Zen Podcast: Discussing the Great British Switch Off

As the ISDN and PSTN switch off looms ever closer, attention is turning to the Great British Switch Off and what it means to  homes and businesses across the UK.

You may have heard about the 2025 switch off date – that’s when all traditional phone lines will have been switched off, replaced entirely by modern digital and cloud-based alternatives.

But the process has already begun. In fact, the stop-sell of copper products from some exchanges began back in December 2020, and a further 120 exchanges across the UK will have started their stop sell by the end of 2021.

National stop-sell is expected to have been completed by June 2023, which means no exchanges will be selling any new copper products by that point.

So, as you can see, this isn’t just something that’s going to happen in a few years. It’s happening now.

In his regular Zen podcast, Head of Customer Solutions Architecture Stuart Birchall is joined by Zen product experts Carl and Lee to discuss the Great British Switch Off, and its implications, in much more detail.

In the podcast, the team discuss traditional landline alternatives for domestic customers – including a combination of full fibre (FTTP) and VoIP. In this scenario – which we’re already seeing today – customers would connect their phones directly to their routers, with all calls being routed over the internet. It’s a fairly straightforward solution, with minimal disruption, that promises great call quality and – for many – a very familiar setup. Other alternatives include calling via smartphone-based softphone applications.

For businesses, cloud-based voice solutions will become increasingly compelling. With increased remote working and the need for flexibility, these ‘operate from anywhere’ solutions are already becoming more and more popular. And with often improved call quality, near-infinite flexibility and expansion potential and greater cost efficiency, the benefits are numerous.

Asking whether we are entering a new era of spoken word, the team discuss the increasing popularity of video chat, the possibility of ‘instant voice’ as voice begins to merge with instant messaging, and the strong conviction that – even as remote working and communications technology thrive – the need for human-to-human voice communications will remain.

The message from the team is clear though – businesses need to start looking to the future now.

You can listen to the full podcast here.