Social Tariffs for elderly

littleboo

All UK core phone networks are already digital, after the last mile ( ie the bit between the exchange and your phone), and all phone networks are interconnected, directly or indirectly. Thats how you can phone anyone on any other providers network or indeed internationally. it really doesn't matter about the other providers technology, all that matters is they already interconnect and will continue to do so. Other countries will be on legacy platforms for years, but you will still be able to make a call to them when you are on VOIP and they aren't.

iniltous

MouldyOldDough said:

iniltous said:

Using terms like 100% digital isn’t really correct , the BT PSTN ( which is a digital network ) is being retired, it’s replacement is IP ( internet protocol ) hence the need to use broadband and connecting in the majority of cases to a broadband router …..Talk Talk are not bound by the dates BT are using , they have their own network that delivers telephony , they may decide to use the same dates , or they may do something different, as stated when it comes to Openreach FTTP they don’t offer telephony, so may decide to not offer telephony and concentrate on broadband only , your in laws should probably enquire with TT as to their plans 

But TT's network can never be a standalone network - surely, it must be connected in to BT/Openreach network - so must be compatible, in order for a user to phone anyone else on the phone network

I, myself, am also TT as my provider - but when I phone the local hospital - it uses BT network - so must be converted to digital at the same time as the rest of the country , at switch over date ??

Consider a Talk Talk customer calling another Talk Talk customer ,either local to each other ( so same exchange area ) or in different towns , miles apart , at no point at all are ‘BT’ involved in that call ,  ( assuming TT are using the Openreach network on an LLU basis to reach each customers address ) obviously Openreach are involved in a passive sense ( they provided the cabling from the local exchange or exchanges to each TT ‘address’  ) but the call is over Talk Talk equipment nothing  BT is involved …. you do know there is no such thing as BT/Openreach , it’s just Openreach don’t you ? 

A TT customer obviously can call BT customers ( and BT customers can call TT , and Sky and Vodafone and 02 and  dozens of national providers and hundreds of international providers ) obviously these interconnections ‘know’ the type of termination network the call is being placed over , each network is capable of termination of different network technologies, that’s how TT are not committed to BT timescales for BT customers.

In your example, TT to BT , at the moment there are some BT customers on Digital Voice ( IP telephone ) and some BT customers still on PSTN yet you can call either group from your Talk Talk line ( don’t  use the term digital it’s meaningless in this context ) your TT ‘exchange’ is told what type of customer is being called and TT set the call up appropriately, same as every type of call , nation or international.

Detail_Merchant

MouldyOldDough said:

But TT's network can never be a standalone network - surely, it must be connected in to BT/Openreach network - so must be compatible, in order for a user to phone anyone else on the phone network

I, myself, am also TT as my provider - but when I phone the local hospital - it uses BT network - so must be converted to digital at the same time as the rest of the country , at switch over date ??

The backbone of the UK telephone system went digital between 1980 and 1998 - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_X_(telephony)

From that page:

"The first local digital exchange started operation in 1981" and "The last electromechanical local exchanges, Crawford, Crawfordjohn and Elvanfoot, all in Scotland, were changed over to digital on 23 June 1995 and the last electronic analogue exchanges, Selby, Yorkshire and Leigh on Sea, Essex were changed to digital on 11 March 1998."

So once the signal gets to the exchange it is converted to digital already, and has been for years.
The new change is that the signals will be converted to digital (aka VOIP) in homes and businesses, rather than at the exchange.

d123

MouldyOldDough said:

OCouldntResist said:

MouldyOldDough said:

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.

Buy a mobile phone, leave it plugged in on a long charging cable. Can only get lost if you unplug it and it otherwise acts just like a corded phone. This is as difficult as you want to make it.

They will NOT use a mobile phone - FULL STOP

so they WONT use a phone like this - FULL STOP?



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Express-Panda-Wireless-Desktop-Phone/dp/B01D2JFE0Q/

MouldyOldDough

d123 said:

MouldyOldDough said:

OCouldntResist said:

MouldyOldDough said:

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.

Buy a mobile phone, leave it plugged in on a long charging cable. Can only get lost if you unplug it and it otherwise acts just like a corded phone. This is as difficult as you want to make it.

They will NOT use a mobile phone - FULL STOP

so they WONT use a phone like this - FULL STOP?



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Express-Panda-Wireless-Desktop-Phone/dp/B01D2JFE0Q/

I very much doubt it - because it "looks different"

MouldyOldDough

Its OK

Another delay

"BT, which is also responsible for EE customers, has now abandoned the timeline of completing the national switchover by the end of 2025, and will instead aim to complete the move by the end of January 2027."

iniltous

This 13 month extension is entirely because of Alarm company’s doing nothing about ensuring that their customers with medical alert type devices are ready for IP telephony , unless that’s the case for customers , the rollout continues, it’s not a blanket pause , so for most the change to IP will be long before January 2027 , it’s just the ultimate date for the end of PSTN that’s deferred, and as stated many times , they are not BT or EE or Plusnet customers, they are not even connected to BT PSTN , so the change in date is completely irrelevant to them …they are a talk Talk customers , and not connected to anything ‘BT’ anyway 

JSmithy45AD

iniltous said:

This 13 month extension is entirely because of Alarm company’s doing nothing about ensuring that their customers with medical alert type devices are ready for IP telephony , unless that’s the case for customers , the rollout continues, it’s not a blanket pause , so for most the change to IP will be long before January 2027 , it’s just the ultimate date for the end of PSTN that’s deferred, and as stated many times , they are not BT or EE or Plusnet customers, they are not even connected to BT PSTN , so the change in date is completely irrelevant to them …they are a talk Talk customers , and not connected to anything ‘BT’ anyway 

I suspect you're shouting into the wind TBH.

Owain_Moneysaver

MouldyOldDough said:

d123 said:

so they WONT use a phone like this - FULL STOP?



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Express-Panda-Wireless-Desktop-Phone/dp/B01D2JFE0Q/

I very much doubt it - because it "looks different"

Fair enough.

You can get fixed mobile terminals for GSM into which any reasonably modern phone can be plugged.

https://www.pmctelecom.co.uk/telephones/gsm-desk-phone-gsm-gateway/gsm-terminals/

Similar on Amazon/Ebay from about £50.

However when the existing line is converted to 'digital voice' only, all that will change is that instead of plugging the phone into the wall, it gets plugged into a socket on the back of the broadband router. (and you need a backup power supply if that is the issue)