Busting broadband myths: Does Digital Voice need full fibre broadband?

As you may know, Openreach is shutting down the old copper telephone service, technically known as the PSTN (Packet Switched Telephone Network).

It’s already stopped selling PSTN services as part of a long-planned transition to more advanced digital communications. In the near future, your old home telephone will stop working altogether.

So, what’s the alternative? If you want or need a home phone service, the answer is Digital Voice, a home phone system that uses your broadband connection to make and take calls. It’s a great replacement, because the service tends to be more reliable than the old copper landline, and the calls clearer.

The problem is, Digital Voice has become synonymous with full fibre broadband, with the result that many people think you can’t have one without the other. Happily, that’s not the case. We’ll explain what your actual options are in the rest of this blog.

SOGEA, so good

The good news is that you don’t need full fibre broadband to get a modern digital phone service.

Now, it is true that full fibre is the fastest and most modern broadband connection currently available. It uses fibre optic cables to connect your home to the nearest exchange, and offers top download speeds of up to 900Mbps, though it can and will get faster.

Lots of people are now moving to full fibre, but not everyone can. Around 30% of the UK does not have access to the full fibre network yet.

If you can’t get FTTP, and even if you can, it’s almost certain that you will have access to a new broadband service called SOGEA (or Single Order Generic Ethernet Access). SOGEA is a lot like the existing Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) network in terms of speed and reliability, because it’s built on the same infrastructure. The only difference is that it doesn’t have a landline.

FTTC is the most popular broadband type in the UK at the moment, offering download speeds of up to 80Mbps. That’s a lot less than full fibre, but for many of us it’s still plenty. And it’s perfectly good enough for a modern, digital phone service.

Digital Voice: like your landline, only better

Now, you might not want a home phone service at all. Many of us are happy to make voice calls with mobile devices and use broadband for video calling.

But some people prefer the familiarity and practicality of a home phone service. Others need one for a variety of reasons. It can also be cost-effective if you make lots of calls.

If that’s you, Digital Voice (also known as VOIP), is the modern alternative to your copper landline. Because it uses the internet to connect phone calls, all it requires is a modern, data-only home internet connection. Full fibre will certainly do the trick, but so will SOGEA.

So no, you don’t need full fibre broadband for Digital Voice. SOGEA, the landline-free alternative to FTTC, will do just as well. In the next couple of years, after the PSTN switch off, FTTP and SOGEA will be the only types of home internet connection available, and Digital Voice will be available to everyone with a broadband service.

If you’re currently a Zen broadband and phone customer, we’ll be helping you migrate your phone service to Digital Voice before the end of PSTN. If you’d like to get the benefits of a modern voice service sooner, or add Digital Voice to a broadband-only deal, just get in touch and we’ll be happy to talk through your options.

Click here for more information on Digital Voice from Zen, and here for your broadband options.