Radio Teleswitch Service switch off

Jun 18, 2025 Last reply: 1 year ago 2 Replies
J

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I see that the government is now saying that there will be "a cautious and targeted phase out" of Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) meters. Something over 300,000 households are still using these meters. I am one user, although by a remarkable coincidence my meter is due to be replaced tomorrow (Thursday) morning.



The article goes on to state that Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition has called for a plan "that sets out how the gradual switch-off will take place, including which regions will be affected and when".



Given that there are only three LF transmitters covering the whole of the UK (Droitwich, Westerglen, and Burghead) I find it hard to understand how a "gradual switch off" and "a cautious and targeted phase out" will be accomplished.



Or am I missing something?


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D

Well I assumed the switching times are staggered to avoid a large surge bit it appears the service is more complex and the system allows a granular control of groups of meters:-

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"Each of the user companies (the RTS Users, or Service Providers) has its own database on the Central Teleswitch Control Unit (CTCU), which is an HPE Integrity computer running OpenVMS on IA-64 for reliability and clustering technology to minimise downtime.

The database defines how each group of teleswitches belonging to the user-company will control the loads and meter registers connected to it. The CTCU uses the database and certain rules to generate and control a continuous string of messages, which is forwarded to the BBC for transmission.

Although each message will be received by all installed teleswitches, the unique user and group-codes carried by the message ensure that only teleswitches carrying the same combination of codes will act on it."

.. so a gradual switch off by region, company or a combination is possible...

Dave

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A

Gradual switch off or gradual replacement of meters

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