BT Plans Move To IP Telephony, Starting Next Year 228
pure_equanimity writes "The BBC have published an article saying that BT are planning to migrate from a PSTN to an IP network, a move to cost 3bn. They say that broadband will become ubiquitous, with customers having the ability to plug any device in to get access. They also say that current cheap broadband products will more than likely not be viable in five years time. They plan to start rolling out in 2006, and cover the vast majority of customers by 2009."
So... (Score:5, Interesting)
So they are gonna hook customers up right before the prices go up? I thought prices would go down as time marches on? What about all that "dark fiber"?
rims? (Score:3, Interesting)
Charge by the MB (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:So what numbers will we use (Score:4, Interesting)
God help you if you're John Smith!
Powersource? (Score:2, Interesting)
The Skype Telephone (Score:4, Interesting)
This is going to be the biggest revolution in telephony the UK has ever seen. Whilst a Skype handset might not connect you to phones that are not on their network, if enough people use it, it could supplant the BT network and destroy their business.
I wonder how they are going to charge for the service, obviously line rental, which will be the minimum they will be able to collect from each user, but taking into consideration the ease with which people will be able to switch providers, their churn rate will be very high indeed.
Basically, they are going to spend 3 billion to put themselvs out of business. Great!
Re:bandwidth capacity? (Score:4, Interesting)
I imagine that the majority of phone call traffic will never leave BT's network, since the uptake of IP telephony in the rest of the world is still quite small.
Even if similar moves are made in other countries, I'm sure BT have some connections that could keep it local until it hits the remote exchange.
Re:So what numbers will we use (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:So what numbers will we use (Score:1, Interesting)
Hah! You'd be shocked at how often the numbers do change here. Nearly fifteen years ago the area codes for London were split into two. Then about ten years ago all of the area codes changed, and some areas got brand new area codes. The London codes changed again. Then a couple of years ago the codes changed again for some areas, and instead of every U.K area code starting with 01, they added 02xx codes as well. London changed again.
Area codes in the U.K are a fucking pain in the ass, and doubly so if you live in London. I thought the old system of 01xxx was fine, and made a lot of sense, but then they decided that 999 possible area codes in the 01xxx range wasn't enough and they needed an extra 999 codes in the 02xxx range, and just in case the 03xxx range is reserved for yet more area codes. Should the United Kingdom ever require 2,997 area codes I guess we'll be glad, but I can't see it happening somehow.
Its not just the network , its IP itself (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:The Skype Telephone (Score:5, Interesting)
Wrong. They've realised that things like Skype will put them out of business if they don't move on, so they're shifting away from traditional voice comms and entirely into data comms. They'll change their pricing accordingly too, probably to a charge based on the amount of data you use rather than an amount of time.
Its the old style voice telcos that are going to be disappearing.
Re:Not going to happen... (Score:2, Interesting)
Regulator approval (Score:2, Interesting)
In the UK the telecoms industry has until recently been regulated by an organisation called Oftel. They have recently been replaced by a much broader regulator called Ofcom (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/).
Their job is to try and ensure that the communications industry as a whole remains competitive. Which generally involves keeping BT on a short leash.
This is the first major announcement from BT since Ofcom came into existence, so they may want attempt to use this as an opportunity to stamp their authority on BT. Though if Oftel is anything to go by they'll probably be BT's lapdogs..
Re:So what numbers will we use (Score:1, Interesting)
Now if they used IPv6... perhaps this will be the "killer app" for IPv6?
Re:rims? (Score:4, Interesting)
For anyone in a similar position, heres how I did it. Remember at all times that the person you are talking to is a thick bastard who couldnt get a real job and hates his/her life and just wants to go home.
Is my phoneline split? I can only get 28Kbps on my dial up! Can I get broadband - I know my exchange is enabled.
"Your line fails the test sir - you cant get broadband"
"But is my line split? I beleive I read that if your line is split BT has to replace it if you order broadband on an enabled exchange"
"I dont think thats right sir - where did you see that?"
"In flight magazine probably - BA"
"I'll ask my supervisor"
"Hello - supervisor here - you have a line issue"
"I want a new line because I suspect its shared and I want broadband and you have to change the line"
to cut a long story short (well - okay - lonng) I just repeated this about 2 dozen times until they booked me an engineer to replace the line. I dont think its true - but these guys just want an easy life so hassle them into giving you the line. Oh - but remember - when they say "where did you read it" say "Fortune" or "In flight magazine" not "/."
Re:It's a nice idea... (Score:3, Interesting)
The reason broadband has taken so long is that it doesn't make them much money. The reason they managed to switch the entire network, trunk routes and all, from analogue and mechanical switching to an all digital network is this: it took 25 engineers to keep a single 10,000 line Strowger exchange operating, and six System X echanges can be kept running by a single engineer. If it makes economic sense, BT can move fast enough. If changing their infrastructure to IP will make them/save them enough money, they will do it.
Re:Wow - That's unexpected (Score:3, Interesting)
The only reason they are doing this most likely to tap into the mobile and other new markets, and it looks like a risky investment. No-one knows what the market would be like 2 years down the road, let alone 5 years.
Re:Wow - That's unexpected (Score:4, Interesting)
Telewest has just increase it's bandwidth by 50% though (no change in the plan price though). 512->768k, 1.0->1.5m etc. It's great and probably a good deal if you want 1mbs and don't have bulldog in your area.
Sensible switch-over (Score:3, Interesting)
Once the public gets seriously into VOIP, which they will, phones are going byebye. So broadband will have to pay for itself.
Only sensible, really.