Sprint’s cancelling of stand alone long distance is part of a larger trend away from legacy services
The past 5 years has seen an increasing migration away from legacy voice services.
The first phase was less noticeable to consumers as carriers moved from traditional TDM (time division multiplexing) switches in their backbones to IP switches. Many telecom providers have started pushing clients to migrate from regular PRI service to SIP based service with a PRI handoff. With an increased focus on fiber we saw some reluctance by the incumbent local exchange carriers to fix legacy copper based facility issues.
The latest in this series of changes and decommissions is Sprint discontinuing their stand-alone long distance service. With the rapid evolution of SIP and hosted voice along with the increasing reliance on wireless phones, all of which typically include domestic long distance, many providers are abandoning this market. If you have gotten a notice and are looking for options, ARG can consult with you on how to move to a new solution.