This topic

new home phone service

kervoas — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 17:41:26 GMT

Letter to me from BT dated January 2026 says we will be switched over to digital voice within the next 30 days because our landline is "old and outdated". So far I have heard nothing more. Still have normal dialing tone.

It also says "we'll upgrade you to Fibre broadband - for free". The inference is that this will also happen within 30 days, but it hasn't.

Open Reach site says they are planning to work in our area, that's all, no dates.

Why don't BT tell us what's happening and when to expect the upgrade?

Re: new home phone service

imjolly — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 17:52:20 GMT

From your post it does not sound like full fibre is available to you yet but that does not prevent the move to digital voice

Enter your phone number and post results including notes and this should show if FTTP is available to you

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

Re: new home phone service

kervoas — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 19:23:18 GMT

Seems to me that the promised updates aren't available.

Re: new home phone service

imjolly — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 19:47:20 GMT

You may still have time to edit out your phone number as this is a public forum and you may get lots of spam

From what you have posted there is no mention of fibre to your home so appears a while before you get fibre

Nothing stopping the move to digital voice though

Re: new home phone service

Jane2018 — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 22:04:11 GMT

Do nothing and just wait. I was moved on 2 separate lines a few months apart by BT on to digital voice last year (but BT/open reach do not provide FTTP where I live so that was not relevant in my case). Just waited until I heard from and although it is a bit more complex than BT make out basicaly I plugged my 1990s landline into the back of the new BT hub2 they sent me.

Re: new home phone service

WSH — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 22:44:43 GMT

Digital Voice (DV) works fine over the old copper wires.

I was using DV over a copper based Part Fibre (FTTC) connection for two years before I was upgraded to Full Fibre (FTTP).

It's just that Openreach are very keen to make the move to FTTP at the same time as the switch to DV, where possible.

Re: new home phone service

kervoas — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 07:51:17 GMT

Thanks everyone. I'm still confused as to why BT are sending me stuff to get ready for Digital Voice and an upgrade to full fibre in 30 days from January when the exchange is not even FFTP priority listed. They obviously have full details of my number and address so why send letters making promises which are not relevant to my property?

They tell me that my landline is old and outdated but are doing nothing about it whilst I continue to pay for the service.

We are an isolated group of three properties all suffering from unreliable broadband and slow speeds. Isn't there some way I can get some accurate information about getting our service brought up to date?

Re: new home phone service

WSH — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 08:16:53 GMT

I doubt whether you’ll ever find an accurate date as the plans are continually shifting, depending on what problems they hit etc.

You can “register an interest” on the Openreach website, at which point they supposedly email you when there is news.

The exchange doesn’t need to be FTTP Priority for them to put fibre in and it has nothing to do with DV. It’s more to do with when they’ve banned putting any new copper connections in all together.

Re: new home phone service

kervoas — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 08:33:44 GMT

New copper connections? Does that mean fibre replacement?

In general I don't get the tacit acceptance of the service. I'm told mine is old and outdated, that it will be upgraded in 30 days, and nothing happens. I didn't ask, I was told. The advice is just wait.

I can't think of another service provider where this would be considered remotely acceptable. If there was a viable alternative I would take it now but there isn't, which might explain the complacency.

Re: new home phone service

WSH — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 08:50:34 GMT

No, it means any new connections have to be fibre.

Well, I was only trying to help.

I think the real problem is that BT the ISP and Openreach are completely separate companies today, so you have one company emailing you while a separate company is doing the work…result left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

Re: new home phone service

kervoas — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 09:26:40 GMT

I didn't mean any offence, grateful for the information but it's difficult to follow sometimes.

Re: new home phone service

imjolly — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 09:58:17 GMT

as there was no mention of full fibre on the adslchecker results you posted it would appear FTTP is not near you probably not helping that you are only remote 3 homes.

DV will work perfectly well over your existing connection and there should be no reason to replace existing phones. you will need a bt SH2 which BT will send nearer DV changeover

Re: new home phone service

iniltous — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 10:14:36 GMT

As already stated, changing to DV doesn’t need a change to FTTP , and until you get a specific date for the changeover ( where you simply move your phone cord from the wall socket to the router socket ) any ‘general’ date is nothing more than advisory, and given the minuscule differences , it’s not as if you need to make any complicated preparations for this change whenever it takes place .

As a rule BT and Openreach look to take the mandatory change to DV as an opportunity to also incorporate a change to FTTP , that’s where FTTP is available, if your address doesn’t have access to FTTP and you have received a poorly worded communication implying you will get FTTP , then that’s unfortunate, but the same as DV changeover , unless an actual date is specifically is mentioned, then it’s an ‘ambition’ , and with FTTP if it were available, you would be asked to contact Openreach to arrange an appointment, ( they don’t just turn up ) which won’t be the case with you for sometime if FTTP isn’t available .

Any communication you get is simply advisory until a specific date is given for DV or an invitation for you to call and arrange an appointment for FTTP is given ….hardly worth stressing about until you get specific dates etc.

Re: new home phone service

WSH — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 10:41:11 GMT

@kervoas That’s alright. No offense taken.

While I think of it, the change to DV will have to go through sometime between now and the end of January, as that is the scheduled date for the national turn off of the old phone system, (the PSTN, Public Switched Telephone Network).

As has been said a number of times now, that could be while you are still on a copper connection. The actual date for everybody to be on full fibre is still many years away.

Either way, they will send you a Smart Hub 2 (SH2), if you don’t already have one, and the phone just plugs into a phone socket on the back of that instead of the old wall socket. (And that’s true even if your router still connects to that old wall socket).

Apart from that, to all practical intents and purposes, the phone works exactly the same way as before. The only exception is that the phone will no longer work in a power cut, as the router won’t work, of course.

Re: new home phone service

kervoas — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 11:43:18 GMT

So why is my non DV phone connected to the landline socket still working in March? Did they forget to turn me off?

Re: new home phone service

WSH — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 11:52:42 GMT

If it still works then you have not been switched to DV yet.

Assuming you already have an SH2, if it does suddenly stop working try plugging the phone into the SH2 and restarting it.

(Oh, and just to be clear, that January I mentioned is next January).

Re: new home phone service

iniltous — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 11:58:01 GMT

Because you never were given a specific date , if you had then you may well have a point , but irrespective you haven’t really been inconvenienced in anyway , your phone continues to work as it did before , as far as why if told to expect migration to DV sometime in January but it hasn’t happened, you can only speculate as to the reason , perhaps January was never the correct month , so the communication was inaccurate , maybe the communication at the time was accurate but something has occurred within BT schedule to delay this , who knows but it doesn’t really matter …it’s not like waiting in for a tradesperson who doesn’t turn up , you haven’t had to change anything to accommodate this , so it’s difficult to see any reason for a grievance

Re: new home phone service

kervoas — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 13:38:07 GMT

OK everyone, thanks for your patience

I'll just have to accept that the BT letter which raised my hopes of full fibre in the near future was misleading.

I'm still grumpy that although BT have told me that I have an old and outdated landline I'm stuck with it for who knows how long even though it provides slow and unreliable broadband.

Re: new home phone service

licquorice — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 13:45:30 GMT

The only thing old and outdated is the PSTN (the analogue phone system), not the copper line.

Re: new home phone service

chrisjp — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 17:43:15 GMT

"The only thing old and outdated is the PSTN (the analogue phone system), not the copper line."

Absolutely true, but BT persists in sending out messages that the "old and outdated copper lines are being retired". It's this that continues to confuse its non-telecom expert customers, making them think that conversion to an all fibre service will always accompany a migration to DV.