Preparing the UK for an all-IP future

20/12/2018
Project
Client: Broadband Stakeholder Group
Author(s): Grant Forsyth, David Lewin, Aude Schoentgen, Sam Wood, Sarongrat Wongsaroj
Telecommunications Technology and infrastructure

The UK’s Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) currently provides voice services to millions of households in the UK, and the underlying analogue technology also supports a range of data services for both domestic and non-domestic applications.

However, the analogue/electrical based network technology that currently enables the PSTN is coming to the end of its life and will need to be replaced by the mid-2020s. The migration of voice services to an All-IP network is an important step on the path to a full fibre future and (ultimately) the retirement of the copper network.

In order to learn from other countries’ experiences and identify possible challenges involved in the migration, the Broadband Stakeholder Group commissioned a report from Plum Consulting, examining four international examples of a migration to All-IP and retirement of the PSTN: France, Germany, Switzerland and New Zealand.