Phone line & Broadband for over 75 yr old

Starbrite

Hi everyone, long time since I've posted anything. 

My mother has managed to get into a pickle, which is slowly being unravelled. At the moment she is staying at mine and due to return to her home once the bathroom has been refitted. Before Christmas I hope! 

Currently she has no landline or broadband at her home, she hasn't had any for well over a year. I've looked on those comparison sites and phone with broadband seems ridiculously expensive. 

Mum is over 75, uses the internet a tiny bit, and lives in a full fibre area. The phone line is the main priority, she has early dementia has a mobile but its always off, she forgets how to actual use it, and has no interest in it at all. Trust me I've tried to get her to use it etc, it seems to baffle her. 

Looking for a provider that won't cost the earth. She has her pension and is just above the threshold for pension credits etc. Don't want to spend £50+ on a phone line & broadband  

Calls will be made during day, evenings and weekends to friends and family.

Any ideas/suggestions most welcome 

DE_612183

BT do a home essentials pack - not sure what the price is but it's targeted and elderly and vulnerable customers

Starbrite

DE_612183 said:

BT do a home essentials pack - not sure what the price is but it's targeted and elderly and vulnerable customers

Alas mum wont get this as you need to be getting one of the below:

Who can get BT Home Essentials?

New or existing BT customers can apply. You’ll also need to be
receiving one of these benefits to qualify:

• Universal Credit
  (all claimants)
• Pension Credit
  (Guarantee Credit)

• Employment and Support Allowance
  
• Jobseeker’s Allowance
  
• Income Support

EssexExile

There seem to be plenty of deals under that price on comparison sites, especially for new customers. I'm with EE who are fine.

Age is a strange thing, I'm 73 and use a mobile all the time, my sister is 75 and, despite all our efforts, just cannot use a mobile. I fear something major happening to me in the next year rendering unable to use my phone!

housebuyer143

EssexExile said:

There seem to be plenty of deals under that price on comparison sites, especially for new customers. I'm with EE who are fine.

Age is a strange thing, I'm 73 and use a mobile all the time, my sister is 75 and, despite all our efforts, just cannot use a mobile. I fear something major happening to me in the next year rendering unable to use my phone!

I think it's about interest as well. Many people younger than you can't use a computer or a mobile and then some older can. 
If you have no interest it in, then learning it is significantly harder than someone who does. Goes for all sorts of things really. It's important to try and keep current with the latest technology or else it just gets away from you. 

MarzipanCrumble

It s the interest/need that drives me.  If I need it I learn via google, mostly.  I don't really like phones, but a smart phone is a life necessity now, and if you don't have one you miss out.  

In a voluntary role I come across (a very few) ppl who don't have email/smart phone/internet.  I really don't know how they manage.

M25

BT do landline only but you have to phone them to get it 0800 587 0083 https://www.bt.com/landline/deals/ They are forced  to provide that by OFCOM so that's why they hide it and the price. Just be clear about what you need when speaking to them.

You would need to get a 4G/5G router for the internet a SIM for that would be dirt cheap if it's got little use especially. Just need to test signal quality. Once it's set up that should be the end of the technical stuff.

Obviously, don't mention the router to BT.

iniltous

£46+ is the price of a telephone only line with inclusive calls , even with the ‘no broadband’ discount that’s still going to be over £30 , the OP never really states what they expect to pay ( or would be happy to pay )  , apart from saying it’s too expensive…, you can get a phone service with no calls included , again with a no broadband discount, probably over £20 , but then it depends on how many calls are made , the high price per minute of individual calls may make that poor value ,  a 10 min call every day is likely to cost way more than the £10 saved by not having inclusive calls .

The OP needs to give an idea of what they consider to be an acceptable price , because they may have unrealistic expectations of what the costs are going to be …not having broadband also adds complexity, as there are no ‘new’ customers allowed onto the legacy phone  system, all new customers have to be on IP telephony , and although that’s BT problem not the customers , it will cause issues as there is no widely known method of how this IP telephone service is provided to non broadband customers.

There  are two methods of providing phone only customers bandied about , but no confirmation from someone that’s been through this process ( not that I’ve seen )  , anecdotally it seems orders are taken , then cancelled,  this phone only requirement for ‘new’  customers is pretty rare , generally most ‘new’ that only want a simple phone service will already have it via a mobile rather than pay ‘line rental ‘  ( , it’s only new customer that can’t have PSTN telephony , existing phone only customers  are ‘safe’ for sometime so they are different group ) 

The most obvious thing is a mobile sim in a phone  that looks and acts like a landline phone, they are apparently available, but the initial purchase cost can be high .

onomatopoeia99

EssexExile said:

There seem to be plenty of deals under that price on comparison sites, especially for new customers. I'm with EE who are fine.

Age is a strange thing, I'm 73 and use a mobile all the time, my sister is 75 and, despite all our efforts, just cannot use a mobile. I fear something major happening to me in the next year rendering unable to use my phone!

Don't worry, my mum is 86 as is always on her mobile and her ipads (she has two, for reasons I don't fully understand).

  The mobile is great as it bluetooths to her hearing aids so she actually hear people she's on the phone to, and when it rings.

J_B

M25 said:

BT do landline only but you have to phone them to get it 0800 587 0083 https://www.bt.com/landline/deals/

We have 'landline only' through BT and our plan isn't on that list!

We pay £24+ for landline and 700 minutes

Starbrite

I’ve no idea what a realistic price is, I pay £24 a month for full fibre with no phone. 

When I go into the deals on switch etc as soon as you say you don’t have a mobile for emergency calls they say they can’t offer the service. 

Also having anytime calls limits the number of options. 

Mum has her pension. She’s over the threshold for pension credits. Ideally I’d like to try and keep the costs as low as possible and not have her over paying for something all singing dancing that she won’t use or understand 

Call cost package included would be ideal as don’t want her to think she can’t phone people due to costs 

thanks everyone for the advice thoughts given so far x