2025 will see the end of an era. The analogue phone system that has kept us all in touch for more than a century will be switched off and telephone calls will be routed over the internet instead. Chris Partridge reports
End of the line W
hy will the phone as we know it, not be part of the future? The aim is mainly to save costs, and the cost of maintaining the vast network of copper wires to every business and home in the country is vast. And users are already voting with their wallets and disconnecting their landlines in favour of internet telephony or their mobile phones. The analogue system is dying. When the great switch-off happens, most people will barely notice. Their phone number will stay the same. All they will have to do is unplug the phone from the old landline and transfer it to a gadget called an analogue telephone adaptor (ATA)
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attached to the broadband router. New routers and wifi hubs are coming out with an ATA built in, so all you have to do is plug the old phone into the BT-style socket at the back. Clear advantages Many will want to take full advantage of the benefits of digital telephony, including low call costs, easy integration of phone calls with business software and the magical ability to have the same number on multiple devices, such as your mobile, your home and your laptop – anywhere you can get an internet connection. You will never miss a call again. This will probably involve investing
