The last few years have been witness to several line rental increases in the telecommunications industry. The sector giant, BT, is the main culprit and there’s no indication that they will be easing up any time soon.
In 2011, BT increased their line rental prices for the third time in 14 months, and increased prices again in 2012 by 5.9%. During 2014 BT announced a price increase of 6.5%, which was put into effect by the end of that year. Most recently, and perhaps most alarming, in 2016 there was the hit of two price increases in one year by BT.
It’s clear that line rental prices are only going to continue to increase, but why is this? Among other things, it has been argued that the impending ISDN switch-off is a key cause. If this is the case it can be expected that prices will only increase further as the switch-off for traditional phone lines moves closer.
The switch-off has been announced to be fully implemented by 2025, with ISDN lines being unavailable for purchase from 2020. The migration to SIP technology has already begun, with 40% of the UK business market currently on SIP and the expectation that SIP will become the majority within the next 12 months.
Find out more about what the switch to SIP could mean for your business.