The End of Analogue Phone Lines

VOIP is already here with the likes of FaceTime and WhatsApp. My modem is equipped with it but so far Virgin seem reluctant providers.

peedee

The first BT router we had, when still on standard speed broadband, had a VOIP phone which slotted in a cradle at the front to charge. We used to use it to phone OH’s relatives in South Africa and my sister in France. It still costed and showed on your phone bill, but was substantially cheaper than using the land line.

I take back what I said about trees falling on copper wires, of course the wires will still be there unless you are cabled to the door. Our new cabling which is isn't up and running yet gives us the option, more expensive as well to cable up a long drive way the other option is to connect at the road to overhead copper.  

B2 I read on the Ofcom site that you can keep your old landline number for the voip system.

I doubt they’ll hit targets they’ve agreed to-they never do. Govts have a  history with giving bad companies further contracts, remember carillion🤷🏻‍♂️☹️. 

I currently have two internet connections, one FTTC and one high speed FTTP direct fibre connection to the house (I am sitting on the fence at the moment!) With the direct high speed fibre connection the modem you get includes a phone connection which routes your calls through the fibre. However there is a monthly cost for a call package just as there is with a standard BT phone so I am not convinced it will be any cheaper? As has been mentioned there are Apps that bypass the need to use a phone to anywhere in the world like Facetime and Whatsapp. I think the biggest impact of this change will be to those in the older generation who don't use the internet and just want a phone line. As the article suggests it looks as though there will be a minimum fibre internet service to those people with just enough bandwidth to service their phone. It may be prudent to also have a mobile phone because if the internet goes down there will be no service. The old phone system is powered from the exchange so providing there is no fault on the line works regardless of power to the premises. 

David

You would have to have a corded phone at present, anything cordless might lose battery power. I will be surprised if this system is truly in place by 2025. I believe the sales of "old style" phones is stopping this year but there is a long way to go connecting everyone up.

We have VOIP - using our old landline number. There's a setting that if there's a power cut the calls divert to a given mobile number. It can also be set to ring the normal handset and the mobile all the time (useful if away?) but that was too many things ringing at once for me (my watch also rings!).

We have a land line which has two phones connected one in  the bedroom and the one used the most in our "sitting room" and as now and getting worse ,the downs stairs answer phone and handset only rings in from a mobile or a local exchange number ,if we get a call from another landline from a different area(many of our friends still use them) it only rings on the extention phone in the bedroom ,the BT man we know  is flummoxed

I can imagine this could get quite difficult.  In our current set up we have cordless phones in sitting room and bedroom and a fixed line in OH study, so if phone rings we are always in reach of it.  How would that work with a mobile, we never carry it around the house with us!  We rarely (unless away) ever use our mobiles for anything other than the odd text message.  OH would never hear his either, unless right next to him.  Also, our mobile signal is quite poor from all providers in our village, and data almost non-existent, and that just 8 miles from York.