New voice copper lines are no longer available from September the 5th 2023
We thought we would pass this information on to you, as this may influence what you quote for lift emergency line/s and auto-diallers going forward.
The September the 5th 2023 "Stop Sell" will impact new supply, working line takeovers, restarting of stopped lines, migrations to a different Communications Provider (CP) transfers, addition of broadband to copper voice lines, bandwidth modification, or any modification to existing copper line installation. Openreach has announced (01.02.2023) that, as part of their plan to retire older copper analogue UK phone services by December 2025, they will conduct a trial that “responsibly [adjusts] the performance of the remaining analogue services” (i.e. blocking out-bound calls and limiting broadband ISP speeds) to “encourage” customers to upgrade to new digital lines.
This means lift lines will no longer plug auto dialler into the telephone socket on the wall, instead it will need to connect to a broadband router or an Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) depending on the new service provided to the address. Openreach have already switched off over 700 (01.01.2023) exchanges where voice copper lines are no longer available. From September 2023 Openreach will issue a full “Stop Sell” to all providers for any new supply of voice copper-based telephone line installations for lift lines, including change of address, restart of a stopped line or working line take over. Meaning some 300.000 (OR 2020) lift lines will need to migrate to a new internet voice-based service. ALL business and residential services ARE affected by this change.
