Currently around the country, upgrade works are taking place on telecommunication exchanges. These upgrades are essential to improving the quality of telecommunications, but they could have an impact on other services reliant on these lines, such as monitored alarms.
The Irish Security Industry Association (ISIA) wrote to the Commission for Communication Regulation earlier this year requesting specific information and dates of scheduled service migration from PSTN to VoIP. They have confirmed that information is publicly available online in respect for the offerings from Operators to move to VoIP/VoBB. The Commission for Communication Regulation drew our attention to a listing provided by Open eir of rural exchange areas/rural townlands where it plans to roll out fibre broadband by the end of 2018. We have included this appendix document with this letter.
The President of the ISIA has also written to the Chairman of the Telecommunications and Internet Federation (TIF) expressing our concern regarding the lack of information being made available to the public and requesting that they encourage their members to highlight to the public services that may be impacted by these upgrades. We also shared with TIF an excellent example of how BT is communicating the potential impact of similar upgrade works in the UK. You may view this example through the following link.
The ISIA recommends that anyone with a monitored alarm service contact their alarm provider to ensure continuity of service and a response if an alarm is activated. We would encourage members who provide alarm services to engage with clients whom they believe may be impacted by these upgrades. Monitored alarm services that may be impacted by these upgrades could include intruder alarms, fire alarms, panic buttons and medical alarms.