ADSL PN Customer Numbers & PSTN closure

[#1]

Having established the likely fate of my PN ADSL broadband when the PSTN is closed, (ie it will be ceased), and noting that for other ADSL customers the issue will soon be within the timescale of any new contracts, I could not help wondering how many other PN customers would be in the same situation

The internet yielded the following:

Number of Residential ADSL lines in Britain = 2.2m., (from Statistica)

PN market share = 7.6%, (from Broadband Genie 2024).

I made the assumption that all proportions are evenly distributed. This is unlikely to be true but it’s the best I could do.

Thus the number of PN ADSL customers would be circa: 7.6% x 2,200,000 = 167,200.

The exact number is not important, what is, is that it is a lot.

[#2]

Moderator's note:
Thread moved from Broadband to Everything Else

[#3]

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@Archer wrote:

Having established the likely fate of my PN ADSL broadband when the PSTN is closed, (ie it will be ceased),

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Plusnet have made no anouncement yet on how this will be resolved. However, comments such as 'it will be ceased' suggests that one day the line will simply go dead.

Nothing will happen without due notice being given. One can only assume that customers will be encouraged to transfer to BT/EE.

[#4]

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@Baldrick1 wrote:
One can only assume that customers will be encouraged to transfer to BT/EE.

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It rather depends on whether FTTC or FTTP is available from OR.

If not, then a move to EE won't be possible, as they don't offer SOADSL. BT do offer it, but whether the price is comparable to Plusnet I'm not so sure. 

In any case regardless of whether there is an upgrade path, there are a LOT of customers that have to be migrated or ceased.

If Plusnet allow 6 months for the process, it is around 1000 customers a day that have to be migrated. I suspect that Plusnet may have more than their fair share of ADSL customers (since many other ISPs gave up on it some years ago), so it may well be worse than that.

Leaving it all to the last minute isn't going to end well.

[#5]

@Archer 

With PN closing their phone services this probably won't be of any use to PN customers but OR are working on a product called SOTAP for Analogue.

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2023/11/openreach-prep-alternative-uk-analogue-style-phone-pro...

I can't find the article but I'm sure I saw this mentioned last week sometime.

Brian

[#6]

SOTAP will only be offered as a temporary solution (until ~2030) for cases where no FTTC or FTTP is available. It won't be available for new customers, it is purely to satisfy the requirement for an emergency phone service to existing customers.

As customers upgrade, move, or die, the number of SOTAP connections will fall - so by the time it is withdrawn it won't be much of a problem.