POTS phone. The system obviously has to continue working with the lowest possible signal levels though, and that's when you start to get the glitching and strange artefacts.

Back on topic please.