The Death of Landline POTS in Canada!


Get ready for a real rocky ride in the next few years. Most of us remember when analog cellular went away and we had to change out all those old cellular alarm communicators. A big job but we all survived! Then for some of us DVACS had to go away. And we did it. Now, in Canada we are looking at the phase out of 2G Cellular. And 3G in a year or two! Lots of change and lots of work! Well, time to put on the big-boy-boots because all of the transitions and migrations of the last few years will be dwarfed by what’s coming! Here are some cold hard facts:

  • In Australia1 analog landline telephone service will be discontinued 18 months after broadband is made available;
  • New Zealand2 analog landline service will be phased out in 2024
  • In the United Kingdom3 analog landline telephone service will be phased out by 2025;
  • In the United States4 the Federal Communications Commission has given permission to the Telcos to phase out analog landline telephone service whenever the telco decides to do so!
  • Telus5 is on track to retire its copper network by early 2023;
  • Bell Canada is no longer offering DSL internet – because DSL works on plain old copper pairs;
  • Most Telcos in Canada are not installing copper phone lines in new developments.
  • The White Pages of the telephone books are getting thinner every year.
  • Reliable estimates indicate that something less than 37% of homes have a hardline phone connection – down from over 95% in 2004. And the number keeps dropping.

I believe that the handwriting is on the wall. Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) as we know it and love it today is going away. It is only a matter of time.

This does not mean that there will be no more telephones in the home, or in the business! The old familiar telephones will still work – but they will come to us over the internet. But while you may be able to talk over a voice over IP (VoIP) connection most existing alarm systems utilizing dialer technology will have great difficulty getting the message through.

What should you be doing? Here are CANASA’s suggestions:

  • STOP installing new installations on telephone dialer connections – STOP NOW;
  • Employ every opportunity to migrate your customers away from dialer service;
  • Promote the advantages of upgrading your customer’s alarm control equipment to new technology – sell them additional services – make more money too;
  • Start the dialog with your customers sooner rather than later;
  • For those customers who dig their heels in consider dialer capture to IP and/or cellular communications – last resort & you will lose download capabilities in some cases.

References:

1. https://www.vantagebroadband.com.au/voice
2. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=311682630416956
3. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9892033/Landline-phones-axed-2025-Digital-switchover-leads-fears-elderly-struggle-cope.html
4. https://spectrum.ieee.org/fcc-sets-rules-for-copper-phase-out
5. https://www.fiercetelecom.com/operators/canada-s-telus-track-to-retire-its-copper-network-by-early-2023