What is a stop sell area and what does it mean? Find out with our latest blog.
The full fibre rollout is full steam ahead thanks to Openreach and its partners and some areas of the UK are pressing ahead quicker than others.
Back in 2018, Openreach announced the closure of the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) by 2025. The PSTN is the backbone of the fixed line telephone network and has been using both underground and overhead copper wiring since the late 1800s. Fast forward 200 years and the world is now a different place. As a result, the PSTN has seen a decline in use and is being replaced by new, exciting digital technologies.
Although 2025 might be three years away yet, some areas of the UK will be impacted by the PSTN closure much earlier. In those areas this will mean that full-fibre connectivity is readily available. But, in turn, products that use the PSTN, including analogue and ISDN lines will be withdrawn.
Openreach Stop Sell Salisbury
On Tuesday 1 December 2020, Salisbury entered a ‘stop sell’ which means that, in Salisbury, businesses aren’t able to order any new WLR (Wholesale Line Rental) services including analogue or ISDN phone lines. They are also unable to add new phone lines or channels to existing installations.
However, over 22,000 businesses and homes in Salisbury are now full fibre enabled. This arguably makes Salisbury top of the pile when it comes to having fibre available to its citizens and businesses.
Salisbury might be the first to stop selling telecoms which utilise the PSTN network but it certainly won’t be the last. In fact, multiple towns and cities have already been impacted by a stop sell.
A UK-wide restriction on WLR products will follow in September 2023 so it’s important that businesses begin looking at migration options sooner rather than later.
What is a stop sell? And what happens?
Stop sell is a term used by Openreach to describe an area where it has stopped the sale of certain products. If a product is affected by stop sell, it won’t just impact the sale of new supply but will also restrict current WLR services.
However, stop sell is different to a product withdrawal. Any customer within a stop sell area can continue to use the product until it is eventually withdrawn.
Therefore, business which use ISDN or analogue lines will need to migrate to SIP Trunking or VoIP solutions.
What to do?
Firstly, don’t worry! The rollout of full fibre will transform business communications across the UK and it’s expected to boost productivity by £59 billion every year.
If you’re in a stop sell area and you’re currently a Daisy Communications customer, we’ll be contacting you about your options. We’ll explain the process and whether any of your services you hold with us will be affected.
However, if you’re not a Daisy Comms customer, we’re still here to talk you through your options. Our experts will happily give you advice on what the process will be and what your business needs to do to ensure it’s ready.
All analogue and ISDN lines will be switched off in stop sell areas and you’ll need to assess the impact on other equipment or services the switch off might have. New products will be coming to Daisy Comms to help businesses migrate through the changes but if you’re looking to get ahead of the curve, our networking options might be a good place to start.
To see if you’re in a full fibre enabled area, take a look at our postcode checker here
