With OpenReach now ‘throttling’ broadband speeds and limiting phone calls as measures designed to gently “nudge” customers to upgrade as the “Big Switchoff” approaches, we look at exactly what’s happening, why, and when.

What Is The Great Switchoff? 

The “Big Switchoff” refers to the switch from the old copper phone network to a new ‘Digital Voice’ alternative. Back in April 2021, BT Openreach announced that starting from the end of the year and finishing in 2025, it would be “switching off the UK telephone network as we know it” by moving 15 million lines (some figures say switching 29 million home landlines) from analogue to a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) based replacement telephone service. The “Big Switchover” to digital was branded ‘Digital Voice.’

This means that the Internet (broadband) will be used to digitally carry telephone calls rather than traditional copper wires – i.e. landline voice calls will be transmitted digitally.  In individual homes, this will mean that people will plug a new digital phone, powered by mains electricity, into their router rather than a socket in the wall.

Also Means The End For ISDN 

Switching off the UK’s traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN) will also mean the end for ISDN because it uses the copper wire phone network. Also, BT Openreach will not be accepting new orders for PSTN, and ISDN2 and ISDN30 services after September 2023.

Why? 

The old PSTN is reaching the end of its life and is becoming increasingly difficult and costly to maintain, therefore Openreach is looking to ditch the legacy copper network completely so it won’t have to pay to run two parallel networks. Also, there are now more up-to-date alternatives that are compatible with how we communicate today, i.e. mobile and Internet communications. Some advantages for customers of the switch-over to VoIP could include:

– VoIP offers a greater breadth of capabilities.

– Cost savings and fewer system failures and outages and reduced complexity for providers.

– Scalability and portability (VoIP phone systems can go wherever the company goes).

– Greater communications-mobility, flexibility, and increased productivity and collaboration.

– Better security that’s continuously updated.

– Greater reliability.

– Improved customer experiences.

– Clearer calls, making it easier to keep existing numbers, and the choice to have broadband provided separately from the telephone service.

– Better identification and prevention of nuisance calls, thereby saving businesses time and money and potentially protecting against scammers.

Now The Throttling Starts 

Throttling refers to the intentional slowing down of internet speeds by an internet service provider (ISP) during certain times or for certain types of online activities. In the context of the impending “Big Switchoff”, Openreach has announced that it is planning to trial a set of service management measures to encourage customers still using analogue phone lines to contact their provider and upgrade to new, digital alternatives.

The trials in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and Mildenhall, Suffolk, will see “restrictions” introduced that will prevent out-bound telephone calls (calls to the emergency services will not be affected) and the limiting of broadband speeds (throttling), in order to prompt customer action.

A Nudge 

James Lilley, Director for Managed Customer Migrations at Openreach said of the trials: “A small minority of customers are yet to upgrade despite several attempts by their service provider to contact them, so we’re planning some gentle measures which will nudge them to contact their provider and have a conversation about their future service.” 

Deadlines 

Openreach notified its Communications Providers (CP) customers in January last year that the analogue services would be withdrawn in the trial areas by 19 April 2023, but that deadline has been extended to October 9 this year to test the new service measures.

The trials are reported to have been running since December 2020 and May 2021 respectively to test a set of processes for upgrading the UK’s decades old analogue network to new digital products and services.

Openreach says that “for those remaining on the legacy network who don’t have an agreed exemption, Openreach will introduce a reduction in broadband download speeds to around 2Mbps from April 24, followed by a barring of out-bound calls, from June 5. The changes will be introduced in batches to better manage customer responses.” 

Openreach also says that it’s still on track for the UK wide switch off at the end of 2025.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

The “Big Switchoff” at the end of 2025 of the old PTSN network and the move to ‘Digital Voice’ and VoIP should mean a more flexible, reliable, scalable, and more secure communications service that’s more capable of keeping up with the demands of the modern digital world which hopefully could deliver cost savings. At the current time, however, many businesses in the UK are still frustrated by not having particularly fast broadband speeds, plus the fact that the UK is lagging behind in terms of the 5G network, and at that many rural areas have no reliable broadband anyway. Also, they still have to wait until the end of 2025 to enjoy the full benefits of the digital switchover.

However, on the positive side, at least Openreach has allowed time to conduct enough tests and trials to hopefully iron any issues and ensure a smooth switchover from analogue that minimises costly disruption to businesses.

A Mimecast spokesman has warned that in a labour market already stretched by shortages, Dutch digital resilience could be threatened if more attention isn’t paid to the mental well-being of cyber security professionals.

Wanting To Change Jobs 

Recent research commissioned by Mimecast in the Netherlands showed that a quarter of Dutch IT professionals are considering changing jobs in two years due to the risk of ‘burnout.’ Although burnout rates in the Netherlands among cyber security specialists are lower that the global average – 35 per cent as compared to 56 per cent – the research revealed that stress levels are high. It is thought that burnout rates are only as low as they are due to a ‘part-time’ culture, a good national work-life balance, and an innate cultural directness that highlights issues early.

What Kind Of Stresses? 

The kind of stresses and fears identified by the Mimecast research that cyber security professionals are facing, are reported to be:

– Security cutbacks at organisations.

– An increasing threat of cyber attacks.

– Feeling unrecognised in their work.

– Increasing media coverage of ransomware attacks making security professionals feel pressure to prepare properly.

– Fears about cyber insurance coverage and fear of potentially devastating attacks on critical infrastructure.

– Added pressure from the high workload caused by a chronic shortage of cyber specialists.

Could Affect Dutch Cyber Resilience 

The implications of cyber security professionals leaving the industry due to burnout and changing careers could be that Dutch businesses and organisations may be more at risk of successful cybers attacks, the loss of valuable knowledge and expertise in the industry, greater pressure on those left behind, plus making it more difficult for many  companies to find and afford cyber security professionals – i.e. low supply and high demand.

In Australia Too 

An Australian study from not-for-profit cyber mental health support initiative Cybermindz.org in December last year reached similar conclusions. For example:

– The rapidly evolving, relentless attack environment defying any sense of ‘job well done’ among cyber professionals and creating a sense of hopelessness.

– Early evidence of burnout in cyber professionals, signalling a potential loss of skills to a critical part of the economy which could lead to “systemic weaknesses in our human cyber defences would tend to impact society at mass levels, especially if essential services like water, energy, telecommunications, health, financial services, food distribution and transportation are affected.” 

What Can Be Done To Help? 

Some of the measures that can be taken to help the situation include:

– A serious acknowledgement of the conditions and challenges IT professionals face.

– Giving more board-level attention to the issue, which could create safer workplace conditions.

– The use of stress-reducing tools such as CyberMindz’s Integrative Restoration or iRest protocol.

– Greater promotion of mental health help options in the cyber community.

– Providing clear job descriptions and expectations to help cyber professionals to understand what is expected of them and what their responsibilities are, which can reduce ambiguity and stress.

– Encouraging work-life balance by promoting flexible working hours, remote work options, and setting realistic deadlines.

– Offering training and development opportunities to help cyber professionals stay up to date with the latest technologies and best practices, thereby improving job satisfaction, reducing stress, and increasing motivation.

– Ensuring that cybersecurity teams have access to the necessary resources and tools to perform their job effectively, e.g. by providing access to the latest software, hardware, and equipment, as well as providing support staff to help with administrative tasks.

– Fostering a positive work environment by promoting a culture of collaboration, recognition, and appreciation, as well as providing opportunities for team building and socialising.

– Managers and supervisors regularly checking-in with their cybersecurity professionals to gauge their wellbeing, discuss any concerns or issues they may be facing, and provide support when needed. This can help to build trust and rapport and can help to identify and address issues before they escalate into burnout.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

Research into this subject has highlighted a mostly hidden but important issue which, if not addressed, could have serious knock-on effects for many businesses, organisations and society as a whole. In addition to the relatively unrecognised human cost of the increasing stresses faced in today’s cyber professions, plus the potential loss of expertise from the cyber security industry, failing to address this issue could leave whole countries and societies open to devastating cyber attacks. As Cybermindz pointed out, these could impact society at mass levels through disruption to essential services like water, energy, telecommunications, health, financial services, food distribution and transportation.

Now that studies have revealed the extent of the issue, businesses may want to take a close look at how their own cyber professionals are feeling and identify what could be done to reduce their stress and the risk of them leaving. For example, measures such as providing clear job expectations, encouraging work-life balance, offering training and development opportunities, providing adequate resources, fostering a positive work environment, plus regularly checking in with employees could all help. By adopting these strategies, companies could help to improve the job satisfaction and wellbeing of their cybersecurity professionals, while also enhancing their performance and productivity.

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) have developed a way for using a 3D-printing ink that contains calcium carbonate-producing bacteria, giving a result similar to mollusc shells or bone.

‘BacktoInk’ – Environmentally Friendly 

Researchers at EPFL’s Soft Materials Laboratory in the School of Engineering have successfully added the Sporosarcina pasteurii bacterium to 3D printing ink. When mixed with a urea-containing solution, it triggers a mineralisation process that produces calcium carbonate (CaCO3) that is light, strong, porous, and rigid, just bone or shells. This means that, using the new ‘BactoInk’, it’s now possible to produce a 3D-printed product of virtually any shape, using environmentally friendly materials and processes, which will gradually mineralise over the course of a few days to a solid state.

Mineral Particle Inks Failed In The Past 

Inks containing mineral particles have been tried in the past but have not been able to meet the flow conditions needed for successful 3D printing i.e., behaving like a solid when at rest, but still be extrudable through a 3D printing nozzle. Also, previous efforts have resulted in structures that were soft, or shrunk upon drying, leading to cracking and loss of control over the shape of the final product.

The Answer – A Polymeric ‘Scaffold’ Using BactoInk 

Lab head Esther Amstad explained why the bacteria-based ink method from the EPFL team has been successful where other mineral inks have failed, saying: “We came up with a simple trick: instead of printing minerals, we printed a polymeric scaffold using our BactoInk, which is then mineralised in a second, separate step. After about four days, the mineralisation process triggered by the bacteria in the scaffold leads to a final product with a mineral content of over 90 per cent.” 

The Result – A Strong And Resilient Bio-composite 

EPFL has reported that using BactoInk in a 3D printer produces a “strong and resilient bio-composite, which can be produced using a standard 3D printer and natural materials, and without the extreme temperatures often required for manufacturing ceramics.” 

No Living Bacteria In Final Product 

For those concerned about any possible dangers of the bacterial element of the ink, the EPFL researchers report that: “Final products no longer contain living bacteria, as they are submerged in ethanol at the end of the mineralisation process.” 

What Does This Mean For Your Organisation? 

This method of mineralising ink appears to have succeeded where others have failed and it’s believed that the versatility of BactoInk, combined with its low environmental impact and the excellent mechanical properties of the mineralised materials, could bring new possibilities for fabricating lightweight, load-bearing composites that are more like natural materials than to today’s synthetic composites. As such, the BactoInk method could have applications across a broad range of fields, including art, ecology, and biomedicine. The research team, for example, have suggested that it could be used in restoration of artworks e.g., by being directly injected into a mold or target site such as a crack in a vase or a chip in a statue. BactoInk’s mechanical properties such as its strength and shrinkage resistance mean that it could be well suited to both the repair a work of art, and preventing further damage during the restoration process.

One other very interesting environmental possibility for BactoInk could be in the building of artificial corals to help regenerate damaged marine reefs. Its bone-like structure may also lend itself to biomedical applications.

If you’d like a way to send web pages you find interesting to your inbox rather than bookmarking them in Chrome and forgetting about them, the InboxThis extension may be helpful. Here’s how to use it:

– Go to the Google Chrome Web Store and search for ‘InboxThis’. It’s a free browser extension that can send any webpage to your inbox in 5 seconds. N.B. other extensions and methods are available, and we have no commercial links with or reason to endorse this extension other than to highlight it as a potentially helpful tip.

– Add the extension (click on the ‘Add Extension’ button) – no signup or account creation is needed.

– When you’re on a page/article you want to save, click on the extension icon in Chrome.

– Check your email inbox. The webpage should be there.

Green distributed computer network heating company Heata is offering to provide up to 4.8kWh of free hot water per day in exchange for installing a business cloud server in your home.

Green Distributed Compute Network 

Heata, which began as an innovation project with British Gas, describes itself as “a ground-breaking green distributed compute network that uses the waste heat from compute to heat the water in people’s homes.”

Tackling Two Challenges With One Solution 

The company sees this as a way of tackling two challenges with one solution in that over 4 million UK households live in fuel poverty and data centres require vast amounts of energy and create significant heat. For example, it’s estimated that waste heat from a large data centre could provide hot water for 11,000 homes. Heata says that “moving heat is hard, it requires new infrastructure or a pre-existing heat network” but “moving bits and bytes is easy” so the idea of installing servers on the side of water tanks is a way of taking the servers to where heat is needed, thereby providing free hot water for those that want it. Heata says this turns a computing problem into a “social benefit” and supports the decarbonisation of the rapidly growing cloud computing industry.

How Does It Work 

The company fits a computer server unit to the side of domestic hot water tanks and the heat generated by the business cloud server heats the hot water. In return, Heata gets to expand its business cloud server network without the cost and complications of having to find/build and run data centres and deal with the heat from them.

Offer Example  

The Heata unit is reported to be currently only available as part of a government backed scheme in South East England. An example of a recent offer to customers is that (from Toms Hardware) in exchange for Heata installing a water-heating server unit next to the existing hot water cylinder, homeowners can get up to 4.8kWh of free hot water a day, the equivalent of 80 per cent of a UK household’s daily use for a whole year.

The Server Unit And ‘Thermal Bridge’ 

The computer server is mounted on Heata’s patented thermal bridge which is fitted to 450mm diameter domestic hot water cylinders and provides the attachment point for the server.

What About Your Router And The Power For The Server? 

Two key aspects of the deal that are less clear, however, are the fact that an extra (business) server will need to connect to the home’s router and network, and the unit will require electricity that the homeowner initially pays for (Heata says it will reimburse owners in the trial). These facts may well give potential customers some concerns such as:

– The bandwidth the unit will use and the associated costs and connection worries.

– The fact that it’s a strange computer on the home network that the homeowner has no access to and doesn’t know exactly what it’s doing, leading to possible security concerns.

That said, Heata has reportedly said that the server will only use a fraction of the bandwidth, it will only be engaged in tasks such as monitoring information and performing speed tests for most of the time, and later versions will be separated from a home’s broadband by fibre connections.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

The huge growth in cloud computing has created the need for many more energy hungry data centres which in turn has created the issues of how to manage the heat they generate and minimise/reduce the environmental impact. Many ideas have been tried, e.g. underwater data centres, but part of the attractiveness of this scheme is both the social element, i.e. homeowners in a cost-of-living crisis with high energy prices getting ‘free’ hot water, plus the fact that the product appears to tackle several issues with one solution. Businesses always need affordable cloud computing which schemes like this may be able to help provide and the computing industry needs to rapidly find ways to decarbonise, which Heata’s offering also shows promise for. It could also have knock-on benefits and opportunities for broadband providers and for other computing-based companies looking to offer similar solutions.