Posted on: 1st March 2023, by Magrathea
It is no secret that we have been supportive of the efforts to have some kind of national awareness campaign to help consumers understand why the PSTN is disappearing and what the future looks like. Something similar to the digital TV switchover would do the trick.
Despite many months of lobbying though, neither the government or Ofcom seem particularly keen to get that involved. They view this as an industry problem that needs an industry solution. Whether you agree with that view or not, the fact remains that the message is not spreading wide enough or fast enough.
Having said that, we have recently seen a .gov web page developed and Ofcom have updated their website with some information. This does at least give service providers a reliable and trusted source of information to share with their customers – something that we need as consumers are hardly likely to stumble across these sites by themselves!
The recent trade press coverage of Openreach’s plan to ‘encourage’ users away from the PSTN in two trial areas through reduced service will no doubt create some press and therefore awareness too – all publicity is good publicity as they say!
Through our work with Comms Council UK we are helping to pull together a website for our members, both to increase member awareness but also provide some simple guides to share with their customers. Magrathea will link to these pages when they are ready.
Opportunities are there for the taking
Aside from the concerns about awareness, there are some major opportunities to be explored by service providers. We are embarking on a period of transition that should rock the boat for traditional service providers in a way we haven’t seen for decades.
Over the top voice (OTT) is something our VoIP customers have been offering for years now, but for a vast number of consumers this is a new concept. With a variety of fibre providers spreading their availability throughout the country, there is now potentially much more choice for the consumer if they are aware it’s an option.
The risk is, particularly for residential consumers, that they will just go the simple route and pick a nicely bundled incumbent package. But with the right marketing and approach we feel there are many opportunities for service providers to explore a new target market. Offering OTT voice on it’s own or as part of fibre provision.
How Magrathea can help
Magrathea clients will already know that we have for many years now provided all the elements necessary for them to put together a PSTN comparable service. With number porting, emergency calls and full A-Z termination it’s simple to create a package to suit most end users. And now we can provide FTTP or SOGEA in many areas too (currently via BT, more to follow!).
It is our view that the greatest challenge facing our industry today is not one of technology, but one of messaging and delivery. We will continue to evolve our products and services to try and reduce the complexity and improve migrations for our clients and if you would like to chat through any challenges you are facing and where we might be able to add value for you, please do get in touch.
Further references:
https://www.futureofvoice.co.uk/
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/future-of-landline-calls
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-transition-from-analogue-to-digital-landlines