Time to digitize all landlines, once and for all (of us)

There has been a public challenge to the fact that AT&T is retiring its copper landlines in the state of California.  This issue, however, is much bigger than the state of California and AT&T.  It is not only national but global as well.  In the US alone, there are estimates from 35 million to 100 million landlines still in operation (depending on how you count them), about 14 million of which are business lines.

Beyond AT&T, over the past few years, quietly and discreetly, the world’s biggest telecom providers have been retiring their physical copper lines to transition to the next era.

Digital transformation of copper lines – like most IT infrastructure – is better for telecommunications carriers/network providers and businesses alike, as copper networks are expensive to maintain and unreliable with gradual deterioration accelerating over the past decade.  Meanwhile, the costs to maintain copper lines have grown to anywhere from 5x–10x traditional rates, making them untenable.

Patching old IT infrastructure is no different than the dangers posed by doing the same with critical physical infrastructure of our roads, bridges, and tunnels as they fall into disrepair.  The US is making the largest federal investment in infrastructure in decades but our copper wire infrastructure is not a part of that. It’s still the synapse network that connects most alarm, elevator, and first responder communications lines. Neglecting it by not moving forward imperials us all.

This is the inevitable end of the lifespan of legacy infrastructure.   A new digital era is beginning that will provide a more cost-effective, resilient, and reliable long-term alternative.   Despite the inconvenience of change, this should be welcome news, especially for CIOs as well as building owners and local authorities who are responsible for the validity of cash registers and critical systems supporting elevators, fire, and burglar alarms as well as even FAX lines, in some industries like healthcare.

The need to digitize plain old telephone lines (POTS) is clear and now.  In the telecommunications industry, this transition is called POTS transformation or POTS replacement.  And it’s crucial to maintaining the uninterrupted service of critical communications to support business continuity and security, human safety, and regulatory compliance.

The digital transformation of copper landlines has saved enterprises across the commercial and government sectors millions of dollars in telecom costs while building resilience into the fraying landlines that serve as literal lifelines for millions of people and businesses.  It is also supported by public safety organizations like the New York City Fire Department. 

The technology, a new branch of the VOIP category, uses a special adapter that translates analog into a digital signal that accesses major cellular networks.  It can provide primary connectivity for voice and data or wireless back-up to ensure business connectivity, even during network outages.  Dual SIMs can provide added fail-over protection to ensure connectivity for emergency lines.

We can’t afford to keep kicking the can down the road and paying more to maintain obsolete technology.  It’s time to transform for the future.  And the future starts now.