Digital Voice.

[outlaw123]

Many thanks for that. A sensible solution.

[WSH]

Just a thought, (and I can assure you I’m not trying to be flippant here), but if you have a first responder in the village would a couple of walkie-talkies be a good standby?  For example:

"Two way radios"

As a first responder, I would imagine he/she has the means to summon further help if necessary.

[outlaw123]

Thanks for the idea. I will put it to them.

[iniltous]

I’m not being antagonistic, but you haven’t answered the point , what would you do if your current PSTN landline developed a fault that stopped you making a call ?,  would you stay put for the duration of the fault and hope you don’t need to make a call , or move out  ?

The  fact is your current telephone service could develop a problem that would put you in the same situation as having digital voice telephone and a power outage , if you would not move out , hoping that the telephone outage is short lived , then you are obviously prepared to live with some ‘risk’ , as generally we all are , and should your DV service be unavailable, you are in no worse a situation, plus DV arguably is more ( not less ) reliable than PSTN which is at the end of its useful life.

Your contract with BT is satisfied in exactly the same way with DV as it is with PSTN , it is to supply a telephone service, the method and medium it’s delivered over is not relevant to the contract.

As far as moving home , I wasn’t suggesting you should , simply pointing out that if you absolutely had to have access to the emergency services at all times , as your health was that poor that it’s almost certain that you will need to do so ,  presumably the time needed  to respond to distress call that would also be critical too , so living remotely will undoubtedly mean that their response will take longer , but your own risk assessment is such that it’s a risk worth taking , that prospect doesn’t fill you with dread , but the tiny chance that you will need to make a call during a power outage apparently does.

[Confused52]

There is a fundamental difference if the current PSTN line failed in that it could be fixed. It would take days but that is possible. If the UK suffers planned Rota power Outages the BT solution will not work. The proposed battery solution would not reliably survive the 3 hour planned outage. Additionally the recharge time of 24 hours would not be achieved during the interval between planned outages on the government rota in multiple disconnection groups. the time between outages can be as low as 3 hours even at 5% load shedding. It is not possible to exempt residential properties from these groups. 

The design of the new network is not fit for purpose as a replacement for a universal service providing access to the emergency services. BT is doing the whole job on the cheap and hopes it will get away with it. Given that the possible power cuts would be national there is no where to go to avoid them but BT has failed to provide a solution to get access to emergency service for more than an hour. Whilst they only are required to offer a minimum of an hour under the General Conditions of Entitlement as interpreted by Ofcom in 2018, BT should have seen the risk they were presenting when the Ukraine War started. Given that they have singularly failed to respond, even though the risk in the Rota disconnection system published in 2019 was already apparent. It is difficult to see how BT can claim to have taken all reasonable step here in 2023. Especially so when they have not even managed to make a DC power cable for both  ONT and Smarthub2 from a single Backup PSU, have chosen a unit with only marginally more than hour capability, do not supply spare batteries, and have an agreement that means only they can sell the approved unit.

[Jane2018]

Also (and I may be very very lucky, but in 25 years our telephone landline has not once gone down in this house, whereas the wifi and broadband go down at least once a day albeit briefly and BT/open reach have never been able to fix that whether for us or neighbours. 30 minutes ago my son came in to ask about it as his programme is buffering and I had to say earlier today my internet cut out 4 times.   That is compared to 25 years and the landline not once being down.

[Cuilchick]

People moved in to home before BT decided to cut off old phone network, for example...people who can't afford to move to the city, for example...people who became infirm, for example. Many reasons why they live where they live.

[Cuilchick]

Well said.

[Cuilchick]

Well, we'll all move to the city then.

[outlaw123]

When I took out a contract with BT is was for a landline. BT have now decided to change that contract with no consultation. The suggestion to move is not possible due to financial constraints therefore I expect BT to fulfil the wording of their original contract. As for " living with risk" BT have ensured that this risk is increased due to the above comments. I am not the only one in this situation. We have elderly neighbours who have no internet connection. Therefore they are in a worse position than me. My initial point is how can an organisation impose a change in a contract when it is obviously going to impact heavily on a potential 1% 0f the population. BT will not provide a telephone service to individuals who currently have an internet service therefore they are not fulfilling the original contract. By the way I along with many non techy users dont have a clue what all the PTSN etc mean.