Reply to: Upgrade to BT broadband

[DoctorStrangelove]

Now is no time to be meddling with landlines


SIR – Recent letters (March 5) have suggested that the removal of BT analogue landlines and reliance on the internet for the “digital voice system” replacement may cause problems in the event of a power cut, and that this might be even more of a problem when there is a lack of mobile phone signal.

This is not a theoretical situation. Our village, which does not have a mobile phone signal, experienced a three-day power cut in November 2021 in the middle of a snowstorm. After the second day I saw a puzzled 95-year-old standing in the snow outside her house, wondering why she could not contact her family to ask for help. I walked a mile up the road to access a phone signal to ring the family and ask them to fetch her. Luckily, I had some residual battery power. We had similar problems after the recent storms.

When we consider the new uncertainties that our civilisation faces, access to reliable telephone communication would seem vital.

Professor Robert Kirby
Maer, Stafford

WHS.

[d000hg]

You want that satellite internet Mr Musk is selling - then you can email for help in case of an emergency.

[WTFH]

No generators?

Some have battery backup that will give them up to 6 hours power, but that's not everywhere.

[d000hg]

You might expect it, but since they haven't then you iz fecked.

No generators?

[DoctorStrangelove]

Well you would expect mobile masts to get/have temporary power as being quite critical but in the case of a major full area outage something pretty bad has happened.

You might expect it, but since they haven't then you iz fecked.

[d000hg]

It used to be suggested that you should always have a corded landline phone that was plugged in to the phone line and didn't require any additional external power source.
A corded phone relies on the phone line having its own power, which comes from the exchange. If the exchange has no power, then the exchange will be down.

Indeed, but this advice seems to have passed and in any case isn't followed. Mobiles are becoming ubiquitous - obviously there are areas without good coverage but then those areas tend to also be stuck on copper wire and people probably DO have landlines.

So, to sum up, in other words, with an area wide power cut you are royally fecking shafted: no emergency call system at all: not landline & not mobile.

Well you would expect mobile masts to get/have temporary power as being quite critical but in the case of a major full area outage something pretty bad has happened.

[DoctorStrangelove]

https://www.itworldcanada.com/articl...kup-power/2257

Oh, brilliant. More switched off thinking.

So, to sum up, in other words, with an area wide power cut you are royally fecking shafted: no emergency call system at all: not landline & not mobile.

I'm impressed.

I'm off out to buy a satphone.

Or to get an amateur radio license.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-inRe...63&sr=8-9&th=1

[mogga71]

I guess you are a project manager then?

Blinkin brilliant mate ... had me in stitches.

[xoggoth]

Hmm. One comment on reviews that latest Hub was not compatible with older broadband cable. BT site info needs to be better.

[xoggoth]

Just be aware that it may be free because BT want everyone moving over to digital phone lines which don't work when there's a power cut. Double check whether that's part of the "deal" first.

If you're in a poor mobile reception area, you may not want to lose the only other means of making an emergency call.

I was a bit unsure about that too. Thought the mobile thing was just a backup, site certainly gives that impression.

Actually looks like we'll be shifted to digital in under 4 years anyway.
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/news-centre...tal-technology

[DoctorStrangelove]

The exchange currently has a big feckoff 60V battery to power all the phones at the end of the copper wires.

I wonder what's going to power the assorted BT green boxes that hum merrily away with fans & such like cooling stuff down.

If those are powered off the local mains then it's all moot anyway.

This appears to be the Ofcom guidance on emergency calls:

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/asse...-power-cut.pdf

And this:

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/asse...-PUBLISHED.pdf

Oh, there we are then:

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/asse...-power-cut.pdf

You only get the battery backup thingie if you're "vulnerable".


And off down the rabbit hole of pure sinewave inverters and dual fuel generators we go.

[WTFH]

We might mostly all still have copper wires to our house, but fewer and fewer of us actually have a landline phone. And of them, how many are electric phones which won't work either. Hardly anyone has a mechanical phone anymore.

It used to be suggested that you should always have a corded landline phone that was plugged in to the phone line and didn't require any additional external power source.
A corded phone relies on the phone line having its own power, which comes from the exchange. If the exchange has no power, then the exchange will be down.

[d000hg]

Just be aware that it may be free because BT want everyone moving over to digital phone lines which don't work when there's a power cut.

Because the line itself goes dead or because you need a small 12V box plugged in locally? Get yourself a battery or generator

What I find remarkable about this is the short duration of the battery power that allows 999 calls in the event of a power cut: up to 1 hour.

Which is tough tulipe if it's off for days, as has happened quite recently.

Oh, but everyone's got a mobile, er, yes, but what happens when the mobile tower is off because of the power cut too?

There's an Ofcomm thing about it, but it seems to say tough tulipe.

We might mostly all still have copper wires to our house, but fewer and fewer of us actually have a landline phone. And of them, how many are electric phones which won't work either. Hardly anyone has a mechanical phone anymore.

Face it, you are reliant on electricity and mobile phones. You gas central heating doesn't work without electricity either.

[eek]

Just be aware that it may be free because BT want everyone moving over to digital phone lines which don't work when there's a power cut. Double check whether that's part of the "deal" first.

If you're in a poor mobile reception area, you may not want to lose the only other means of making an emergency call.

It's not a want of BT, it's a requirement. Come 2026 Openreach want the old copper network to be redundant and ideally gone

The path for it can be found at Retiring the copper network (openreach.com) and the test seems to be if ultrafast full fibre is available your copper days are numbered up to your renewal date.

I don't have that problem as our BT network is so insane we are seemingly the last people being moved.

[courtg9000]

Just be aware that it may be free because BT want everyone moving over to digital phone lines which don't work when there's a power cut. Double check whether that's part of the "deal" first.

If you're in a poor mobile reception area, you may not want to lose the only other means of making an emergency call.

^^THIS^^

If you have any alarm stuff (burglar/fire/life support for example) connected to your landline check that these will still work too.