Social Tariffs for elderly

MouldyOldDough

My mother in law and father in law are in their 90's and are getting incredibly worried about the digital switch-over

They have a TalkTalk landline which is vital for their survival and they also have a broadband connection - that I believe is never used - my MIL has a computer that I gave her 15 years ago !!

They pay around £40 per month for both - which is way too expensive (MIL's state pension is around £140 per week and she pays the bill)

Is there a social tariff that they should use - and what will happen when the digital system comes in ?

They don't have a mobile phone

iniltous

Social tariffs are not based on the age of the consumer but if they are in receipt of certain benefits, this can vary between providers ( I’ve no idea if Talk Talk have a social tariff and if they do what the qualifications to get it are ) , there is some ‘chat’ on forums such as this , that some companies that offer social tariffs don’t make it easy to get them….
TBH , if they don’t have frequent power outages , then going to IP telephony isn’t a big deal , it just runs over broadband 

Brie

Are you sure their TV doesn't receive a signal by broadband?  I thought that's how the new TVs worked (happy to be corrected.)

But if not and if they didn't have broadband because they never use it aren't the phone companies obliged to set up an alternative?  

littleboo

If someone wants a standalone telephone service, it will be bundled with a low bandwidth data connection, buts thats transparency to the customer, apart from the need for a router.

JSmithy45AD

Brie said:

Are you sure their TV doesn't receive a signal by broadband?  I thought that's how the new TVs worked (happy to be corrected.)

But if not and if they didn't have broadband because they never use it aren't the phone companies obliged to set up an alternative?  

You need a broadband connection for catchup and some streaming Apps such as Netflix but live TV can be via either an aerial or satellite dish (generally speaking). The OP hasn't mentioned TV though.

MouldyOldDough

My parents in law - do not have an internet connected TV either !!
They still use a good old fashioned aerial 

They simply need a reliable home phone - as cheaply as possible

mobile phones are out - my MIL is scared that she will lose it or will forget to charge it

Their phone is an old corded one - they used to have a phone with a dial until four years ago

they are obviously not exactly technically savy.

iniltous

If your relatives have Talk Talk for telephony and broadband then they are not an Openreach WLR ‘line’  but LLU , they are not affected by the BT PSTN switch off date as their telephone service has nothing to do with Openreach or BT  , however TT  may ( like Sky also a LLU provider ) have a program to move customers to IP telephony anyway  , unfortunately this seems to get called generically ‘Digital Voice’  , when in fact that’s BT’s name for BT’s  own proprietary version of VoIP , other providers calling their own VoIP service Digital Voice confuses the issue .

Your in laws may qualify for a social tariff, if TT have one , staying with TT is probably the way to keep the type of telephone service that they currently have ( although this will not be for the long term ) but if they switch to another provider that has a social tariff they qualify for , or a better non social tariff than TT standard tariff ( assuming they don’t qualify for anyone social tariff) , moving will almost certainly involve using a VoIP based phone , so if remaining for as long as possible on a phone  that doesn’t plug into a router , then stick with TT , however it may be the case that if TT do have a social tariff and your relatives qualify, TT may change them to IP telephone as part of the deal….

MouldyOldDough

iniltous said:

If your relatives have Talk Talk for telephony and broadband then they are not an Openreach WLR ‘line’  but LLU , they are not affected by the BT PSTN switch off date as their telephone service has nothing to do with Openreach or BT  , however TT  may ( like Sky also a LLU provider ) have a program to move customers to IP telephony anyway  , unfortunately this seems to get called generically ‘Digital Voice’  , when in fact that’s BT’s name for BT’s  own proprietary version of VoIP , other providers calling their own VoIP service Digital Voice confuses the issue .

Your in laws may qualify for a social tariff, if TT have one , staying with TT is probably the way to keep the type of telephone service that they currently have ( although this will not be for the long term ) but if they switch to another provider that has a social tariff they qualify for , or a better non social tariff than TT standard tariff ( assuming they don’t qualify for anyone social tariff) , moving will almost certainly involve using a VoIP based phone , so if remaining for as long as possible on a phone  that doesn’t plug into a router , then stick with TT , however it may be the case that if TT do have a social tariff and your relatives qualify, TT may change them to IP telephone as part of the deal….

The line is still owned (and faults fixed) by Openreach !

TalkTalk do not OWN the line

iniltous

Exactly where did I state that ? , I never said the line isn’t owned or maintained by Openreach , Talk Talk don’t use WLR but LLU , you obviously have no idea what the difference entails 

MouldyOldDough

iniltous said:

Exactly where did I state that ? , I never said the line isn’t owned or maintained by Openreach , Talk Talk don’t use WLR but LLU , you obviously have no idea what the difference entails 

No I don't - please explain.

J_B

littleboo said:

If someone wants a standalone telephone service, it will be bundled with a low bandwidth data connection, buts thats transparency to the customer, apart from the need for a router.

We have a 'phone only' contract with BT

We use a WISP service (Airband) for our broadband via a dish on the side of the house