Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

2025 has been a pivotal year for the UK’s transition to All-IP. We’ve seen a significant acceleration in the migration away from PSTN and ISDN services, driven by a combination of industry readiness, better communication from providers, and increased end-user awareness.

At Jola, we’ve helped hundreds of channel partners seamlessly migrate their customers to IP-based alternatives. Thanks to automation, APIs, and flexible provisioning, partners can now deliver voice and connectivity services that are not only more reliable and scalable but also easier to manage.

While the national migration figures look strong, there’s still a noticeable divide between large enterprises—who began planning early—and SMEs, who are only now starting to make the switch. That’s where the channel has played a crucial role, and Jola’s partners have been at the forefront of that movement.

Challenges

Early in the process, confusion over product equivalence and interoperability was a major barrier. Many organisations were unsure how to replace legacy life lines, alarm systems, and other critical monitoring equipment that depended on analogue lines.

Through 2025, these technical challenges have largely been addressed. The industry now offers mature connectivity solutions—like 4G and 5G LTE products—that can meet the reliability and resilience needs of these systems.

For Jola and our partners, automation has been key to overcoming the operational complexity of mass migration. Our SIM management portal (Mobile Manager), and provisioning APIs have simplified what was once a highly manual process. This has allowed resellers to migrate thousands of lines efficiently while maintaining customer confidence and minimising downtime.

Work to do

Although awareness is improving, the final stretch is always the hardest. Many small businesses and service providers still underestimate the urgency of migration—particularly those using legacy equipment such as life lines, fire and security alarms, and building management systems that rely on PSTN connectivity.

The challenge now is education: helping every business understand that the PSTN switch-off isn’t just about phone lines; it’s about ensuring that every device and service dependent on analogue connectivity is ready for the digital future.

Jola continues to invest in supporting partners with the right products and resources to manage that transition. Whether that’s through 4G/5G failover, VoIP-ready Fixed Wireless Access products, or specialist M2M SIMs for critical infrastructure, we’re making sure no customer gets left behind.

Government Support

Government awareness campaigns have improved in 2025, particularly through collaborations with Ofcom and the major network operators. However, the most effective communication has come from the channel.

Local resellers and MSPs—often supported by wholesale providers like Jola—are the ones engaging directly with the businesses still reliant on legacy lines. We’d like to see even greater clarity and coordination from central bodies to reduce mixed messaging, but overall, the visibility of the 2025 deadline has never been higher.

Innovation

All-IP isn’t just a replacement for legacy networks—it’s an enabler for innovation. Once every connection is digital, the possibilities for integration, automation, and AI-driven service delivery expand dramatically.

We’re already seeing partners bundle IP voice, mobile data, IoT, and unified communications into end-to-end solutions that deliver measurable value to customers. At Jola, we’re excited about the opportunities this creates for our channel. With a fully digital network, partners can deliver more intelligent, data-driven services, faster provisioning, and greater control than ever before.

The switch-off marks the end of an era—but more importantly, it’s the beginning of a smarter, more connected one.

Most suppliers have a quoting tool and say they have the best pricing and support, so how do you choose between them?

Choose someone you know and trust with experience managing multiple carriers and overcoming common issues.

Find someone interconnected with all the major operators, who has a simple tool you can enter a postcode and receive all the options quickly.

Consider someone with an easy ordering platform, which keeps you in the loop automatically, so you can keep your customers informed on order progress.

How can they help you differentiate your services from the competition?

Jola

As a team, we have over 70 years’ experience selling white label internet connectivity to the channel. Even if you are an accomplished reseller, it is useful to have someone on your side that really understands the technologies available, who can help to quote custom solutions and overcome common problems.

By partnering with Jola, you can offer a wide range of internet services, can quote customers onsite and provide unique 4G back-up solutions, you can’t buy from anyone else.

We have the widest range of fixed line and mobile services at the best prices.

Jola is connected via APIs to every major UK Ethernet network and a selection of the best Ethernet ‘unbundlers’. The process for quoting and ordering is automated and partners have access to all of the following services, so are well placed to find the best solution for their customer, wherever they are located in the UK.

Fixed line connectivity

FTTC broadband is reliable and offers up to 80Mb/s download speeds. All our Ethernet services are uncontended and symmetrical (upstream speeds are the same as downstream). EFM (Ethernet First Mile) offers speeds up to 35Mb/s, depending on how far the customer is from the exchange. Ethernet over Fibre To The Cabinet (EoFTTC) offers speeds up to 20Mb/s and fibre Ethernet leased lines offer speeds of up to 10Gb/s.

4G

In areas where fixed line internet is not available, or for short term contracts, 4G up to 50Mb/s may be an option. Jola offers up to 200GB monthly data packages, which can be monitored within devices and additional data bolt-ons added to avoid high overage charges.

Of course our industry is awash with regulation so I have tried to focus on areas that are connected and help us think about the shape of our businesses in the future. In summary, the UK government and the EU are taking steps to increase internet speeds and reduce cost. This will accelerate the adoption of business cloud products and the Internet of Things (IoT).

1. Openreach to be legally separated from BT

Ok so this is probably not going to have much of an impact in 2017 but it is worthy of comment. Openreach has performed poorly in terms of service levels and network refresh and Ofcom have had enough. Although they have fallen short of insisting on a structural separation, this should at least see the UK’s local loop freed from the influence of its biggest customer. The best case for business and Openreach in the long term, is probably that Openreach move completely away from copper and roll-out fibre to the premises. This would enable them to sell off 80% of their property and most of their copper, funding the move to fibre. It would also result in fewer staff and a more reliable network.

2. UK government intervention with 5G and FTTP

Buried in the 2016 Autumn Statement was funding and tax holidays for companies competing with Openreach on fibre roll-out. Under pressure from the National Infrastructure Commission, the government has committed £1bn to 5G trials and is hinting at even more funding in the next budget. 4G has only been a partial success in the UK. Although it offers faster speeds and a more stable signal, it is expensive compared to a physical connection and the UK is only 54^th in the world in terms of coverage. 5G is expected to offer speeds of up to 300Mbs and the government's target is 2025 for full coverage. For further information click here. 

3. Abolition of mobile roaming charges in the EU

At present mobile operators can charge travellers to European member states up to 19 cents (14p) a minute for outgoing calls, five cents for incoming calls, six cents per text message, and 20 cents per megabyte of data downloaded, on top of their normal tariff. In April 2017 those costs will be reduced to five cents per minute, two cents per SMS and five cents per MB. Roaming charges will be completely removed by June 2017. This is a significant benefit to consumers in EU member states and is likely to lead to an acceleration in usage, particularly data usage, which is being used more and more to carry voice, video and texts. Companies with devices throughout the EU that need to be connected to the internet will no longer need to manage carriers in different countries.

Be the bearer

10 years ago we saw demand for white label managed broadband. Traditional telecommunications providers decided to sell own-branded internet connectivity. Their objective was often to win future hosted telephony business running over their data connection. They were billing and supporting new revenue streams, increasing ARPU and the potential value of their companies.

Today we are seeing the same trend with managed mobile data. IT companies are adding fixed and mobile data connectivity to their portfolios to act as a conduit for the sale of hosted services. Their objective is to support devices and applications connected to the internet.

Demand

4G routers are being used as primary connections where broadband service is poor but also for pre-Ethernet connectivity and Ethernet back-up. Mobile data SIMs are being fitted in many gaming machines, vending machines, monitoring devices, sensors and ATMs as standard. Every day manufacturers and service companies are finding new uses for mobile data and as we accelerate towards 5G this is unlikely to slow down.

SMEs are demanding faster, more competitive access to the internet, whether that be wired, wireless or 4G. Services are viewed as a commodity so businesses want to know what is available at what speed and who has the best deal. Partnering with companies who have multi-carrier quoting tools and experience working with the carriers, is essential to winning the business.

Mobile data

Mobile data has its own unique set of challenges. Managing usage is essential to avoid bill shock. Partnering with companies that have portals to allow you to manage vast estates of data SIMs at a touch of a button, will help to grow this revenue stream.

According to a recent report by IDC the implementation of Internet of Things (IoT) is growing exponentially due to several simultaneous new developments: leaps in innovation around computing, storage and analytics; falling technology costs; and a sharp jump in mobile device use. They predict that by 2020, there will be 28 billion connected units globally and the market for IoT solutions will top £5.6 trillion. They see growth from the business market outstripping that of the consumer market.

In the channel we are seeing an exponential rise in demand for mobile data SIMs and not only for use in 3G/4G routers, pre-Ethernet connectivity and Ethernet back-up. Mobile data SIMs are being fitted in many gaming machines, vending machines, monitoring devices, sensors and ATMs as standard. Every day manufacturers and service companies are finding new uses for mobile data and as we accelerate towards 5G this is unlikely to slow down.

The challenges

The issue for many is one of management. Unlike FTTC, which is largely unlimited (usually with a fair use policy), mobile broadband is sold with monthly usage allowances and financial penalties for over usage. Pricing is high and there has been no easy management portal until now.

The company that supplies the internet connection to an SME is often the first choice for cloud applications like online backup, 365 and cloud voice. Many SMEs will default to BT even though they may not offer the best and most cost-effective solution. Local IT and Telecoms providers can capture this business and secure future cloud opportunities, by following three simple rules.

Rule 1 – Use the waiters list

If your SME cannot currently get fibre broadband or justify an Ethernet circuit, contact your connectivity partner who can add them to the waiters list. As soon as fibre broadband becomes available, you will be alerted and can contact your customer with the details.

Rule 2 – Monitor movers and shakers

Around 1% of UK SMEs move office every month and half again will open an additional office. There are 5.5m SMEs in the UK so that’s 82,500 opportunities to sell a new connectivity circuit every month. Our most successful Partners have regular (3 to 6-monthly) scheduled reviews with customers where they get wind of early plans for expansion. Also consider regular emails re-enforcing the portfolio of products you can quote for.

Rule 3 – Monitor contract end-dates

The cost of bandwidth is halving every year and BT are very active in re-signing Ethernet and fibre broadband customers to new terms before they come out of contract. Although these new terms look favourable, they are often much more expensive than the new market price. Find out the expiry dates of your customers’ connectivity, make a note in the diary and bring it up at every review. BT are now set up to accept a phone call as a legally binding contract and many SMEs have been caught out by this. Advise your customers not to agree to anything until they have spoken to you.

We have been talking for years about the tipping point. That point in time when internet connectivity is fast enough, cheap enough and reliable enough for organisations to benefit from the cloud. Jola’s experience has been that many SMEs are still struggling with broadband and this is inhibiting their adoption of cloud services. Superfast broadband and dedicated circuits for businesses are now available at around 20% of the cost of traditional leased lines.

UK SMEs are lagging behind when it comes to the adoption of ‘The Cloud’ when their only way of accessing critical applications and data is over an unpredictable, insecure, best-efforts broadband circuit. If SMEs are dissatisfied with their internet connection when it is being used for web browsing and email, they are unlikely to run their telephone system, accounts packages and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems over it too.

When looking for the right internet connection for your customers, there are a few things to consider.

What internet connectivity is available in the location?

Typing a postcode into a proprietary broadband checker will tell you what products and speeds are available but usually only from a single supplier. Look for multi-carrier business broadband and Ethernet checkers if you want to see all the available products in one place. The best ones also have integrated quoting and ordering systems and those for dealers allow you to add your own branding, see your margin share and add links for customers to order online.

Voice resellers and IT support companies are coming across tenders to upgrade internet connectivity and traditional telephony more frequently. Many are turning to Jola for help because they have years’ of experience with bespoke solutions and have a leading cloud-hosted telephony platform.

The restaurant chains tend to ask for more complex MPLS solutions to connect multiple sites rolling out over years, however smaller chains and single restaurants are being set up almost overnight.