FTTP upgrade and DV pause

[Leasty]

With the announced pause to Digital Voice, if I upgrade from FTTC GFast 150Mbs to full fibre FTTP, does my landline stay on the copper - i.e. analog based, or do I have to switch over to digital voice ?

Thanks

[Keith_Beddoe]

@Leasty 

You will almost certainly be moved to DV.

The pause in upgrades to DV is mainly related to the ongoing rollout moving existing customers, who are not renewing their contract or regrading their package. They were being forced to change against their wishes.

It was the forced changeovers that I believe was giving the most issues.

See https://community.bt.com/t5/Home-phone-including-Digital/BT-Digital-Voice-a-better-way-to-keep-in-to...

"Do I have to take up the Digital voice service when I regrade my contract when DV is available to me?

Generally, yes you will need to move to Digital Voice when you regrade your service."

[DavidM]

That's a great reply from @Keith_Beddoe . I hope that answers your question @Leasty 

Cheers

David

[Tim123]

I think BT are lying about the pause. I have just this minute spoken to contractors working on behalf of Openreach installing FTTP cables under the pavement outside my property. As I only have a telephone service with BT, and we were assured by Chris Howe (BT's "Customer Change Care Director") that we would be the last to be switched to Digital Voice (before the pause in the rollout was announced), I am absolutely fuming! I have also received a letter notifying me that my 'Call Sign' feature will be withdrawn on 30th September, which tallies with the engineer telling me that he "thinks" the switchover for my street will be later this year.

Will I be allowed to stay on my existing telephone service for the time being? I doubt it.

I have tried phoning BT to find out, but they are closed till lunchtime for a meeting!

[Keith_Beddoe]

@Tim123 

As you only have a phone service and not broadband, you would be one of the last to be changed over, as there is no proposed solution for landline only customers. FTTP rollout is only going to affect broadband users that upgrade to FTTP, then they will have to use BT Digital Voice.

[jac_95]

Just to be clear about the announcement of BT Consumer pausing their mass migrations to their own VoIP service called BT Digital Voice. There were still some cases that were outlined where existing BT consumers may still need to be migrated. Have a look at https://landlinesgo.digital/digital-landlines-is-still-going-ahead-by-2025/

Also this pause only applied to BT Consumer the other 600+ communication providers are continuing with their own migration plans to move of the PSTN and onto their own VoIP service. This includes BT Business

And also the "There are some exceptions" bit in the official announcement: https://newsroom.bt.com/were-pausing-our-digital-voice-plans-for-consumers-while-we-work-on-a-more-r...

As for those BT Consumer customers who today have no broadband service but just a voice service, BT Consumer have stated that they will be one of the last ones to be migrated under their own mass migrations plans. These were stated to start in late 2023.

Also to note if you are in a stop sell exchange for copper products then there will be restrictions added to the area to prevent communication providers selling copper based services such as ADSL or VDSL broadband along with the traditional landline service you have today. So in these cases communication providers would likely migrate you onto the full fibre and VoIP service.

[Tim123]

Thank you for the explanation, Keith_Beddoe and jac_95. So what you're saying is that, basically, all the engineers in my street are doing today is extending the fibre cables from the cabinet to just outside my property? Then, when someone knocks on the door later this year, I can just tell them we are telephone-only and they will leave the wires coming into my property as copper for the time being (no work required)? Whereas my neighbours, who have broadband, will get the fibre wires installed into their house. My neighbours will have 'full' FTTP and I'll have 'partial' FTTP. And meanwhile, our telephone exchange will run both services in parallel until later in the transitional process? Is all that correct?

My parents' situation is slightly more complicated, as they have phone with BT and broadband with EE (whereas I have no broadband with any provider, instead using my mobile phone for internet). Will they be allowed to request delay of upgrade to Digital Voice?

[jac_95]

So the Openreach engineers and contractors are just rolling out full fibre (FTTP) to your area. They won't be moving your current service onto onto Full Fibre (FTTP) until an order is placed by your communication provider be that BT Consumer.

There will be a time when you will be asked and placed onto FTTP to either just deliver your voice service or if you decide broadband too but as said for voice only customers BT Consumer have said voice only customers will only be started to be migrated from late 2023. Until then your voice service will continue to run over the existing copper cable.

As for your parents they can ask to delay the migration to VoIP but there will be a point where they will have to be migrated. As said there's a nationwide stop sell of voice services over the current PSTN in September 2023. So after that date any new order to voice services or switching providers will mean it will be over VoIP instead.

[Keith_Beddoe]

@Tim123 

They will not even come to your house, as there would not be a broadband order, as they only fit to order.

You parents will eventually have to stay with one provider for phone and broadband, and whoever provides their service, will have an equivalent to BT Digital Voice.

The option to split broadband and phone providers is a legacy option, and usually works out much more expensive anyway, and providers who use Openreach, no longer offer that option.

[Tim123]

Many thanks, both.

My understanding from the 'British Telephones' website was that it would still be possible to split phone and broadband providers:

Q.  I have my telephone line from BT and my broadband from another company.  How will that work?
A.  Either use BT as the telephone and broadband supplier, or use your original broadband supplier and get an internet based telephone provider to supply the line. 

Admittedly, the above is worded a little vaguely and I bow to your superior knowledge. Having different companies for each service may be outdated and more expensive, but surely forcing customers to have just one provider is anti-competition?

On migration to Digital Voice will I, as a voice only customer, have to have the 'last few yards' into my property "de-copperised" or can I keep my existing master socket? The plus side of full FTTP is that it should be easier to 'fire up' my extension sockets from the router (as there would be no need to install a new socket next to the old master; I would simply disconnect the copper wiring and plug the router into the old master). The down side is having a rather ugly ONT installed, requiring its own mains power supply in addition to the power needs of the router. Also, what about my parents?