Theo Blackwell MBE (pictured above, right), chief digital officer for London, Greater London Authority, explained he is concerned there will be “some really bad case studies” over the next two years as citizens have low awareness of the transition to fully digital services by 2025.
The national closure of the analogue Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is scheduled for December 2025, with no new connections to PSTN or ISDN lines from this month unless an IP-based alternative is unavailable.
In preparation for the PSTN switch-off, landline services will need to be replaced with a VoIP solution and other services that rely on the PSTN will also need to be upgrade.
The switch-off, Blackwell argued, is not getting the national profile it requires and local authorities need funding to ensure the transition can be smooth for citizens.
He said, “The costs that are coming in at the local authority level are very high as they need to replace all telecare for older people and the way it is being done, with communications providers contacting an older person about switching off their telecare, is pretty insane.”
Blackwell said one local authority in London is “citing costs of £8 million” to manage upgrading telecare for its citizens. He added, “More and more problems are being thrown up each day. It hasn’t got the national profile it deserves, and I think there are going to be some really bad case studies of actual people coming out of this.”
Blackwell was speaking as part of a discussion at Connected Britain in London yesterday, led by Sophie James, head of telecoms and spectrum policy at techUK (pictured above, left).