1 March is the date chosen for disconnecting the analogue landline system at Mercabarna. This means that, from that date on, the 550 businesses which form part of the closed user group in the Mercabarna telecommunications network, operated by Orange, will no longer be able to use their analogue phones and will only be able to use the digital units that have been installed in business premises since May.

The move makes Mercabarna the first Spanish Food Unit to perform the analogue switch-off and depend exclusively on an IP digital fixed-phone system. The move is being promoted by the Commission of Telecommunications Users of Mercabarna, comprising the estate’s management, the Mercabarna Concessionaires’ Association (ASSOCOME), the Fruit and Vegetable Wholesalers’ Business Association and the Fish Wholesalers’ Business Association, and marks a further step in the modernisation of Mercabarna’s telecommunications network.

Lower prices and more features
With digital landlines, calls are placed over an IP, i.e., using the Internet connection channel. Each terminal effectively becomes a small computer connected to the company’s IT management system, enabling a number of special features. For example, it means fewer breakdowns in the network, phone calls made to the company’s phone number can be answered from anywhere in the world (with free call forwarding), and calls are free between two digital terminals.