Kitz Forum
Broadband Related => Telephony Wiring + Equipment => Topic started by: bbnovice on April 25, 2021, 03:55:15 PM
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Hi
Am on BT 150 FTTP service. Received an email out of the blue from BT informing me that my copper phone line will be discontinued shortly and migrated to fibre and Digital Voice. Then received a letter saying the same thing.
It seems that I am unable to prevent this from happening unless I currently have a burglar alarm or health pendant system connected to the copper system. In that case I need to ring BT.
I know that eventually we must all have to migrate from the copper network but I was hoping to put this off because of the issues that will arise with phone service over fibre. Sadly it sees to now be out of my hand.
Have others received these notifications and.or been forced to migrate yet?
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Not for my domestic phone line (we are still on xdsl and will be for years), however we have been given "notice" at work - we have nearly 1000 copper based analogue lines :-(
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I was hoping to put this off because of the issues that will arise with phone service over fibre.
What issues?
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From what I understand with FTTP you cannot use the digital voice service if there is a power outage because there is no back up battery supplied, and if the outage is a large enough area mobile signal may go or you may live in an area with poor or no signal. I do note that a burglar alarm is one way apparently to keep analog and we have such an alarm although right now it is not connected to the phone line but that is easily overcome ::)
Stuart
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What issues?
Broadstairs hit the nail on the head. Despite being within site of the M25 I live in a mobile blackspot area - signal is poor to non-existant. Migrating my copper phone service to fibre creates a single point of failure, which for somebody like me who has health issues and needs a working phone line phone, is a real issue.
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Seems a bit pointless delaying them switching you to Digital Voice.
PSTN is being turned off in 2025 but BT want all their customers on to Digital Voice before then.
A burglar alarm might delay the process by a year, but it's going to happen.
It's already not an option for new customers.
Rather than contacting BT to delay a switch to Digital Voice, why not call the alarm company and get them to make whatever changes are necessary to make the alarm work without an analogue phone line.
There are a number of solutions that can be retro fitted to existing alarms.
Seems pointless making effort and spending time delaying what's going to happen anyway rather than using that time to get an alternative solution in place.
From what I understand with FTTP you cannot use the digital voice service if there is a power outage because there is no back up battery supplied
A small UPS fixes that.
An ISP can provide these for free to vunerable customers with no mobile signal.
Some providers will choose to simply stop providing landlines altogether when PSTN goes rather than develop a VOIP alternative.
Talktalk have already done this with FTTP where it's data only. There's no way to get a landline on their full fibre.
They are also rumoured to be launching broadband only FTTC packages in the near future (SOGEA).
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Broadstairs hit the nail on the head. Despite being within site of the M25 I live in a mobile blackspot area - signal is poor to non-existant. Migrating my copper phone service to fibre creates a single point of failure, which for somebody like me who has health issues and needs a working phone line phone, is a real issue.
I admit even with good coverage here, this is in the back of my mind. We've already seen this issue rear its head during crisis in the US as some of their telcos moved over to VoIP when they installed FTTC and the cabinets ran out of juice.
So at a time when you need communication the most, during a crisis, you lose it.
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A small UPS fixes that.
Even if the ISP gives one free that is an extra complexity for an elderly person to cope with. Also what happens to people who don't have broadband and just have a copper line they use all the time? This has not been thought through at all!
Stuart
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Even if the ISP gives one free that is an extra complexity for an elderly person to cope with. Also what happens to people who don't have broadband and just have a copper line they use all the time? This has not been thought through at all!
Stuart
They will be given a basic broadband service just for voice, presumably.
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They will be given a basic broadband service just for voice, presumably.
OK but what happens when the power goes off, plus the calls are more expensive.
Stuart
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When PSTN closes, anyone who wants a landline only will be sold a 0.5Mb/0.5Mb broadband service for VOIP.
The likes of BT will provide a SmartHub 2.
If you have no FTTP and a basic copper line then you connect the SmartHub to the master socket and connect your home phone to the SmartHub.
The exact same goes for FTTP but with an ONT in the mix.
Most providers like BT will give the end user a Hub with an integrated ATA.
It's a single box, plug and play.
It absolutely has been thought through.
They have spent years and years debating it and holding consultation after consultation.
It isn't worth the huge cost to keep PSTN running, to keep everyone with copper wires, just to maintain access to emergency services during a powercut.
Especially when the vast majority of people never have powercuts and have access to a reliable mobile signal.
For the vunerable with no mobile signal there's a UPS.
It's happening either way.
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The problem with a UPS is that their batteries do eventually exhaust. I have two, one exclusively for the network kit and that only lasts for a few hours in a power cut. In recent times this has been sufficient for any power interruption, but I can remember in the past having an outage of ~two days. This was too much even for the batteries in the local exchange as it became difficult to make or receive any calls, so a land line isn't 100% immune, although I concede this was a rare instance. When I was with Andrews & Arnold my land line number was migrated to their VoIP service, so a similar scenario, but when I ceased one of my lines I moved it back for this very reason. Mobile can be patchy here too, so it is worrying especially as the years advance. :)
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A small UPS fixes that.
An ISP can provide these for free to vunerable customers with no mobile signal.
Are you sure? That is not what BT told me.
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I wonder what will happen in area's like ours ? when we've been told there are no plans to install fibre on our EO lines
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I wonder what will happen in area's like ours ? when we've been told there are no plans to install fibre on our EO lines
ADSL will remain and you will be expected to use that.
PSTN switch off is phase 1 and nothing to do with the copper line.
Removing copper is phase 2 and to do that they WOULD have to lay fibre.