New Smart Meters Followed Shortly by New Broadband Provider

Gerry1

I had to call 999 when my mother collapsed with a heart attack and stroke.

When seconds count, calling the fire, police or ambulance services shouldn't be a game of chance.  Rota power cuts last a minimum.of three hours, storm damage up to two weeks.  Falls and fires are more likely during outages (darkness / candles etc), ditto strokes / heart attacks (cold / stress).

Lives shouldn't be rated as cheap and disposable in order to boost the profits of telcos.  Only this week we've just seen a massive failure by BT's 999 service.

Dozy Ofcom need to instruct telcos to retain the same resilience with Digital Voice that landlines have, and that they must not proceed unless and until this has been fully achieved.

inspectorperez

Thanks everyone for the replies and the humour especially Gerry1 for his Private Frazer warning of Doom!

Better half has suggested we have a contingency plan in place and we have agreed to adjourn to the nearest pub with power in the event of a power cut.

Seriously, doesn't look like we've got much to worry about with the proximity of both events.

QrizB

Gerry1 said:

Lives shouldn't be rated as cheap and disposable in order to boost the profits of telcos.  Only this week we've just seen a massive failure by BT's 999 service.

Consumer telephony is not a service with a guaranteed uptime via SLA. That's true today and will still be true with digital voice.

If you want 99.99...% guaranteed availability, you need to take out a contract with a provider that can guarantee it and expect to pay commensurately.

(Apologies, this is off topic for the Energy forum.)

[Deleted User]

.....even where people do have good old fashioned copper landlines, I wonder how many of them also have a good old fashioned telephone handset with a cable to go with them? Not much advantage in having a copper landline when the power goes off if the power to your cordless phone handset goes off too.....

Gerry1

[Deleted User] said:

.....even where people do have good old fashioned copper landlines, I wonder how many of them also have a good old fashioned telephone handset with a cable to go with them? Not much advantage in having a copper landline when the power goes off if the power to your cordless phone handset goes off too.....

I hope you or your family never lose a loved one because someone begrudged spending a fiver on a corded phone that would have allowed them to be rescued / saved.

[Deleted User]

.....meanwhile, in the real world, millions of households manage to survive with cordless handsets and mobile phones some how.

debitcardmayhem

[Deleted User] said:

.....meanwhile, in the real world, millions of households manage to survive with cordless handsets and mobile phones some how.

Bit harsh, I can understand where @Gerry1 is coming from, I realise it’s not an energy response in terms of the op question, but what about people who really rely on copper based telecoms for say telecare, burglar alarms etc there are millions of households that use them too. This is also “the real world” surely?

Gerry1

[Deleted User] said:

.....meanwhile, in the real world, millions of households manage to survive with cordless handsets and mobile phones some how.

In the real world millions of people don't wear seatbelts, do drive over alcohol limit, don't check their tyre pressures, don't check their tread depths, don't check their blood pressure, don't test their smoke detectors, don't check that mole that's got bigger, don't check that lump in their body.

All fine and dandy.  Until you crash in a Paris tunnel, notice blood on your shirt, or don't get woken up by the smoke from the fire downstairs...

badmemory

I normally use a cordless handset, but after our last very badly timed power cut - I can now very easily lay hands on both a torch (even in the pitch dark) & also my old phone which does still work until they mess with the system.  Mobile phone signal round here is totally U S.

[Deleted User]

Gerry1 said:

[Deleted User] said:

.....meanwhile, in the real world, millions of households manage to survive with cordless handsets and mobile phones some how.

In the real world millions of people don't wear seatbelts, do drive over alcohol limit, don't check their tyre pressures, don't check their tread depths, don't check their blood pressure, don't test their smoke detectors, don't check that mole that's got bigger, don't check that lump in their body.

All fine and dandy.  Until you crash in a Paris tunnel, notice blood on your shirt, or don't get woken up by the smoke from the fire downstairs...

A fair point, well made.

I actually consider myself to be a very cautious person. I think the gap between us here is that we perceive the risk associated with not having a copper landline & appropriate handset very differently.