The big phone switch over/off in 2025

[Carrerahill]

21 hours ago, ProDave said:

It means the PSTN, Public Switched Telephone Network is being turned off.

 

In simple terms no more hard wired analogue telephone service.  No normal phone plugged into a socket on the wall to give you a hard wired telephony signal.

 

This is the telephone equivalent of analogue switch off, already suffered by televisions and mobile phones.

 

So if you want a "landline" aka hard wired home telephone, it will be a VOIP phone, Voice Over Internet Protocol, so it will only work with a broadband internet service, and in the event of a power cut unlike a hard wired analogue phone, will be very very unlikely to work.

 

I believe the switch off plans have been put on hold due to lots of complaints about things like alarms that call for help, old people that just need a phone that works without needing internet, loss of functionality in a power cut so the vulnerable cannot call for help etc etc.

 

Or, a hybrid VOIP where, likes of BT, provide a socket on the side of the modem which you can plug an old fashioned phone into. If patched and wired correctly within a house, you would never know it was any different.

 

BT ditched Redcare lines last year I think it was, part of the switch-off but also because they know their fibre alternative needs backup battery to remain active in event of a power failure, in the case of lifts, one of the very time you may want it - most are now GSM.

Edited March 8, 2023 by Carrerahill

[Carrerahill]

20 hours ago, Kelvin said:

It is somewhat ill thought through. BT Openreach would love to switch all that old copper ‘crap’ off. It’s expensive to maintain, unreliable, not scalable and requires them to employ thousands of people to maintain the network. As always though they don’t have an answer for rural areas which is a consequence of privatisation.

Well, they sort of do. What they are planning is a fibre/copper interface at the nearest village or more densely populated area, they will then maintain the copper line via the interface. Fibre goes in one side, copper lines out the other side c/w integral power supply to run the phones plugged in at the other end. I do not think it is being spoken about too loudly as its seen as a failure option. 

[Carrerahill]

14 hours ago, Radian said:

 

I do feel sorry for my mum. We got her the simplest mobile phone we could get but it's still so much more complicated than her landline phone and causes her no end of stress. Just keeping it charged is a problem - I would bet that whoever signs off these massive industry changes has never even considered that. The switch to digital TV was a while back when she could take on new things but now Sky are dropping some SD channels and while they offer a free upgrade to a SkyQ HD box, she definitely won't be able to use it. Heck, I can hardly use ours. 

In fairness she can still have a very simple, basic phone plugged into the phone socket on, for example, a BT modem. It emulates a copper line.

[Kelvin]

10 minutes ago, Carrerahill said:

Well, they sort of do. What they are planning is a fibre/copper interface at the nearest village or more densely populated area, they will then maintain the copper line via the interface. Fibre goes in one side, copper lines out the other side c/w integral power supply to run the phones plugged in at the other end. I do not think it is being spoken about too loudly as its seen as a failure option. 

I live on a farm with no working phone line. There is a copper cable but it needs replaced. Down the road, where our plot is, there are a handful of houses served by an overhead cable. Not one of them use it as the broadband speed is barely useable and the voice quality using a phone is also poor. Consequently everyone either uses a mobile phone for comms and LTE for internet access which is also slow. I don’t see the situation improving any time soon around us. We use Starlink and wifi calling.
 

A previous plot we looked at had no telephone line at all into the various houses there and the quote to get one was several thousand. It also never had a mobile signal and this was before Starlink was available so it made the plots worthless to us. It wasn’t even all that rural as there was an urban area down the road. 

[SteamyTea]

These VOIP phones, do they make every sound like a Radio 4 interview i.e. don't work reliably.

Who was that journalist with the troops in Afghanistan in the early 2000s, the one on her satphone?

[IanR]

29 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

These VOIP phones, do they make every sound like a Radio 4 interview i.e. don't work reliably.

 

Sound quality is no worse than an analogue phone, supposedly better if both ends are VOIP. I've found the Service reliable, apart from the handset occasionally not ringing, but that's likely my own fault for trying to route a single user account to multiple devices.

 

The options and configuration available (if Service provider makes provision) far exceed an analogue phone service. For instance, Voicemails are held on providers cloud, available from anywhere and I receive a reasonable voice-to-text translation, via email, directly after any message is left.

Edited March 8, 2023 by IanR

[markc]

We changed whole workshops and offices over to voip and it’s been pretty good … until tinternet goes down and 5g backup takes a while to kick in. Sound quality is good

[Radian]

2 hours ago, Carrerahill said:

In fairness she can still have a very simple, basic phone plugged into the phone socket on, for example, a BT modem. It emulates a copper line.

 

And in a power cut? I know all this is perfectly possible but with so many different layered solutions, without family help, I don't know how vulnerable people are supposed to manage. I think what disappoints me most is that there was a time when ingenious ways were developed in order to prevent such drastic service shutdowns. Probably the finest was the transition from B&W to colour TV by adding a chroma signal to the luminance. The point I'm making is that lately we're seeing the almost total erosion of an ethic.

[SteamyTea]

34 minutes ago, Radian said:

Probably the finest was the transition from B&W to colour TV by adding a chroma signal to the luminance

The Daily Service is still on Long Wave, along with the cricket.

No need to let them know that the Empire has gone, but we can still pretend that it is there, well here.

Next week I am getting my tailor to make me a new suit, going to cost 6 pounds, 17 shillings and threepence farthing.

Should be good as it will be 20°F in some places.

I am off to the Lyons Tea House now.

 

Edited March 8, 2023 by SteamyTea

[Carrerahill]

58 minutes ago, Radian said:

 

And in a power cut? I know all this is perfectly possible but with so many different layered solutions, without family help, I don't know how vulnerable people are supposed to manage. I think what disappoints me most is that there was a time when ingenious ways were developed in order to prevent such drastic service shutdowns. Probably the finest was the transition from B&W to colour TV by adding a chroma signal to the luminance. The point I'm making is that lately we're seeing the almost total erosion of an ethic.

BT did/do offer a ONT/hub with backup battery. 

 

 

[Radian]

43 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

No need to let them know that the Empire has gone, but we can still pretend that it is there, well here.

 

 

Last time I checked, our 'Continuous At Sea Deterrent' monitor BBC SW and follow a special procedure to make sure Blighty is still on the map if it can't be received.

 

[SteamyTea]

Just now, Radian said:

Blighty is still on the map if it can't be received.

I put all my trust in the Lincolnshire Poacher.

 

If Gawcott was still there, then so was Aylesbury.

 

17 31 7 23 19 27...

[Kelvin]

The switch to digital everything is, on the whole, pretty good because the service offering can be broader. However there are some downsides as discussed on here. Another example is DAB. Broadly it’s great. However you hit a black spot and no radio. With analogue the service would reduce but at least you could still hear Janice Long. Also the digital radio reception in most modern cars is shit. 

[SteamyTea]

Just now, Kelvin said:

Another example is DAB. Broadly it’s great. However you hit a black spot and no radio. With analogue the service would reduce but at least you could still hear Janice Long. Also the digital radio reception in most modern cars is shit. 

Not down the Cot Valley.

You know that scene from Deliverance, the one in the woods, well it is like that there.

So I just slip a CD on and crank up Suckin' the Corn.

Get the whole place to myself then.

[martian]

On 07/03/2023 at 21:25, dpmiller said:

openreach no longer offer copper at either of our local exchanges and fibre is looked after by a 3rd party who hasn't completely trunked our road yet. Plus, fibre installs are subsidised under Project Stratum but the area was surveyed prior to our build

 

So 4g it is, for us. the router and voip box are both on UPS, and my old landline number is now safely transferred to VOIP and in my ownership

Just wondered if you might be able to add some more detail about your setup, as we're in the process of trying to get broadband over 4G installed together with emulating a 'land line'. Be good to also know how you transferred existing old landline number to VOIP and what phones you now use.

[dpmiller]

my VOIP provider ported the number from BT for a small fee, and I'm using a Cisco SPA232D ATA and our previous analogue phones.