BT trials new landline that resurrects best features of traditional phone lines lost ahead of UK switch-off
Aaron Brown explains changes coming to traditional landlines across UK.mp4
BT-owned Openreach will pilot a new landline phone system that does not require an active broadband connection — that will restore much of the lost functionality of analogue phone lines, which will be cut off nationwide at the end of next year. According to broadband-obsessed blog ISPreview, Openreach has started to inform its partners about plans to pilot the technology from May 1, 2024.
Copper wire phone lines have been the backbone of communication across the UK for over 100 years, but BT-owned Openreach is replacing analogue landlines with a broadband-powered alternative. These digital landlines rely on an internet connection, known as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or All-IP telephony. BT uses the brand name "Digital Voice" for its version of this digital landline technology.
However, there has been a litany of issues with the process, which saw BT customers lose access to the landline number they’d held for 50 years and others stranded without a landline connection for days.
Broadband-powered landlines have triggered compatibility issues with personal alarms used by an estimated 1.8 million people elderly and vulnerable people across the UK — with some critical phone calls failing. These personal alarms are often worn on a lanyard around the neck and are designed to be activated in a health emergency or after a fall.
Openreach, which is owned and operated by BT, maintains nationwide broadband and phone line infrastructure used by brands including EE, Sky, TalkTalk, Plusnet, and BT
OPENREACH PRESS OFFICEBT and other broadband suppliers paused the roll-out of next-generation landlines following the incidents. Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan summoned the biggest broadband providers in the UK and got them to agree to several tough new measures to protect vulnerable customers.
But now it seems Openreach is working on a new landline system that will restore many of the benefits of copper line phones. This new system will continue to work when Openreach and other broadband suppliers discontinue traditional landlines at the end of 2025.
Household brands like TalkTalk, EE, Plusnet, BT, Vodafone, and Sky Broadband all rely on the infrastructure owned and operated by Openreach nationwide.
Known as SOTAP, Single Order Transitional Access Product for Analogue, the new Openreach system does not require an active broadband connection. Better yet, it can be rolled out to homeowners nationwide — even those living in areas that have been upgraded to an all-broadband infrastructure.
There's no word on an official launch date for SOTAP, but if trials are set to begin in May, it's highly likely that we'll see customers transition to the new phone line system before the end of the year. Openreach will want to get as many vulnerable users switched over before the 2025 cut-off.
SOTAP could enable homeowners with personal alarms that are incompatible with new broadband-powered phone lines or those who don't want a broadband connection to still have a landline phone.
Unlike BT's Digital Voice and other broadband-powered landlines, which won't work during an internet outage or power cut, SOTAP is powered like a traditional copper phone line. That means it will continue to work even during a power cut.
A spokesperson for Openreach confirmed the ongoing trial of the new technology: "Openreach is pleased to announce that the SOTAP (Single Order Transitional Access Product) for Analogue shall move into Pilot Phase from 1 May 2024.
"The move to Pilot Phase is subject to the SOTAP for Analogue Trial meeting Pilot entry criteria ahead of 1 May 2024. Please note, this guidance refers only to the SOTAP for Analogue product currently in trial and not to any other iterations or variants, including the previously announced 'SOTAP' product variant."
When it announced the move to broadband-powered landlines, BT promised the all-digital system woudl offer clearer calls and better protection from fraud and spam calls. If you're already using a full-fibre internet connection at home, nothing will change as the company has offered "Digital Voice" to fibre customers as standard for many years.
BT is in the process of switching off analogue landlines for millions of customers nationwide, transitioning them over to its broadband-powered "Digital Voice" system that relies on VoIP
BT PRESS OFFICEBT suspended sales of traditional landlines to new customers in September last year. While many of the most popular personal alarm systems do work with digital landlines, a power cut or internet drop-out can cause them to fail, while copper phone lines typically continue to work even during power cuts.
Speaking about a spate of issues around the transition to all-digital phone lines, Consumer watchdog Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy, Rocio Concha said: “We’ve heard of vulnerable people being left unable to contact emergency services due to issues with digital migration, so it is positive that the Government is getting assurances from operators as well as providers that they will protect customers during the switchover.
“The Government and Ofcom must be prepared to take tough action if firms fail to keep up their side of the bargain. The transition to digital landlines is necessary and offers advantages, but it is vital that no-one is left behind as the migration continues.”
BT customers over the age of 70 are not proactively switched to Digital Voice, the company has reassured. But since July 2023, BT has started to trial switching customers aged between 70-74 who live in urban areas and have the latest broadband hub and don't regularly make landline calls. According to BT, these trials have gone well to date, with 98% of customers choosing to make the switch.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Openreach engineers work on a broadband cable buried underneath the pavement. The company maintains infrastructure that connects to almost every home and business in Britain
PACountdown to the death of traditional copper landlines
1992 – Introduction of the first dial-up internet service to UK customers, Pipex
2000 – First UK home broadband launches in the UK ...and is taken up by a single customer in Essex
2008 – First residential full-fibre broadband connection goes live in a housing development in Ebbsfleet, Kent. It becomes the first place nationwide to use fibre-optic cables directly to the home, with telephone services and broadband delivered over the same cables
2010 – Services with speeds of 30Mbps (megabits per second) are sold in the UK. With this rate of speed, internet users can download or stream music, games or TV shows
2013 – The first ‘fibre only’ exchange goes live in Deddington. The Oxfordshire village was chosen as a pilot location for the first fibre-only exchange
2018 – Plans to retire the old telephone network within seven years are announced. This will see everyone in the UK upgraded to a digital phone line, laying the foundations for the future
2019 – Salisbury becomes the first "Openreach Full Fibre" city in the UK. The Wiltshire city has the fastest citywide network in the UK
2020-2023 – Openreach ends the sale of copper landlines, beginning at an exchange level and then nationally. From September 5th 2023, BT customers across the UK could no longer buy traditional phones
2025 – Retiring the old analogue phone network. By this time, everyone in the UK will be upgraded to a digital phone line – which will use the broadband network to make calls in a similar way to other Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technologies like Skype, Facetime, and Microsoft Teams