Voiceflex Launch SoGEA Phone to Replace Landlines for UK ISPs
Telecoms carrier Voiceflex has launched a new product – SoGEA Voice, which is aimed at broadband ISPs that are looking to replace their old traditional landline phone services with a new IP based solution on Openreach’s Single Order Generic Ethernet Access (SoGEA) products.
Just to recap. SoGEA is essentially a stand-alone (naked) broadband service for copper lines, which enables customers to take a data only connection without needing a traditional phone (voice) service to be taken. The product is important because of the plan to switch-off the old Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and adopt an “All IP” (Internet Protocol) based network by December 2025.
However, some people (e.g. those who can’t get FTTP yet) on copper broadband lines will still want a home phone service after 2025 and so Voiceflex has developed a SoGEA friendly phone service that ISPs can offer to consumers, which could be handy if the provider doesn’t fancy spending the time and money to develop their own VoIP style phone service for such lines.
Advertisement
A Spokesperson for Voiceflex said:
“28 million PSTN lines are installed in the UK and they all must be replaced by the end of 2025. This represents a billion pound a year market not only for SoGEA but FTTP and localised ISPs providing full fibre who will take some market share.
With any change there is always opportunity – SoGEA will act as the catalyst for change and there will be many other products and services sold on the back of a SoGEA implementation. Voiceflex launched SoGEA Voice as a direct replacement for PSTN with various 21st century additions. SoGEA Voice is a new platform built for single line users, leveraging our extensive experience gained from building our award-winning SIP carrier platform.”
End.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
« ISPA UK Start Hunting for the 2021 Best Broadband ISPs
“direct replacement of a telephone line” no mention anywhere of voice quality, QoS or the need for power backup.
The Voip service Sky gives is rubbish I am glad when I moved it was not an option and I have to have a physical phone line.
I’ve still not seen anything about how ultra long lines will be dealt with, although rare lines do exist that won’t provide ADSL at any speed, I know a few here in Devon where ADSL has been formally withdrawn as it simply doesn’t work, how will these customers retain a voice service? They generally have no mobile signal at these locations either..
Ofcom’s current position is that BT and Kcom have to explain how they intend meet their obligations. Realistically both the telephony and broadband USO subsidy thresholds need to be increased if it is to be fair and met by fixed provision. The number of premises that are phone only will be a lot smaller by 2025.
ADSL/FTTC will be with some of us long after the PSTN closure and not just in remote parts. Urban will have Gig overbuild in most streets but there will also be others with none.
We switched to a SIP provider years ago (voipfone) which works a treat of both the altnets and VM (been on both). I’m genuinely surprised more people have not done the same.
Can you make 999 calls over it?
My father has heart failure and was told he needed a backup system that connected to mobile networks to make 999 calls, if his broadband went down but the back could not get a mobile signal where he lived so he is now stuck anyone know what we can do?
This is the concern I have for when the traditional copper phone line starts being closed. Will it be susceptible to network outages (in the traditional ISP sense) or will it run independently from it? Will a small UPS back up work if the power goes down?