BT OpenReach to halt rollout of Digital Voice, yippeee...

[Stephen5000]

I have been lobbying BT for years since their announcement of abandoning copper wire landlines in favour of Digital Voice

Simply abandoning the current analogue copper wire infrastructure for telephone landlines, in favour of using fiber to transmit 'landlines' digitally over the internet. Huge, enormous flaw in this is that in a power outage, or broadband being down (!), you have NO access to a simple landline for emergencies.

This would have effected millions of vulnerable & elderly customers in the UK, and thankfully after recent extensive winter storms, they saw in action how inadequate 'digital' is in an emergency when you have no electricity.

Well, they are soon trialing a new system at end of May for potential roll out by end of this year using the existing copper wire network. It will work without electricity.

The system is called, "SOTAP, Single Order Transitional Access Product...". 

Amazing that some common sense has taken hold in such a mammoth company, personally I'm just thrilled... Being 'digital' for such a potentially important life saving piece of domestic kit was simply stupid.

https://www.gbnews.com/tech/bt-openreach-landline-sotap

[jac_95]

Hi Stephen5000,

Thanks for the post and welcome to the Community.

This is an automated response as I can see you have a question about BT’s Digital Voice service. Rather than waiting for a response from the Community, you may find an answer to your question by using the search bar on the Community homepage. We also have a thread that contains a wealth of info related to BT’s Digital Voice, click this link to take a look, Digital Voice FAQs.

Got some questions or want to learn more about BT’s Digital Voice rollout? BT are running localised events as part of the regional rollout of Digital Voice - Click here to view the Digital Voice events

To learn more about the nationwide change to this Internet based voice service visit landlinesgo.digital

If you have already looked for the answer to your question and have not found anything that can help, then please ignore this message. One of our Community members will be along shortly to help you further.

[imjolly]

I must have missed it in the press but I have seen anything recently where openreach are halting the changeover to VOIP or BT are halting the change to Digital Voice.  I have read about the trial by openreach of an alternative and have already posted a link  https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2024/03/openreach-to-pilot-alternative-uk-analogue-phone-line-...

[jac_95]

The PSTN closure is still aiming for December 2025.

The recent news is that there's a trial of a transitional product called SOTAP (Single Order Transitional Access Product) for analogue lines that can be ordered by providers for existing customers for use cases such as landline-only phone customers in vulnerable and Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) groups. This product is there for providers to utilise to help migrate existing customers off the PSTN for some of these more complex cases while still achieving the PSTN closure.

SOTAP is expected to be a temporary traditional product that may last several years until around 2030 where there'll be an increased focus on full fibre adoption and exchange closure programmes.

New customers will be subject to existing stop sell rules.

[Stephen5000]

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@jac_95wrote:

The PSTN closure is still aiming for December 2025...

SOTAP is expected to be a temporary traditional product that may last several years until around 2030 where there'll be an increased focus on full fibre adoption and exchange closure programmes.

New customers will be subject to existing stop sell rules.

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2030 should be fine, that should see my mum (in her late 80s, recovering from a stroke, and her home won't even get a mobile signal) safe. I too am a 'vulnerable' customer with no 'mobile' signal so without electricity which happens quite frequently in a rural area, I'm kinda stuffed. However, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

The recent announcement is still a result for millions of phone/panic button customers in the UK who rely on an old fashioned copper landline, to keep them being excluded from society just because they don't have a non electric powered comms system...

[iniltous]

The has been no halt to the DV rollout , there has been provided a short term work around for BT phone only customers , this transitional product cannot be ordered for ‘new’ phone only customers, it’s those currently on a basic PSTN phone line , these customers will be provided with Digital Voice , but instead of having a router with a built in ATA for ‘voice’ located and powered at their home , this product basically moves the ATA from the customer address to the exchange building,  the existing copper pair is still used for DV telephony , the copper pair becomes effectively a very long telephone cord from the exchange located ATA to the property, this product will undoubtedly pacify some , reassuring them that the phone doesn’t need local power , but they will still be using DV , it simply relocates the ATA .

[Stephen5000]

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@iniltouswrote:

... the copper pair becomes effectively a very long telephone cord from the exchange located ATA to the property, this product will undoubtedly pacify some , reassuring them that the phone doesn’t need local power , but they will still be using DV , it simply relocates the ATA .

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I think that yes, many including myself, will be 'duly pacified'. Could care less what it's called, or how it works, but the ability to still pick up a telephone (or activate a panic button) in an emergency when you have no electricity is absolutely key. I guess until you are elderly, and/or vulnerable, you won't fully appreciate how critical that simple action is...

[Keith_Beddoe]

@Stephen5000 

Bear in mind that its still VOIP, and many systems that rely on sending modem tones down the line, will not work, as VOIP chops the signal up into data packets.

Some systems dial out as normal, and then connect to a modem at the far end. Those systems will almost certainly fail to connect at that point.

Systems that use pulse dialling will not work, although I do not expect many of those still exist. That also applies to old phones that still use this method.

Care providers were informed about these changes a long time ago.

P.S. BT Openreach do not exist, its just Openreach.

[Jane2018]

It was not the good news I wanted, but there must be some kind of delay as I was told London would be forced into digital voice by end of 2023 and like waiting for the Second Coming it did not happen.. It is now end of March (and we have to be given a period of notice) so that is quite some delay although may be being without one landline since 15 March and counting for a local major service outage may be is part of the preparations....

[brookheather]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/03/31/digital-landline-switchover-delayed-emergency-alarms...

Plans to rip out traditional landlines and replace them with digital alternatives have been delayed after emergency alarm outages sparked a health crisis.

BT has warned the Government it will not meet the target of moving customers from copper landlines to a new digital network by the end of 2025.

Ministers are currently in discussions with the telecoms giant about a new timeline, but sources said the process could be delayed by up to two years for some vulnerable people.