I hope you are right - any ideas on what may replace lithium? My main concern ref lithium is environmental damage, secondary to that is supply chain issues as a result of overreliance.
It is not a problem here your phone number belongs to you so you take with you to another provider (the only proviso is that if you owe them money then they can hang onto it until you pay). When you apply to a new company they ask if you want to transfer your number, if you do they do it for you. I think last time it took my new provider less than an hour (certainly less than two) to set my old number on my new SIM card with a different provider on an different network (Optus to Telstra)
For example I still āownā my old landline number which I havenāt used for a considerable time and am on my third or fourth provider with my mobile number which I have had for nearly 20 years. Your number should belong to you.
You should be lobbying your Communications Minister for the same rights.
Since Ofcom introduced its Text-to-Switch service, transferring your number from one mobile provider to another is a simple process.
Yes they have made it easier to do this here too now. However, you do need some information from the old provider and the ease with which that is possible does depend on the type of contract you are on and the provider you are with. With some pay as you go providers where the phone company may have folded itās not possible. Itās the same with email addresses. Iāve had about 2 - 3 email addresses that Iāve lost after the companies stopped provision of mailboxes when contracts changed. Not everyone is diligent at updating their contact details. So having a landline backup has been helpful. I think it will affect some more than others. It will certainly confuse the NHS if patients ditch their landlines. They are the most likely to use mobile numbers as a backup. I keep telling the GP to change this but they always phone the landline first.
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I have the same problem with medical services so having two numbers (1 mobile, 1 DV formerly landline) ensures that, on at least one, the caller will get through or leave a message.
One thing I learned dacades ago was not use us ISP provided email addresses because as you say they disappear if you change provider. The second reason was that if spam because unbearable you could dump a web based address, however that has not been the case (they seem to have better spam protection than ISPs) and I am still using my original Hotmail address but when I got it I also created a Gmail account with the same address and later a similar Outlook address.
The only time I have been forced to use an ISP provided address was again decades ago when I signed up with Ebay, at the time they would not accept a web based address. Whether that is still the case I donāt know.
I still hear constant beeps when talking to my older sister, who switched to digital last year. Find it so annoying. I will hold off for as long as I can, till forced to switch. Even then I will most likely be dragging my feet.
I really cannot see any benefits of me changing from landline to the fibre that runs past my house in the pavement. I have a good package from NOW TV that gives me excess of 65Mbps for the internet, plus line rental and all calls inclusive for Ā£24.50 monthly and that also includes calls to UK mobiles.
BT have been warning us for months, but ignoring it seems to work well.
Weāve tried this before with much success - so far!