PDPL Lines and Calls

The Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is the aggregate of telephone networks across the world, managed at a national, regional, and local level. It was originally made up of copper wire circuits and designed for analogue voice communication. As technology has developed and usage and requirements have changed over the years, it has become clear that the PSTN is no longer fit for purpose and there are more effective and efficient means of transferring data and communicating. The UK public telephone network is moving from an analogue service to an Internet Protocol (IP) based service, and as such, network operators BT, Virgin Media and KCOM will cease all analogue provisions across the UK by December 2025.

In the past 18 months there has been a series of work to remove PSTN from the estate. This includes transitioning PSTN enabled internet services to digital (SOGEA), and removing PSTN phone lines which are not required and no longer in use.

There remains a residual number of PSTN lines needed for the following functions

• Lines needed for voice services which need the E5 Teams solution • Telemetry services which cannot be converted to digital • Facility Management Services for lifts and CCTV

This project seeks to ensure service continuity for residual PSTN lines by issuing a PSTN Contract for 1 year with an option to extend for an additional year.