Openreach, the former subsidiary of telecoms firm BT, that’s behind a national upgrade of phone lines from analogue to digital, is launching a campaign to raise awareness of the change. It’s recommending joining its ‘Call Waiting List’ to stay informed.
By December 2025, the analogue phone network will have reached the end of its life. Openreach says that means over the next five years, more than 14 million traditional lines across the UK will be migrated onto new digital services. While this will mean an upgrade for traditional landlines, it will also see many other systems which are dependent on phone lines impacted, such as fire and intruder alarms and lifts.
As aired by Openreach at the BACPO conference for public safety communications in Coventry in March 2020 just days before the first covid lockdown, this issue was featured in the May 2020 print edition of Professional Security magazine.
To retire the analogue phone network by the end of 2025, an average of 50,000 analogue lines will need to be upgraded to digital each week. The ‘Call Waiting List’ will provide the latest guidance and advice for businesses to help them make informed decisions about upgrading. This is particularly important for CNI (critical national infrastructure) such as utilities, to make sure the upgrade can be smooth, with minimal disruption for the public.
James Lilley, Director Managed Migrations at Openreach said: “This is an important early step in upgrading the UK. We know businesses are time-poor and the choice to upgrade may sit at the end of a long-list of other priorities that will seem more pressing. By launching the Call Waiting List we hope to help those businesses plan their upgrades effectively, with regular updates about our activities and the potential implications on their operations, as well as guidance and examples of how they can make the transition a smooth one.
“We’re also working closely with service providers to make sure any changes happen as smoothly as possible. This upgrade will ultimately provide the nation with faster and more reliable services; so we encourage all businesses in the UK to take steps now to understand what they’ll need to do.”
And Matthew Evans, Director of Markets at the trade body techUK, said: “I encourage all organisations, particularly those in the CNI sectors or those that depend on services provided over analogue lines, to sign up to the Call Waiting List newsletter. The upgrade to digital services will bring us into the 21st Century as well as being a key stepping-stone on the path to full fibre. Whilst 2025 seems a long way off, it is essential that businesses and organisation start to take action today – and the best first step is to sign up to the newsletter to stay engaged in the migration and find out more about the action you need to take.”
Background
Openreach looks after the UK digital network; some 192 million kilometres of network cable, 110,000 green cabinets, and 4.9 million telephone poles and junction boxes. Visit https://www.openreach.com/upgrading-the-UK-to-digital-phone-lines.
In October 2018, Openreach became a legally separate company from BT, and has since removed thousands of BT logos from vehicles, uniforms and buildings, pass cards and web pages.
