Vulnerable customer forced move to DV + Full Fibre

[Beesto]

Hello. I'm hoping for a second opinion/view please. Here's the background with a very specific question at the end.

Since 2020 I've had an ongoing battle with BT who’ve made multiple attempts to force my vulnerable mother (now nearly 91) into Digital Voice. She’s been a BT customer forever and has Alzheimers. Time after time I've had to repeat her vulnerabilities over and over to BT, who seem to be incapable of properly logging them and/or conveniently overlook them, or both. I should also say that I'm not a DV refusnik as I migrated myself nearly two years ago and I'm well aware of the national switchover. But for someone who is both physically and mentally-isolated and doesn't accept change, this won't end well. She uses her internet for online solitaire, dabbling on Google and not a lot else.

This reared its ugly head again recently with the news that she MUST now have Digital Voice AND Full Fibre all on the same day. This is clearly too much all at once: backup battery and DV handset/s (hopefully! although I had to force this out of BT and I'll believe it when I see it), plus ONT, plus possibly new router in a new location, plus Openreach engineer (no mention of a BT Guide), plus drilling, plus cable run etc. I've formally complained (yet again) and not got very far. There was quite an aggressive 'push' about this (16 emails in 32 days) which 'got my back up' from the start and I’ve now quite clearly said "I do not want (her) to move to Full Fibre" but seemingly to deaf ears.

One thing that sort of confuses me is that she's already been through a so-called "Broadband Switch Over Day" (May 2020): "we're switching everyone in a fibre-enabled area to a fibre broadband connection", "we'll turn off your current copper connection and switch on your fibre broadband".

The very latest that "Executive Complaints" have told me this week is that:

"... the property is in an area marked for copper withdrawal, meaning that full fibre and Digital Voice must be provided to all addresses to prevent loss of service for customers who rely on Openreach’s network ..."

So, before I respond to an only very slightly conciliatory offer from BT, my very specific question is whether this claim is wholly true? [FYI she’s already Fibre 2 / Smart Hub 2 and - without breaching any privacy - is in west Halifax HX2]. Thank you for any insight.

It seems like: want it or not, need it or not, suitable or not, like it or not, we have to have a DV / FF combo forced on us sooner rather than later? Do I just bite the bullet and get it over with.

[licquorice]

This is a customer to customer self help forum. Nobody here is in a position to give a definitive answer. The mods here are subservient to Executive Complaints and will therefore not be in a position to disagree with what you have been told. 

Whilst BT can be incompetent at times, I very much doubt Executive Complaints would outright lie.

There are certainly areas of the country that are being moved away from copper to full fibre.

There is no reason why your mother can't continue to use her phone and internet as she does now following the move. Her existing phone and set-up can still be used as now with DV. It is not necessary to change her phone.

[iniltous]

Hopefully this doesn’t seem to ‘heartless’ but this is a good example of why kicking the can down the road is counterproductive, you eventually run out of road .
Presumably at various points in time you could have accepted the relatively simple migration to DV , given that your relative already has broadband this would have been a minimal change but now it seems all the inevitable changes that could have been done separately have come together and now need to be done in one comprehensive change .

TBH , Ive no idea what you mean by Broadband Switch Over Day , May 2020 , perhaps you can give a citation for this , personally I’ve never heard of anything like that , but if this area is now in an exchange closure program, then to continue to be served  FTTP is necessary along with DV ( if a telephone service is required) this presumably is now not negotiable, its take it or don’t have service.

I suspect its the exchange closure program is what is now dictating this unavoidable change  , you may have be able to defer going onto DV , and defer accepting FTTP , but once the exchange building is to be closed you can’t defer from that .

[Beesto]

FYI here's the citation ....

"Date: Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Subject: Your Broadband Switch Over Day is almost here"

[WSH]

I’m not sure as it will help with your problem any, but it might clarify what is going on with the exchange and whether people are being honest.

Put your phone number or address in here:

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

At the top it will say what exchange you are one.  If you enter the name of the telephone exchange under “Locality” and click “Lookup locality” here:

https://www.telecom-tariffs.co.uk/codelook.htm

…then click on the name of the exchange on the next page, it will say what the future plans are.

(PSTN on here is referring to the old copper phone system).

[iniltous]

Presumably your relative was on exchange based ADSL and was changed to FTTC by BT even if  the speeds obtained from ADSL were acceptable to the customer , this is  a change that the majority of customers would have instigated themselves once FTTC was available , this program possibly a precursor to exchange closure but certainly never  a national program ,  only  targeted at specific groups of customers and in particular areas ( and why it’s wasn’t recognised by myself)

This does seem to align with an area where the exchange itself is being closed (as will all but around 1000 exchange out of an exchange estate of over 6000 over the next decade or so ) ,in many areas people will be able  to maintain their SoGEA ( but not PSTN telephone) for a few more years until their local exchange is eventually closed ,but not your relative , I’d suggest your exchange is likely near the top of the closure program and its closure is relatively imminent, hence the compulsory change you need to make .

[WSH]

If it is up for closure in the immediate future, it will be in this list:

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2025/09/openreach-to-start-exiting-next-12-uk-exchanges-in-q3-...

[Tim123]

@Beesto - Sorry to hear that your mother has Alzheimer's. I assume she has a telecare alarm? If it's an alarm that works over the analogue (PSTN) service, BT will not switch her to digital until as late as possible (sometime in January 2027, I believe). However, you need to tell them that she has an analogue telecare alarm, then they will put a note on the account to say that she must be kept on PSTN and ADSL for as long as possible (I know because I've done this on behalf of my parents). It should give you and her more time to understand the changes needed and make alternative arrangements. It's a shame she has broadband, otherwise they would switch her to SOTAP (which runs off Digital Voice but from the exchange), meaning no changes required in the home.

[chrisjp]

I suspect that, if the exchange in question is due for imminent closure, it won't be possible to keep just one, or a few, customers on ADSL and PSTN until 2027 because that would mean the exchange would need to be kept operational until then.

[Tim123]

You could be right, but I didn't think they were going to start closing exchanges until after switchover has been completed (or even later, from 2030 onwards).