BT’s digital voice transformation programme Gordon Cannon, Head of all IP migration, BT Group 17th October 2017

The next step We’re taking the next step in the UK’s digital transformation – fully digital telephone services. BT intends for all its customers to be using fully digital telephone services by 2025. We’re planning now and starting early. Today, telephone calls are the only form of communication that travel over networks which have not been part of the digital revolution. Digital voice services from BT will keep the reliability, trust and familiarity of today’s services while enabling exciting new benefits and features. This is an international trend. Other global communications companies (Germany, Japan, Sweden, etc.) are ahead of us in the process of upgrading to digital telephone services.

This is an international trend Global telecommunications companies are rapidly pursuing digital approaches. Many other telecommunications providers are already progressing digital strategies with ambitious timescales. Deutsche Telekom have completed the migration of their customers to digital telephone services in Macedonia, Slovakia and Croatia. Swisscom are moving their customers and are aiming to migrate all 2M by the end of 2017. 2017 2018 2020

All BT’s voice customers are using digital telephone services When? First half: Openreach launches SOGEA, enabling communications providers (CPs) to offer new services. First customer pilots of BT’s new digital phone services. Second half: BT launches new services to consumers and small/medium businesses. BT’s move to digital will be customer-led in the first few years with elective migrations. All BT’s voice customers are using digital telephone services 2017 2018 2022 2025 Special services engagement. Autumn: new test facility opens at BT’s R&D site. Openreach running SOGEA & SOG.fast trials. EE system adopted – the same platform for fixed and mobile. Small scale internal trials. Start of planned migrations. In addition to voluntary migrations, CPs will need to plan to ensure 100% of customers move to digital telephone services by 2025.

Cooper/Fibre broadband cabinet What’s changing? The telephone service is changing from analogue to digital. It can be delivered over fibre and copper networks. All connectivity is via the customers router (provided by their communications provider). IP Voice IP Network Cooper/Fibre broadband cabinet Exchange Exchange Copper Frame WLR MPF Analogue Voice Service Provided by Openreach Analogue Voice Service Provided by CP Digital Voice Service Analogue Voice service

What’s changing? Analogue… Digital… Voice & BB from the Exchange Router Extension Sockets Master Socket (NTE5) Voice & BB from the Exchange Digital… Router Extension Sockets Master Socket (NTE5) Voice & BB from the Exchange

Things you need to know… This is not industry wide. Communications providers will run individual programmes over different timescales, using different technologies. The characteristics of a digital network are different to an analogue network. We anticipate that your existing analogue equipment will work over BT’s digital telephone services (and we’ll provide analogue adapter’s to help this as well as doing our best to ensure customers with special services are not migrated too early). But these analogue services will be working on a digital network, which has different technical characteristics. Testing is essential to understand compatibility. BT is committed to helping all industries understand the digital network to help you ensure services continue to work for those in your care. To facilitate this we’re opening a new test facility this Autumn, at Adastral Park, our R&D site, near Ipswich. It’s free to use and we hope you will come and test the compatibility of your equipment on the new digital network. We also want you to test your new equipment...

The opportunity for the telecare industry A new digital world opens up new possibilities for innovative services that can be provided for vulnerable customers e.g. advanced telehealth services. We are encouraging and fostering innovation. A digital telephony network – running applications and services designed for IP is far more capable than todays limited, one dimensional analogue telephone network. Products and services that use a digital network understand how the network works and adapt their behaviour to cope and continue to deliver services. We hope that you will use the test facility to help you develop new, digital versions of your products and services. We are here to help you embrace the opportunity for your industry.

Thank-you gordon.cannon@bt.com

Additional slides

How will BT manage special services customers? BT’s Consumer division will start migrating customers to digital telephone services in the second half of 2018. The first customers will be offered incentives to migrate when they place an order for fibre broadband. We intend to mark BT’s consumer customer records to show that they may have a special service and initially exclude them from the programme. We’d like the inbound CLI number used by special services providers to identify customers with a special service. This will be held confidentially. The BT agent or the customer will not be informed of the special service on the customers record, only that we think they may have a special service. Customers with marked records will be asked to check with their special service provider before migration to the digital voice network. Even if there is no marker the BT customer service advisor will explain that if the customer has a special service, they should inform their supplier before ordering a digital phone service.

Contingency planning BT’s Consumer division is contingency planning for the unlikely event that a customer with a special service places orders a digital telephone service before testing has taken place. BT will advise the customer to contact their special service provider. The customer will also be advised to plug the device into the ATA port on the back of the new router (this will supply 50V and dial tone). If this is not possible, the customer may be offered an Openreach visit to change the NTE5 to an NTE5C and also attach a isolator faceplate. BT takes no responsibility for the special service at the customers premises. Customers may be able to self install this solution however it is reliant on the NTE5c back-plate being pre installed as part of Openreach BAU activity (approx 2m installs p.a, against a 23m base).

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