To think removing Analogue phone systems by 2025 is too soon?

[bigbluebus]

I know many on MN don't have phones plugged into landlines but many of us who are in slightly older demographic probably still do as our older relatives like to ring on landlines and also mobile reception is not always brilliant in more rural areas.

We were one of the unfortunate households who suffered recent power loss for 3 days and nights in freezing temperatures so keeping in touch with elderly neighbours and relatives was quite important. Of course our cordless phones don't work without power so, as advised, we have an old phone which plugs into a phone socket in such circumstances.

BT plan to get rid of this option by 2025 and landline services will only be available via broadband. As far as I'm aware the plan is to bring in a cheap basic broadband option for those who have no broadband service. But broadband needs electricity. So all those elderly and vulnerable who only have an 'electrically powered' phone line will be totally without any means of communication if the power goes off and they don't have a mobile phone.

The last 3 days here have taught us that the powers that be don't give a shiny sh*te about those on their supposed welfare list in times of crisis. My elderly neighbour (all electric) was not offered any assistance by the energy company and if she had lost her phone line too it would have made life even more difficult.

Whilst we are rural enough to have so many overhead power lines that the storm caused major disruption we are far from being out in the sticks. I feel that once again those not in towns/cities are not being considered in the name of 'progress'.

I appreciate there will come a time when the 'new' older generation will all have mobile phones but don't think that time is here yet nor will it be by 2025.

And don't get me started on the all electric agenda being pushed in the name of global warming - without our open fire we would have been frozen at the weekend!

Rural poor mobile reception use our land line a lot.
If electric goes off and no internet when analogue goes we effectively lose comms with the world. Not a good idea is it?

Another one here with a landline used for emergencies and to contact an elderly relative who doesn’t have a mobile.

Mobile phones became mainstream 25 years ago. Broadband about the same, maybe a couple of years later. The world cannot stop for a few who won’t get onboard.

@sst1234

Mobile phones became mainstream 25 years ago. Broadband about the same, maybe a couple of years later. The world cannot stop for a few who won’t get onboard.

Even A T M s are going to have to change as they are phone lines too, that’s going to cost, but we must move on, mind you, don’t think cash will be here a lot longer so we won’t be needing them

I left home 12 years ago and I’ve never owned a landline, I don’t see the point. The only person I know who still has one is my Gran and she doesn’t have broadband because she’s computer illiterate (she doesn’t really want to learn!). She has a very basic mobile phone and she only knows how to call from it. Not sure what she’ll do if she can’t use a landline in 4 years, she relies on it. She’s mid 70s so not very old.

@Corrag

It just seems like choices are being taken away from us.

Similar with the broadband connection itself. Apparently Open Reach will only install full fibre now, they won't reconnect standard copper broadband. We moved 6 weeks ago and we're still waiting for Open Reach to pull their finger out. I asked if we could have the copper broadband turned on while we wait for fibre to the door but that was a big fat no.

This is ONLY if fibre is available in your road. If rural with no fibre, forget it,

No fibre - they'll reconnect the copper, or in our case, twist the wires together leaving a crap broadband/phone signal, pull a rope through for the section of copper wire that needs replacing - then leave it for 2 + years (we ask when is our phone line going to be working properly but they say it's not faulty by running tests until it works adequately, we have to report the fault on a windy day

@Hemingwayscats

I left home 12 years ago and I’ve never owned a landline, I don’t see the point. The only person I know who still has one is my Gran and she doesn’t have broadband because she’s computer illiterate (she doesn’t really want to learn!). She has a very basic mobile phone and she only knows how to call from it. Not sure what she’ll do if she can’t use a landline in 4 years, she relies on it. She’s mid 70s so not very old.

If you lived in some UK villages, like ours, you would see the point of a landline.

We had very slow broadband for years, until we were able to have moderately fast fibre. Some parts of the village also now have superfast broadband.

But mobile phone signal strength and stability remains very poor in this village and our MP is lobbying for better mobile coverage.

It's not at all unusual for parts of the UK to have unreliable mobile signal. Some days I have to go outside to get a signal or send a text. Some days, I struggle to get a signal at all or calls will break up.

So we have kept our landline.

We need our landline. Our mobile phones don't work in our house.

@sst1234

Mobile phones became mainstream 25 years ago. Broadband about the same, maybe a couple of years later. The world cannot stop for a few who won’t get onboard.

Not a case of not getting on board but unless Open Reach offer a reliable alternative, where MB reception very poor, then this switch off in 2025 is going to leave a lot of people hi and dry.

It will all get better in time as everything else. I worked on an airfield once, miles of laser flat ground.mobile signal was very patchy,very strange

Better in time is grand as long as everyone gets the better service and not one that is reliant on clouds aligning and the mice on the mouse organ working overtime.

@mogsrus

It will all get better in time as everything else. I worked on an airfield once, miles of laser flat ground.mobile signal was very patchy,very strange

Just 25% of households have access to FTTP.

I suspect that whilst Openreach will stop supplying copper lines and ISDN long before 2025, they will not be able to remove twisted copper from the local network, there is simply not the time, especially if we go into further restrictions with CV.

TBH i don't see the point, the exchanges can be IP and can then use IP to Analog convertors, powered from the exchange to provide analog to those who either need a trad line land or don't want internet.