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Procurement of the Pre Digital Phone Line
(PDPL) service on up to 110 existing BT lines used by the
Council.

Reasons for the decision

The Council wishes to secure a new
landline/broadband partner prior to migrating its legacy (copper)
lines to modern fibre circuits.
Pre Digital Phone Line (PDPL) provides the ability to continue to
use legacy phone and broadband lines beyond the Openreach copper
network decommission which starts from 1st January 2026. This will
provide time for the Council's current landline/broadband partner
procurement process to conclude.
The cost will be up to £69,960 for 110 lines, and replaces
existing line rental costs for affected lines. This PDPL service
has been agreed for a maximum of 12-months.

Alternative options considered

The Council is in the process of a procurement
exercise to determine a new partner for landlines and broadband.
Once awarded, the intention is to migrate to fibre services with
the new partner.
Pre Digital Phone Line (PDPL) had to be committed to prior to the
end of August 2025, leaving insufficient time to migrate to an
alternative partner, who would likely require a new minimum term to
their contract. Adding the service through the existing partner
means the Council can continue to cease and migrate lines
in-parallel to this service.