PSTN switch of and migration to VoIP - the impact on over the top - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

PROMOTING CHOICE • SECURING STANDARDS • PREVENTING HARM

PSTN switch of and migration to VoIP - the impact on “over the top services”

7 February 2019

PROMOTING CHOICE • SECURING STANDARDS • PREVENTING HARM

• Continue use of analogue transmission
• ver copper
• This approach already being adopted

by some incumbents in Europe

• However, it is an interim step to full

‘voice over broadband’

Initial focus on ‘emulating’ PSTN

• Start date and length of voluntary

migration period will vary by Provider

• Date by which Providers will switch off

PSTN will vary too. No UK-wide date

• Migration expected to be completed by

2025

Voluntary migration now, but forced migration will follow

• Many systems are obsolescent

and support costs increasing

• Providers have signalled intention

to retire PSTN by 2025

PSTN approaching end of life

• Use a broadband connection to make

calls over copper and fibre connections

• IP services already available and

commonly used by businesses

• Will become more common in the

mass market

Providers moving to voice over IP (VoIP)

What is happening and why?

PROMOTING CHOICE • SECURING STANDARDS • PREVENTING HARM

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PSTN Migration – Technical detail

• 5500 telephone exchanges
• Specialised equipment

– Bespoke standards and protocols – C7 (SS7 in US) out-of-band signalling – Enables call set-up, number portability, routing and tear down

• Equipment is reaching its end of life

– Parts and skills to repair them are becoming scarce

• Three companies in the UK face the challenge

– BT, KCOM and Virgin Media – Telent maintains the PSTN equipment on behalf of operators in the UK

• Each are approaching the challenge in slightly different ways over different timescales

– Voice over Broadband (BT), Voice over DOCSIS (VM), Emulation (KCOM)

PSTN Broadband Home Exchange Current Future Voice service

PROMOTING CHOICE • SECURING STANDARDS • PREVENTING HARM

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Migration is led by Providers

• Responsibility for ensuring that the migration is efficient and straightforward lies with providers because they are:

– Taking the commercial decision to switch off the PSTN – Setting the timescales (different timings, depending on the company) – Communicating with users and over-the-top service providers – Obliged to protect vulnerable consumers – Offering test facilities for over-the-top service equipment that are representative of the eventual solution. However, migration to IP raises issues for government, industry and the regulator. So there is a need to work together to achieve a successful outcome.

PROMOTING CHOICE • SECURING STANDARDS • PREVENTING HARM

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Part of an international trend

• Many other

telecommunications providers are already migrating to all-IP networks.

• Deutsche Telekom has

completed the migration of its customers to VoIP in Macedonia, Slovakia and Croatia and is due to complete migration in Germany by the end of 2019.

PROMOTING CHOICE • SECURING STANDARDS • PREVENTING HARM

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Consumer Impact – Technical Detail

• Many consumers have already migrated without major issues

– For example, those with Sky and TalkTalk

• Customers will be offered new services and possibly new phone handsets

– Handsets will connect with broadband router rather than the ‘master socket’

• Better and more flexible services achieved through:

– Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) that allows different voice capabilities including video and real-time text – Improved bandwidth control to individual calls to offer enhanced voice quality, through improved codecs

• Some consumers may face challenges:

– Those that are unable to connect phone to router (e.g. visually impaired)

• Also, conventional telephone lines supply electricity to the phone to allow a corded phone to work in the event of a power cut

– A voice service that relies on the broadband service will need domestic mains power to work, which will not work during a power cut – So without an alternative means of power all calls, including those to the emergency services, will not be possible

• The identification of those that are at risk, providing clear communications and providing suitable solutions is vital

PROMOTING CHOICE • SECURING STANDARDS • PREVENTING HARM

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Other Services – Technical Detail

• The scale, stability and reliability PSTN has encouraged myriad services and applications to flourish on the network

– But the PSTN has been designed and built to support voice, not these services – And the PSTN itself consists of many interconnected networks

• Some services use Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) signalling

– Others, such as modems, use voiceband frequency shift keying (e.g. V.21),

• IP-based networks are designed to comply with, or align with, national (NICC) and international (IETF) standards to allow voice

– IP characteristics, such as packet loss or jitter, are not expected by these services, causing them to respond in unexpected ways – Consequently the performance of OTT services may severely degrade, or stop working altogether

• This issue was first identified in BT’s 21CN migration in early 2000s

– But the full extent of the problems and adoption of viable solutions was not resolved

• Testing has begun at BT labs, and is due to start with Virgin Media

– But the tests will never be comprehensive or totally conclusive, given the full range of systems and characteristics

• Messaging to consumers and stakeholders as to options and recommendations will be crucial

PROMOTING CHOICE • SECURING STANDARDS • PREVENTING HARM

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Potentially affected services

• Contact your telecoms provider to find
• ut about timetable and potential impact
• Utilise providers’ testing facilities where

available Security alarms Fire alarms Telemetry Telecare alarms Retail payment terminals Traffic lights, lighthouses …