By Emma Lewis, bOnline
With landlines being permanently switched off from the end of next year, Openreach has now revealed the next 84 new UK locations for the axe over the next year.
Landlines rely on outdated copper wires that are over 100 years old. They’re expensive and difficult to maintain, and don’t meet modern communication needs. This significant development means the sale of traditional analogue services to over 880,000 premises across the UK will stop, affecting all households and businesses too.
What Is The Alternative to a Landline?
The country is fast moving towards a digital era, with old style copper landlines being replaced by superior Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) connections. But it’s not just about broadband; it’s revolutionising home and business phone systems too. It means most people are now moving over to VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) as the main alternative.
What Is VoIP?
VoIP is a digital communication method that connects calls using the internet rather than copper wires. As it’s cloud based, you can also access your system to make and receive calls on the go using your smartphone or tablet, so no more ‘hanging by the telephone.’ This is great for small businesses in particular.
VoIP phone systems also come packed with loads of extra handy features, including call divert and menus, voicemail, conference calling, access to call analytics data, hold music and much more. You also tend to sign up for a fixed price monthly subscription, many of which include unlimited calls and even international calls, so you can save some serious money.
However, with VoIP requiring a Full Fibre broadband connection to work, the race is on to roll out Full Fibre as quickly as possible. Indeed, following the implementation of the “Stop Sell” directive, Internet Service Providers will have to offer new customers the significantly faster FTTP connections automatically.
Openreach has said that a “Stop Sell” order kicks in when 75% of premises connected to an exchange can access ultrafast Full Fibre broadband. So customers who want to switch, upgrade, or re-grade their broadband or phone service will need to move to the new digital service provided over the Full Fibre network.
However, it’s important to note that customers in these exchanges who cannot yet receive Ultrafast Full Fibre at their premises are not currently affected. This means they can carry on using their existing copper-based services until Full Fibre is available to them.
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Which Areas Are Next To Lose Landlines?
Below is the latest full list of areas where copper cables are being phased out:
- Aberdeen
- Addingham
- Alderminster
- Antrim
- Appleton Roebuck
- Ashington (Northumberland)
- Barking and Dagenham
- Bishop Auckland
- Blackpool
- Bradford
- Bridgend
- Brighton and Hove
- Burnham-on-Sea
- Buxton (High Peak)
- Cannock
- Cardiff
- Carlisle
- Chatham
- Chelmsford
- Chesterfield
- Coalville
- Craigavon
- Doncaster
- Ellington (Northumberland)
- Exeter
- Flamborough
- Gillingham (Kent)
- Glasgow
- Greater London
- Greater Manchester
- Greater Manchester
- Greater Manchester
- Grimsby
- Havering
- Haywards Heath
- Heage
- Houghton-le-Spring
- Huddersfield
- Ilkeston
- Ilkley
- Ipswich
- Kidsgrove
- Leicester
- Leicester
- Leven
- Llanbrynmair
- Luton
- Manchester
- Mareham le Fen
- Moore
- Motherwell
- New Mills
- North Kelser
- Oldham
- Penistone
- Pontardawe
- Portlethen
- Raunds
- Rayleigh
- Rearsby
- Rippingale
- Ross-on-Wye
- Rotherfield
- Rotherham
- Rugby
- Saintfield
- Scotter
- Scunthorpe
- Sheffield
- Sherburn (County Durham)
- Skegness
- Solihull
- South Cave
- Southend-on-Sea
- Southwark
- Stotfold
- Stratford-upon-Avon
- Tameside
- Torquay
- Trefor
- Tregynon
- Wakefield
- Waltham on the Wolds
- Wigan
Want To Know More?
It is important to be on top of the landline switch-off and how you can find the right VoIP system for you. It’s particularly important if you’re running a small business, and it’s worth doing your research:
