Latest announcement BT Group has announced recently that the date for switching off the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) has been reset to 31st January 2027 from 31st December 2025. Key points Extended deadline • The new date for OpenReach’s PSTN switch-off is 31st January 2027, providing an additional 13 months for communications providers (cps) to safely migrate their vulnerable customers. Impact on Wholesale Line Rental (WLR) • Their copper product ‘wholesale line rental’ (WLR), which relies on the PSTN, will now be withdrawn on 31st January 2027. Message to approved companies • You should continue migrating any existing technology that uses the PSTN network to alternative solutions. • Identify and efficiently migrate customers. • Continue to work with manufacturers and end users on complex migration scenarios. What this means for you • Ensure you have an inventory of all your services and customers that utilise the PSTN line network for their Fire & Security needs. • If you haven’t already, start talking to your service providers as soon as possible. Recent industry developments • The Security Event held at NEC Birmingham in May 2024 showcased a wide range of technological offerings that are either currently available or soon to be released. They will enable you to provide diverse solutions to your end users, ensuring a seamless transition from PSTN to “ALL IP”. Action items • Check out the BT Group updated FAQs regarding the PSTN switch-off reset for any questions. A download can be found by scanning the QR code below. • Monitor ongoing communications from ourselves, other industry stakeholders, Openreach / other communications providers and manufacturers through websites, social media, NSI Circular Letters & Technical Bulletins. • Keep abreast of the Openreach ‘Stop Sell’ project areas listing which will identify areas that will be affected as the project nears its completion in 2025. • Inform your customers about the forthcoming changes, possible impacts, and potential alternatives in each case, and ensure continued monitoring. • Talk to manufacturers of monitoring & signalling equipment. They are advising that migration from PSTN must not be left until the last minute as they might struggle to meet the future demand, but currently have multiple compliant solutions available. • Meet the requirements of NSI Technical Bulletin 0061 and provide supporting evidence during your next audit. • Highlight the benefits to the end user of upgrading the equipment such as faster communications, higher resilience, etc. Moving forward, the NSI audit team has been instructed to raise observations against mandatory preparatory actions to be completed by approved companies which are detailed within NSI Technical Bulletin 0061 (originally published Sept 2021). Observations will be reported where there is no evidence that processes are in place to manage and inform customers of this transition. Findings will be reported based on the following escalation: • Audit note from 15th Sept 2021 to 30th June 2024 (time now passed) • Improvement observation from the 1st July 2024 until 31st December 2025 • Improvement need from 1st January 2026 onwards Potential consequences of doing nothing • High numbers of callouts • Complaints • Decreased reputation • Loss of revenue • Loss of insurance coverage for customer • Chance of vulnerable people becoming unprotected if using PSTN-reliant Telecare or other systems to summon help.