Landline closure?

[#1]

@MisterW  Would you expect BT group to keep their exchange equipment working just for Plusnet and perhaps EE customers given that they are moving their BT Retail to Digital Voice?

[#2]

@machare its Openreach equipment , and its used by all ISPs who currently supply landlines ( except Virgin media ).

[#3]

It's very confusing - and the Press aren't helping much! - until I read this thread I assumed that PN would have to release me from my contract if "BT" switch off the equipment in my exchange before my minimum PN contract period - but this seems to infer that Openreach will keep it going for non BT Retail customers  - one wonders how long and for how many customers ?

[#4]

My understanding is that when the exchange equipment is switched off it will be for all ISPs that use it.

[#5]

@davidj66 

It's PTSN that's being switched off and it will happen before the end of 2025. OpenReach will then remove the equipment from the Exchanges. Indeed, I believe the number of Exchanges will drop from around 5000 to 1000 over time.

The copper line to your premise from the cabinet will not be removed (unless as part of a FTTP installation). It will be used for Internet and VOIP. Heavy duty copper lines out from the Exchanges could well be recovered for re-cycling.

Brian

[#6]

So ,if my exchange (in Wales) is "switched off" before my contracted end date with PN then what happens to my phone service as PN aren't offering a VOIP service ? Will I have the 30 days to switch to a VOIP provider altho still being under contract for broadband ?

Important as I want to keep my landline number because generally mobile service is very poor here and will get worse with 3G switch off as 5G is non existent and 4G also very poor.

[#7]

Most of the concerns on this thread seem to have been "how long can I keep my Plusnet landline?" The consensus answer from those in the know is that, provided you simply renew and do not change anything, until OpenReach close PSTN at the end of 2025. What BT does about its landline service is not directly relevant.

But some, including me, knowing that moving to VOIP is inevitable one way or another just want to get on with it sooner rather than later. One option is to move to BT when their Digital Voice rollout comes to your area. Where I am, it seems already to be available. At least one (new) community member @Ryokan56 at https://community.plus.net/t5/Everything-else/Plusnet-moved-me-to-BT-Business/m-p/1938385/highlight/... was moved by Plusnet to BT Business but I am assuming that was so they could put him on iCloud Voice.

I am not myself keen on opting for either. Moving to BT for VOIP implies moving to BT for Broadband too and so using one of their so-called "hubs" which are in fact routers. I use FTTC which connects to an OpenReach modem and then on to my own choice of router. The BT hubs have a built-in adapter to connect an existing landline phone but you can also have a separate VOIP phone. But they seem to rely on WPS (Wireless Protected Setup) for configuration which has some well-know security vulnerabilities, particularly when used with a PIN. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Protected_Setup#:~:text=hash%20the%20data.-,Physical%20security%...

Like a few others earlier in this thread, I have been experimenting with what Andrews & Arnold have to offer for a VOIP base station and phone combination for home use. I am using a new phone number as I certainly do not want to port my number  until I have chosen a long-term solution. It might well not be with them either. On the plus side they are inexpensive, payment is by month for the number and by call for outgoing use, the base works fine behind my existing router. On the downside, they do not offer a number you can ring using 1571 to listen to voicemail (they email you a recording instead), and although it is offered as a home phone option A&A are clearly very business oriented. I have managed, as a techie, to get things like uploading my contacts database to the handset but nothing as simple as my current Panasonic DECT phone for which I can just select from my Apple contacts and transfer using an iPhone app. Their Yealink phone also insists on having an Office number in its directory (I am uploading contacts using XML notation as their CSV option requires the inclusion of carriage returns with new lines which is quite difficult to engineer on a Mac! The directory entries also allow a Mobile and Other number to be entered for each contact but when trying more than one number per contact I have found that the phone only shows the calling number and not the name of the contact. Neither A&A or Yealink have responded to my questions about that.

I will simply renew my Plusnet contract when it comes up at the end of the year to give me more time to search for a long-term solution - ideally that would not involve any changes to my broadband setup.

Good luck everyone!

[#8]

For the past 8 years I have used a Gigaset N300 Dect base station with Gigaset phones and Sipgate and A&A VOIP accounts.

For a wired phone I have ordered a Cisco Linksys Model: PAP2T-NA PAP2T which looks to be a new product. In future the Gigaset N300 will be connected to it.

[#9]

The cisco pap2t is obsolete https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/obsolete/unified-communications/cisco-pap2t-internet-phone-adapter-wit...

[#10]

A general query

Can somebody knowledgeable please answer this question - which for me is simply a matter of personal curiosity.

NB. I am with Plusnet for broadband and phone, so none of the following applies to me.

So, say there is this little, grey haired, 80 year old women - in good health, no carer. She has a BT landline (DECT) phone; no broadband, no router, no Internet, no computer, no mobile phone - no interest in ever getting such.

Come the day, BT are going to terminate her PSTN service. So they arrive at her home with the 'gizmo', to keep her going in the age of VoIP. They set it up, plug her DECT phone into the 'gizmo' and... Exactly what then?

Previously, I had always assumed they would plug the 'gizmo' into her landline phone socket, turn the power on, and away she goes - into the digital age!

Am/was I wrong?

What I am now reading seems to suggest that the 'gizmo' (or phone) has to be plugged into her "Broadband router", which she doesn't have... With a BT 'gizmo' does she have to have a router? Does she have to have broadband?

I originally assumed she would not need Broadband - 'the 'gizmo' would itself work directly into the existing copper landline socket (eventually even fibre). Sure it would be using IP, sure it would be using VoIP, but "Broadband"? Why? I assumed in such a case the 'gizmo' would not need Broadband, it would be using it's own onboard specialised VoIP system - call it 'Narrowband' if you will.

Was I entirely wrong? If "Yes", then why is this approach NOT the one being used by BT in circumstances as described.

Just trying to get things sorted out in my mind.

[#11]

“So, say there is this little, grey haired, 80 year old women - in good health, no carer. She has a BT landline (DECT) phone; no broadband, no router, no Internet, no computer, no mobile phone - no interest in ever getting such.”

a scenario you are right to raise and very concerning @pvmb. But the landline socket connects to the PSTN and that is what is going away. An Internet connection will be needed but not at very high bandwidth for voice.

[#12]

@pvmb
"What if I don't have or want a broadband connection?
Those who currently only have a landline won't be forced to pay for broadband services that they don't want or need. Their digital phone service will work using a special dedicated broadband connection and shouldn't cost any more than what they pay now. BT has made a specific commitment to telecoms regulator Ofcom that its customers will pay the same amount, and Virgin Media says its voice-only customers will get the hub necessary for its digital phone services at no additional cost. "

From the which article here
https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/broadband/article/digital-voice-and-the-landline-phone-switch-off-wh...

[#13]

@pvmb 

There is an OpenReach product specifically for those who only want a landline. It is ditigal so comes from the cabinet using the exisiting copper line. Some sort of unit will plug into the phone socket and then phone into that. Power will be required and it won't work during a power cut.

Brian

[#14]

Yes @Protech but it will not connect to the landline socket. The question was not about cost. Will at least need a new socket for the Internet connection

[#15]

Happy to stand corrected @bmc . Do you have a link to reference this OpenReach product?