Telecare options and the landline switch off

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My elderly mum is in her 90s and has careline attached to her landline. She has a landline and old fashioned broadband provided by NowTV. They have gradually ramped up the price over the last 5 years and are currently charging her £42.50 a month for the privelege. My understanding is that there has been a national, government approved, strategy to increase the price of broadband with a traditional landline to "push" customers to broadband and VOIP phones, ready for the analogue switchoff next year.

The problem is, my mum has a careline that only works on the landline. If it's connected via the router, it won't work if there is a power outage or broadband failure.

NowTV have emailed offering an opprtunity to recontract for ADSL broadband and pay as you call landline for just over £30 a month, but when I called them to discuss this they just want to sell mum Sky fibre broadband with netflix etc (which she wont manage to use, she struggles to navigate the BBC iplayer) and VOIP "because her existing router is 10 year old technology" which leaves her careline system vulnerable.

Mum pays less than £10 a month for the careline service, but if she moves to a care alarm unit with a sim card as suggested by her careline provider, the price is around £30 a month, which is quite a jump. The slightly reduced price for moving to full fibre would not anywhere near make up for it. Also, I'm worried that, if there is a power failure, surely the mobile phone transmitters will fail too, meaning that the mobile phone based system won't work?

I feel like both the ISPs and the telecare providers are using the great phone switch off to upsell more expensive products, and not necessarily reliable enough for telecare. Does anyone have any advice on how I can keep mum's costs down while making sure she has a careline that works in every eventuality?

Brie

They should be providing her with a new router that will work with careline free of charge. And they should also provide a free mobile so even in a power outage she can still contact someone. Talk to their vulnerable customer team.

twopenny

Is she registered as vulnerable (even just over 60?) with energy and the national grid?

If not do that first. It's easy. National grid say they give priority. Also give news of any power outage by text.

iniltous

you are also suffering from a misapprehension, Openreach are increasing the amount they charge ISP that still use WLR (wholesale line rental) to provide services…Talk Talk don’t use WLR but use LLU , so there is no Openreach extra price increase.

VoIP telephone (so phone connected to the router ) doesn’t need full fibre it also works on copper and copper/fibre hybrid (FTTC) systems,

Your ISP should provide UPS/BBU (uninterruptible power supply, battery backup units ) to vulnerable customers and the chances of a local power outage affecting the property and the mobile phone network is remote , so if you go down the route of a mobile based care alarm , it’s a little ridiculous to worry about that , most care alarms can work fine with VoIP telephony , or the alarm provider upgrade it to one that is compatible with VoIP , if the broadband is teamed with BBU/UPS that’s pretty much infallible …you just need to make a decision.

ccluedo

I have a similar situation with an elderly relative whom Plusnet want to move to EE. (No telecare currently but very much on the horizon.)

Whilst I agree that power and mobile going off at same time is unlikely, only a one hour battery backup unit is offered apparently, which is causing my relative some distress.

iniltous

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82062745#Comment_82062745

Although not minimising the anxiety etc , if the line (copper , FTTC or FTTP ) went down due to a fault now (so before PSTN switch off ) , then telephone won’t be available yet absolutely no one leaves home for the duration of a landline fault …yet mention VoIP , and telephone being dependent on broadband, which can be maintained for a minimum of 1 hour , and people lose their sh*t over it .

Something to answer honestly to yourself is , would you move out if the line went down , and how many times has there been a power cut of more than 1 hour where you needed to call 999, I’s

I’d guess the answer is never , but don’t post back the answer here where it may not be judged to be honest , just answer internally , after-all telling yourself a lie is pointless.

littleboo

And of course the PSTN is/was only useful in a power cut if you were using, or had easily available in an emergency, a basic, corded phone.

iniltous

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82062847#Comment_82062847

I recon there will be some telephone customers that have insisted on BBU/UPS from their provider to keep the router powered during a power outage and only have DECT cordless phones at home

p00hsticks

Also, I'm worried that, if there is a power failure, surely the mobile phone transmitters will fail too, meaning that the mobile phone based system won't work?

I think that that's probably not really likely.

On the few occasions we've experienced a power cut I've always been able to use my mobile to check with the local supplier as to what the problem is / when it's likely to be fixed and report the outage if they aren't already aware of it.

My mother had one of the '£30 a month' alarms you refer to (hers was from Taking Care). They apparently work via multiple mobile networks and only need charging every few weeks, so should operate safeely through quite a long power cut.

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https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82062575#Comment_82062575

Thank you, I think I'll email them about this as when I phone I just get someone who tries to sell me something, although they already know she is a vulnerable customer, as I told them so when she had a 6 week outage of her phone line and broadband at the end of last year. It didn't seem to hasten the repair

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Thank you, Two penny, she is registered as vulnerable with both NowTV and her energy provider