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[licquorice]

I have to say, if you are elderly what are you supposed to do if you don't have a mobile phone and the power goes out?

I do wish people would stop equating being elderly with being totally gaga and incapable of understanding technology!! Age has absolutely nothing to do with it.

[craigski]

I have to say, if you are elderly what are you supposed to do if you don't have a mobile phone and the power goes out?

Maybe they would think its not such a bad idea after all to get a mobile phone whilst they wait for a friendly neighbour to check on them?

[bbnovice]

Read this from OFCOM (from page 43) issued as a result of their consultation exercise. In my opinion Openreach have just ignored this because it had no legal backup.

My 98 year old mother was fiercely independent, lived at home (with minimal support), refused to have a mobile (why should she?) and had an emergency pendant that was perfectly functional but was under threat from the retirement of the copper network. I do not think that her situation was at all abnormal - her elderly neighbour was in exactly the same position.

I queried with BT (her provider) about what they would do for her, but essentially got the brush off from them. To say I was annoyed is an understatement.

     

 

[licquorice]

Why should BT be responsible for the pendant provider not updating their systems to accommodate the change to Digital Voice?

[meritez]

Read this from OFCOM (from page 43) issued as a result of their consultation exercise. In my opinion Openreach have just ignored this because it had no legal backup.

My 98 year old mother was fiercely independent, lived at home (with minimal support), refused to have a mobile (why should she?) and had an emergency pendant that was perfectly functional but was under threat from the retirement of the copper network. I do not think that her situation was at all abnormal - her elderly neighbour was in exactly the same position.

I queried with BT (her provider) about what they would do for her, but essentially got the brush off from them. To say I was annoyed is an understatement.

     

BT are not responsible for alarm systems or lifeline pendants.

Both should be on 4G or even 5G, but because of individuals who don't want to understand the benefits, we have copper lines and GSM because "new technologies are dangerous", and those super quick 5g masts that would be much more efficient get denied at council plannings.

[tickmike]

You must understand that not everywhere gets a reliable mobile signal in 2022.
WE do not. 

[GigabitEthernet]

How is an elderly person in the countryside with no phone signal supposed to cope.

"Deal with it" is the answer I expected but it still disappoints me to see it written here.

[Reformed]

Ofcom consider a battery backup acceptable. I don't think anyone here is commenting on the merits or otherwise of this and there's not much more to say.

Alternative solutions will be found for the most vulnerable but keeping the PSTN going won't be it.

What do these people do right now if their landline is broken by streetworks, cable theft or acts of nature? Are BT running a secondary backup for them now?

[jelv]

For some technically inept even working out which way round it goes when plugging a POTS phone in to the socket is a challenge. Has anyone seen details of how such people will be assisted when their phone stops working and they have to move to digital voice?

[Reformed]

They plug the same cable into a powered device instead of a socket on the wall? If the service is voice only an engineer install will take place. The customer is told not to unplug the small device their phone now plugs into. It can even go via the existing master socket.

Either way it's not fair to charge everyone else more to cater to the lowest common denominator indefinitely. Things don't change everyone has to pay more to subsidise the PSTN. It has been expensive to maintain for a while - Virgin Media continue to kill theirs off to run a single voice service.

[jelv]

Could you elaborate please - I've no idea of how it's being done for phone only users. Will the engineer connect the digital voice to the existing internal phone wiring? I'm thinking of someone who has two handsets, e.g. one in the lounge and one beside their bed which isn't that uncommon.

[Reformed]

The existing extension wiring can be used as happened with the old FVA product. Just need to get the output from the VoIP kit into the existing wiring so a cable run from it into the master socket would work.

As long as the VoIP kit is fine with that it's all good. Where it isn't DECT will probably hit the spot.

[Bowdon]

I'm assuming BT will take most of the phone-line only people on.

An OR engineer will be at the persons house anyway installing the ONT. So s/he could setup the phone. I'm led to believe that a dect handset can be plugged in to the back of the Smart Hub 2 and it'll work? From what I've seen of the BT DV system the wifi phones seem easy enough to setup too.

As for other medical devices they have to be updated by the manufacturer. All the manufacturer has to do really is make them be able to work on a wifi system with the WPS button. I'm sure I read somewhere that a phone line only full fibre is still using broadband to function at a very low level. I would imagine this would be enough for most devices to function.

[Reformed]

I'm sure I read somewhere that a phone line only full fibre is still using broadband to function at a very low level. I would imagine this would be enough for most devices to function.

It'll be a GEA connection however unlikely that an operator would route it to the Internet given it's there for phone service only. This is what the Openreach 500kbit symmetrical FTTP service is for.

[Chrysalis]

I have to say, if you are elderly what are you supposed to do if you don't have a mobile phone and the power goes out?

If I remember right on all my recent power outages I still had mobile service, and I do agree with Black Sheep here.

If anything mobile phones are safer, they more reliable (at least in my experience), batteries last longer so less likely to have a dead handset, and they have better water resistance to home phones so e.g. if dropped in bath for a moment it might still work.

I would say the one thing not really addressed is been able to fumble around the buttons in the dark or if blind due to lack of physical buttons, I am surprised there isnt an established emergency call system that bypasses unlocking etc. yet on mobile phones.