Keeping analogue phone line

Oryx28

I am in a fairly unique position but sure I'm not alone in this and I desperately need to keep my analogue phone line. I live in a very rural area with no mobile signal, in fact I can't even get a radio signal as I'm at the bottom of a steep sided valley. It was prohibitively expensive to get an electric supply (c£60k) so I have solar panels only which didn't work over the winter (due to lack of sun). If my analogue phone is taken away I will have no way of communicating with the outside world in the winter. I tried calling plusnet who I am with and openreach and they suggested trying Martin Lewis! So here I am. What can I do. Short of trying my MP I'm at a loss what I can do. Thank you for listening. 

400ixl

Before you get too wound around the axle. What has got you thinking that there is an imminent problem and that you won't be left with a phone line?

The existing PSTN system will be shut down at the end of 2025, there is no getting around that. This is the old analogue back end exchange system. However, there is a replacement being put in place which will still be able to be provided over copper wires.

Having solar panels and off grid does actually solve another problem some will have in that the digital services don't work with a power cut unless there is a backup supply to the router. You won't have that issue.

Plusnet however are not currently planning to offer any digital voice services, so this will mean changing supplier at some point unless they change their plans. Plusnet customers will be able to transfer to EE/BT without early cancellation penalties.

littleboo

"It was prohibitively expensive to get an electric supply (c£60k) so I have solar panels only which didn't work over the winter (due to lack of sun). If my analogue phone is taken away I will have no way of communicating with the outside world in the winter." 
Are you saying you don't have any electricity all winter?

Oryx28

Yes the electric went down for a month over the winter we had no electric 

iniltous

Just how ‘off grid’ are you ?, is the property a mortgageable one , does it have running water and sanitation , is it liable for council tax , I’m guessing if it doesn’t have mains electricity it won’t have mains gas ….if it’s effectively little more than a ‘caravan’ in a field , then getting service initially was something of a stroke of luck as there is no universal service obligation on non standard homes.

Plusnet do not  offer telephony to new customers ,  only broadband, and presumably at some point will say to their telephone customers will have to find a company that will provide it , BT have a solution to telephony only customers , that although short term , enables copper pair telephony only customers to continue as they are , they  are still moved to an IP ( Internet Protocol ) system from PSTN , but all the equipment ( basically an ATA , analog telephone adapter ) is contained within the exchange building, so nothing changes at the customer end , this gets around the PSTN switch off which is by the end of December 2025 , but longer term when copper pairs are retired you will definitely have a problem.

JSmithy45AD

Oryx28 said:

I am in a fairly unique position but sure I'm not alone in this and I desperately need to keep my analogue phone line. I live in a very rural area with no mobile signal, in fact I can't even get a radio signal as I'm at the bottom of a steep sided valley. It was prohibitively expensive to get an electric supply (c£60k) so I have solar panels only which didn't work over the winter (due to lack of sun). If my analogue phone is taken away I will have no way of communicating with the outside world in the winter. I tried calling plusnet who I am with and openreach and they suggested trying Martin Lewis! So here I am. What can I do. Short of trying my MP I'm at a loss what I can do. Thank you for listening. 

You are @bunnygo and I claim my £5

400ixl

Oryx28 said:

Yes the electric went down for a month over the winter we had no electric 

Ah, missed that bit. Solar panels do work in winter, just not as efficiently.

Even the proposed power solutions for the replacement service are not going to be able to cover a prolonged outage of weeks if there is no power.

You should be OK for the next 20 months or so and new solutions are being looked at but you are in the 0.1% club and it may be the solution has to be in your own hands and to sort out having a reliable power source 365 days a year.

What are your current plans for electricity?

Oryx28

iniltous said:

Just how ‘off grid’ are you ?, is the property a mortgageable one , does it have running water and sanitation , is it liable for council tax , I’m guessing if it doesn’t have mains electricity it won’t have mains gas ….if it’s effectively little more than a ‘caravan’ in a field , then getting service initially was something of a stroke of luck as there is no universal service obligation on non standard homes.

Plusnet do not  offer telephony to new customers ,  only broadband, and presumably at some point will say to their telephone customers will have to find a company that will provide it , BT have a solution to telephony only customers , that although short term , enables copper pair telephony only customers to continue as they are , they  are still moved to an IP ( Internet Protocol ) system from PSTN , but all the equipment ( basically an ATA , analog telephone adapter ) is contained within the exchange building, so nothing changes at the customer end , this gets around the PSTN switch off which is by the end of December 2025 , but longer term when copper pairs are retired you will definitely have a problem.

No I am not a caravan in a field. It is a house and I pay council tax. There are no mains services as v rural but I do have a phone line. OK so there is hope I can keep it for longer.

Oryx28

400ixl said:

Oryx28 said:

Yes the electric went down for a month over the winter we had no electric 

Ah, missed that bit. Solar panels do work in winter, just not as efficiently.

Even the proposed power solutions for the replacement service are not going to be able to cover a prolonged outage of weeks if there is no power.

You should be OK for the next 20 months or so and new solutions are being looked at but you are in the 0.1% club and it may be the solution has to be in your own hands and to sort out having a reliable power source 365 days a year.

What are your current plans for electricity?

The plans are to continue as I am. There isn't really any other option. It's sad that something simple and perfectly functioning such as the analogue phone line must be made to be electric dependent when we should be saving energy. Its quite mad.

iniltous

TBH , keeping  an entire PSTN exchange functioning to keep a tiny number of customers that have no local power supply isn’t energy efficient , although each DV customer without broadband will be consuming a tiny amount of electricity to keep the kit functioning ( once that becomes necessary ) it’s insignificant compared to the energy costs of running an exchange.

giraffe69

If you have mobiles but no/very weak signal then using wifi calling might be an option. We don't have a mobile signal but have given up our landline recently and are not missing it. Mind you the elctricity supply sound better here!