Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

5G

Significant progress has been made with 5G. We’ve seen the 5G footprint improve across all networks. EE, O2, and Vodafone have also deployed 5G standalone in the last 12 months.

Standalone 5G delivers on the full promise of 5G with lower latency, higher data speeds, better efficiency, improved reliability and support for large-scale IoT.

2025 will continue to see both the 5G footprint and 5G capabilities improve.  2025 will also see the merger of Three UK and Vodafone, which should provide improvements for customers of both networks.

The PSTN Switch-Off

The PSTN switch-off will have a huge impact on the channel. For Jola, it has been the underlying reason for the majority of the growth we’ve experienced over the last 12 months. This compelling event leads businesses to reevaluate how they use telecom services to meet their business needs.  The conclusion in many cases has been that 4G and 5G services can do more for less without the complex or time-consuming installation of replacement fixed lines.

Satellite Connectivity

Satellite has the potential to have a significant impact on the channel.  Most resellers will be familiar with the need to deliver solutions to multi-branch businesses.  These businesses could be offices, retail locations, petrol forecourts, schools, EV charging stations, etc.  The reality is that a single operator is unlikely to be able to deliver the right service, on time and budget, to all these locations.  5G and satellite are an ideal solution to be installed rapidly and provide fibre-like performance, either as a precursor to fibre being installed or as the permanent solution.

We recently worked on a large retail rollout where satellite was chosen as the standard delivery mechanism and alternatives chosen only where satellite couldn’t be installed due to landlord restrictions.

The channel has an essential role in educating businesses to adopt new technologies. It is our responsibility to highlight products being switched off, such as 3G and PSTN, to help companies prepare, with improved, more cost-effective solutions.

Vehicle trackers, payment terminals and industrial handheld devices will stop working as 3G is switched off unless companies are presented with a future-proof solution.

5G is becoming more widely available and 5G hardware is reducing in price, making 5G a viable alternative to fixed line connectivity in some areas, offering customers a faster, more reliable solution.

Improving online security is becoming more of a priority with Denial-of-Service attacks on the increase. Jola has been running Fixed IP traffic over Cloudflare for many years protecting connected CCTV cameras and smart devices from attack.

Trusted advisors

End-user businesses don’t ask for information about a product, they ask for help solving a problem. The supplier who understands the challenges and proposes a simple, cost-effective solution, becomes the go-to advisor for similar challenges in the future.

What does it mean?

The ongoing PSTN switch-off represents a substantial business opportunity. Many major operators and resellers may underestimate the number of businesses using PSTN lines in locations where high-speed broadband is unnecessary. Resellers offering PSTN replacement solutions leveraging 4G find they are easy to sell. Many resellers will already be talking to their customers about the PSTN switch-off and guiding them towards appropriate solutions in plenty of time, potentially saving their customers money whilst making more margin.

Adapted offerings

Businesses don’t have ISDN, WLR3 or ADSL problems. Businesses have credit card payment processing, voice communication, security alarm monitoring and emergency lift line problems. The channel’s job is to be the trusted advisor and recommend the right solution for each problem. As a mobile broadband company, we’ve seen resellers use low-cost SIMs to solve all the problems mentioned above whilst saving their customers money and making more margin than they would be by simply pushing fibre-based solutions.

Retailers will need to replace single PSTN lines in lifts, payment terminals and alarm lines. Often mobile broadband solutions are faster, cheaper and more practical than fixed-line connectivity solutions. Selecting the right SIM package is key and managing the data costs is essential.

Jola helps partners uncover prospects with immediate requirements for mobile data SIMs. We help develop unique solutions to existing issues, they can't buy from anyone else at a competitive price for them and margin for partners. We are channel-only so by helping resellers fill their pipeline we are filling our own and can help pitch and close big deals. We are on hand to support MSPs and their customers throughout the buying process and post-sale and can help partners use this winning proposition to target and win similar deals.

During 2024 3G will be switched off by most, if not all, UK mobile operators. This transition will leave end-users stranded with devices that no longer work such as vehicle trackers, payment terminals, and industrial handheld devices. This situation presents a significant opportunity for the Channel to offer new devices paired with SIMs supporting 4G and 5G.

While most of the population will have access to 5G, fostering the adoption of higher bandwidth applications, SME businesses can expect optimal performance and value for money through (FTTP). In cases where FTTP is unavailable, 5G is likely to hugely outperform (SoGEA) based broadband in terms of performance and efficiency. The cost of 5G hardware is expected to decrease with advances in performance, making it an attractive investment.

The opportunity

The ongoing PSTN switch-off represents a substantial business opportunity. Many major operators and resellers may underestimate the amount of businesses using PSTN lines in locations where high-speed broadband is unnecessary. Resellers offering PSTN replacement solutions leveraging 4G find they are easy to sell. Many resellers will already be talking to their customers about the PSTN switch-off and guiding them towards appropriate solutions in plenty of time, potentially saving their customers money whilst making more margin.

Internet security is no longer a nice to have. In the mobile data space, the Fixed Public IP SIMs present the easiest attack surface for hackers.  There have been many examples of CCTV cameras, IoT devices, VoIP handsets and mobile data routers being hacked, used as part of botnets and used to facilitate DDoS attacks and telephony fraud.  At Jola, we’ve been running all our Fixed IP traffic through Cloudflare for two years and we now prevent hundreds of hacking attempts against our customers monthly.  

Businesses don’t have ISDN, WLR3 or ADSL problems. Businesses have credit card payment processing, voice communication, security alarm monitoring and emergency lift line problems. The channel’s job is to be the trusted advisor and recommend the right solution for each problem. As a mobile broadband company, we’ve seen resellers use low-cost SIMs to solve all the problems mentioned above whilst saving their customers money and making more margin than they would be by simply pushing fibre-based solutions.

The country will be split into businesses with type A and type B resellers. Type A resellers will already be talking to their customers about the PSTN switch-off and guiding them towards appropriate solutions in plenty of time, potentially saving their customers money whilst making more margin. Type B resellers will be too busy to worry about 2025, so they won’t proactively do anything about the PSTN switch-off.  As a result, they might lose some of their customers to the proactive Type A resellers. Alternatively, they will be having a very stressful time in 2025 when suddenly their customers are being bombarded by warnings coming from every direction about their services being disconnected and then rushing to prevent that from happening.

Are we ready?

Of course not!  The BT Digital Voice debacle and the Salisbury and Mildenhall delays show that neither industry nor customers are ready.

What support is available?

Businesses don’t have ISDN, WLR3 or ADSL problems.  Businesses have credit card payment processing, voice communication, security alarm monitoring and emergency lift line problems.  It’s the job of the channel to be the trusted advisor and recommend the right solution for each of these problems.  As a mobile broadband specialist, we’ve seen resellers use low-cost SIMs to solve all the problems mentioned above whilst saving their customers money and making more margin than they would be simply pushing fibre-based solutions as the solution to every problem.

How will it all play out?

I think the country will be split into businesses with type A resellers and businesses with type B resellers.  Type A resellers will already be talking to their customers about the PSTN switch-off and guiding them towards appropriate solutions in plenty of time, potentially saving their customers money whilst making more margin.  Type B resellers will be too busy to worry about 2025, so they won’t be proactively doing anything about the PSTN switch-off.  As a result, they might lose some of their customers to the proactive Type A resellers.  Alternatively, they’re going to be having a very stressful time in 2025 when suddenly their customers are being bombarded by warnings coming from every direction about their services being disconnected and then rushing to prevent that from actually happening.

With technologies being switched off (PSTN, ISDN, 3G) and the current economic climate, demand for cost-effective, managed mobile data solutions from the Channel, has never been so high.

Hotels and care homes are replacing single phone lines with managed 4G solutions and other single PSTN applications like lifts, alarm lines and door entry systems are following suit. There is a need for secure pre-configured 4G routers for digital signage, temporary WiFi for construction sites and fixed IP SIMs for CCTV cameras. Multi-Net SIMs are required for ANPR cameras, wearables and tracking devices. 3G SIMs in thousands of devices from fixed line backup to street signs need to be replaced.

The list goes on, and the opportunity for the channel is massive. The challenge is finding the opportunities each partner can win and to do this Jola has come up with a unique process called The Mobile Data Revenue Generator™.

Jola is helping channel partners uncover prospects with immediate requirements for mobile data SIMs. We help develop unique solutions that partners can't buy from anyone else, at a competitive price and healthy margin. We are channel-only so partners can trust us to help them pitch and close deals. We are on hand to support partners and their customers throughout the buying process and we can help create winning propositions, producing large, high-margin long-term contracts.

Telephone lines as we know them will not exist in a few years’ time and millions of end users will need to decide what to do with their existing phone numbers. Jola has come up with a free white-label application that resellers can use with their customers to forward calls from landlines to mobiles or to add landline numbers to mobile data SIMs.

Jola operates both a mobile data network and a SIP network and has developed an innovative application that partners can re-brand. CloudNumber is available to download free from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Instead of having to use an analogue phone or Analogue Telephone Adapter (ATA), CloudNumber allows users to connect to Jola’s PSTN replacement services via their mobile phone. Experts in number porting, Jola can facilitate the porting of both landline and mobile numbers. Jola partners have the choice of ordering new numbers or easily porting customers’ landline numbers, who can carry on making and receiving calls, without the need for any additional hardware.

There are millions of individual PSTN lines in the UK that are soon to be end-of-life. Upgrading to broadband is an expensive overkill solution and can come with significant upfront costs.

Jola is in a unique position as the sole channel-only provider of both mobile data & SIP and has put together a webinar which focuses on PSTN Replacement Toolkits with multiple solutions for every requirement.

A record number of participants have signed up for the webinar. With the PSTN switch-off looming, the channel is looking for cost-effective solutions they can sell, deliver and control with ease.

Jola has created zero-CapEx hardware rental packages for single PSTN lines supporting phone calls, alarms, EPOS machines, door entry systems, CCTV, lift lines and calling kiosks, among many others. 

‘Resellers can replace common PSTN solutions at a really competitive price, managing operations and usage within Mobile Manager. End-users can retain their existing numbers and choose their preferred SIP Overlay solution with additional options such as voicemail and call recording.” Lee Broxson, CSO, Jola.

There are millions of individual PSTN lines in the UK that are soon to be end-of-life. Upgrading to broadband is an expensive overkill solution and can come with significant upfront costs.

Jola has solved this problem for resellers and their customers by creating zero-CapEx mobile data rental packages for single PSTN lines serving phone calls, alarms, EPOS machines, door entry systems, CCTV, faxes, lift lines and calling kiosks, among many others.

We have a wide range of DaaS (Device-as-a-Service) bundles which include the router, the SIM card, the SIP Trunk, porting, ATA and airtime. There are no upfront costs and in-term devices can be upgraded, with faulty equipment getting an advanced replacement as standard.

Resellers can replace common PSTN solutions at a really competitive price, managing operations and usage within Mobile Manager. End-users can retain their existing numbers and choose their preferred SIP Overlay solution with additional options such as voicemail and call recording.