Because the copper cable infrastructure for landlines has deteriorated so much and is so expensive to replace, they’re being phased out. They told people about this a year or two back but have been silent on the topic since. Without any warning my mother’s landline ceased working last week. After contacting Virgin Media they checked and it was because of the switchover to digital broadband phone technology. They did at least send an engineer to fit an adapter into the back of the router, so at least the landline phone in there can use her broadband network to dial out again.
Bear in mind that if you have a fall alarm pendant, burglar alarm or warden assistance system (often known as a Tunstall system) that uses a landline, these will cease working. I think they sent an engineer out to my mother because I fibbed and said that she had a fall alarm bracelet and I was annoyed it had ceased working with no prior warning! Although we live in the same town, my landline and that of her friend in another part of town are still working, so I’m expecting a silent landline any day now.
What they haven’t really said much about is that, of course, people who have no broadband will have to have it installed (minimum package probably about £25 a minth, roughly) so they can fit adapters (£24 each) to their old landline phones. Wireless Broadband phones cost between £30 for one phone to £90+ for three phones. One drawback to these phones is that they need batteries in them to provide power to the phone if the mains power fails. All fun and games, eh! I passed on a message about all this to the care home I worked in before retiring, and they rely heavily on landline alert systems, so it’s going to cost them a fortune, sadly.
And you still have to pay for calls made over the internet, plus if you decide you don’t need a home phone any more, GoCompare says:
If you’re hoping that broadband without landline means not paying for line rental, you’ll be disappointed.
The only way to avoid paying line rental is to opt for mobile or satellite broadband. These types of services usually work out more expensive than a standard connection anyway, and do not always provide the signal you need.
True, but not everyone has Broadband or even a smart phone. Even if they do, services like WhatsApp don’t work with alert services that are linked to landlines, either.
It is absolutely nothing to worry about, in my suburb copper went over a decade ago, best thing that ever happened - goodbye line rentals.
If you have an alarm, either house, fall or assistance, they merely change it to Wifi or a SIM card - been there, done that, easy as, the companies involved probably already had it planned ages ago, if they didn’t then change providers.
It is the ideal time to get rid of the landline and go mobile too.
BTW the shutting of the 3G this year is causing more of a problem for some than the demise of copper. I have a drawer full of useless 2G and 3G phones
My phone is already connected to my hub….and I have experienced a non-working phone when a fault on the local network caused the broadband to go down and during a power cut.
I rarely make a call but it’s a reminder to ensure my very cheap calls and texts only mobile is kept charged in case of emergencies.
Yes exactly why we have kept a mobile contract going…early March through to earlyApril we had no phone no internet and so the only way connect to the internet was by pickin up a local wifi signal… whether from a library hotel civil offices for example…then it came back on for a few days and went off again…we had no real explanation as such…Certainly they have been digging up the Lanes and laying the cables for Fibre…but was told nope not anything to do with the work going on…something was down I gathered!!!
