Forum Topic

BT landlines finishing.

This has come up again, this time in the Mirror. It says internet phones will replace. Problem is 1.6 million homes do not have internet. This puts emergency calls under threat. One solution is to give everybody mobiles. A lot of us do not have internet which is very concerning. Also PAYG is not as it was. You generally need to buy a package which takes a certain amount of money out of your PAYG credit. I know someone here will have an explanation to this situation.

Nicholas Beard ● 1354d8 Comments

Raymond, ask your colleague to ensure that his hearing aid(s) is NOT in the Telecoil or 'T' position as this makes it far more suceptible to interference.

N V Brooks ● 1352d

The copper wires won't disappear any time soon as they still form the backbone of the 'laast leg' to your home.Most IP telephony is delivered over FTTC (Fibre To The Cabinet) links and then over copper (or aluminium) wires into your home,it is rare to find FTTP (Fibre To The Premises) link in all but the most recent residential developments.

N V Brooks ● 1352d

When landlines disappear will BT be sitting on a fortune from all those unused copper wires? Or will they mostly just be abandoned as inaccessible? We also found PAYG disappearing and had to switch to contracts for our mobiles, with Plusnet and Three, around £6pm with unlimited texts and calls to UK landlines and mobiles and 2-4GB of data. But good luck with EU data roaming next year - even Three are reneging on it. Why did our useless Brexit negotiators forget to agree to continue roaming in Europe? That will be a significant extra cost on holidays. We've not used our landline for years, as when we moved to Brentford we converted our old landline number of 40 years to a VoIP one. That has been brilliant, good sound quality, with calls to most landlines round the world at 1p per minute. Strangely it costs 8p/min to call a UK mobile but 1p to call a US cellphone. So moving to an internet landline could bring real benefits as long as your broadband provider is not given a monopoly on VoIP charges.

Eric Baker ● 1352d

No it wasn't me, Probably Mr Brooks who is up to speed with Telecoms.As an aside I wonder if you can advise how to stop a mobile buzzing hearing aids.One of my colleagues is getting driven nuts by his phone but also whenever he is standing near someone  else's.He's been back and forth to the hearing clinic and so far they have not been able to sort it and simply suggest not going near anyone using a phone.That's about as helpful and not going near anyone who might have a cough!

Raymond Havelock ● 1352d

Good luck with *getting* your pension, N V. I reached state pension age this summer and had to keep phoning the DWP up when nothing happened. Thousands of us are in the same boat. Just keep ringing and don't take any excuses.

Susan Kelly ● 1353d

Big button, inductive hearing aid compliant mobile phones have never been cheaper. I have set up countless elderly (well older than me and i am weeks away from my pension) people with mobiles.As to PAYG phones, the package I recommend is from giffgaff. £6 per month (way cheaper than BT) for unlimited calls and texts with a bit of data thrown into the mix if you have a smart phone.Overseas calls are also far cheaper than using BT, 2p per minute to the USA/canada and 2 or 3p per minute to most of Europe.

N V Brooks ● 1353d

I thought 1.6 million was low. I think it may have been you Raymond who sometime ago said BT could supply a little adaptor which would convert the phone to the new system. However the Mirror article seemed to raise or paint a new picture. If you read the Daily Mirror article you may draw conclusions that I have missed. I know from your previous posts here, technically  you have a comprehensive technical knowledge.

Nicholas Beard ● 1354d

If you have a disability or impediment - and the range is too long to list here then a mobile phone and in particular a smartphone is very often unsuitable. Hearing aids, pacemakers and simply metal inserts can cause problems.Arthritis - which affect 1 in 3 over 65 and is increasing  limits dexterity and use.Most land line  phones primarily down to BTs legal requirements going back to Post Office telecommunications have been required to include adaptive designs for most forms of disability and in many cases, the shortcomings have been filled by the benefits of mobiles and smartphones.and it is far more than 1.6 million homes - that figure only covers regulatory statistics which assume internet access from an email address and does not discern between safe and private access.

Raymond Havelock ● 1354d