What is latest news on ALL IP and what do I need to do?
All IP Upgrade Project
In the UK, the upgrade to ‘All IP’ means the existing predominantly copper-based Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), the foundation of the UK’s telephony network for many decades, is being entirely replaced by a faster ‘All IP’ fibre network and infrastructure.
Migration from PSTN to ‘All IP’ commenced in 2022 and continues at a fast pace across the UK in advance of its retirement date of the old copper services which has now been delayed until 31st January 2027. This delay will allow more time for the infrastructure to be implemented in the most remote areas of the UK and also to identify vulnerable customers who reply specifically on their existing PSTN line to support them further in the change of technology.
Importantly it should be recognised that the migration progress has NOT stopped, and customers are still being transferred over to the new fibre infrastructure on a daily basis during new connection or switch/upgrade/regrade processes.
Many monitored premises have already started to benefit from the faster connection speeds and improved flexibility offered by ‘All IP’.
Stop/Sell Policy
With the ALL-IP fibre infrastructure now complete to all exchanges across the UK, Openreach, the largest telecommunications provider of backbone connectivity for most other telecoms providers, has now implemented the ‘stop sell’ project. This means that no traditional PSTN telephone lines will now be sold to telecommunication providers to offer to you the end user.
The ‘All IP’ network has been configured in two formats: ‘Fibre To The Premises’ (FTTP) and ‘Fibre To The Cabinet’ (FTTC), with FTTC being phased out at some future point in favour of FTTP. Backup power arrangements are fundamentally different in the ’All IP’ world. This means the provision of new backup power is essential and must be addressed to ensure continuity of alarm protection and monitoring when using an ‘ALL IP’ connection.
How may it affect your Intruder Alarm System?
If your current system relies on a telephone line (PSTN) to send intruder signals to you or the alarm monitoring centre (ARC) then the ALL-IP upgrade project will mean you will lose part of the Security System functionality.
There are new product solutions available which depending on your site, infrastructure and geographical location can use either Wi-Fi, IP or GPRS technology to overcome the loss of the analogue telephone line whilst monitoring your system 24/7 and the alarm receiving centre will be notified of a fault.
What has Watson Alarms been doing to help you?
Watson Alarms have continued to be very proactive in our mission to inform and encourage all our affected customers to review their situation and take action in advance of their telephone line being migrated to fibre. A phased programme over the last 12 months resulted in Watson Alarms contacting all monitored clients which have a PSTN reliant connection.
During this process Watson Alarms have successfully managed to migrate around 65% of these Clients onto a new monitoring solution which no longer relies on a PSTN telephone line whilst still providing the level of security required by the Client and their Building Insurance provider.
However, Watson Alarms, will continue to assist and support the remaining 35% of affected customers through the migration process and in turn do our upmost to ensure our Customers are protected and avoid an influx of calls from unhappy Customers. At Watson Alarms we want to be ahead of the pack and minimise the inconvenience which a line fault and loss of connection to the monitoring station can bring to you.
What should you do next?
Please contact Watson Alarms via the website enquiry form or email us at [email protected] or call us on 0800 838653 to allow us to arrange for one of our security surveyors to visit you and to carry out a free site survey and submit a non-committal specification/quotation to you.
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