Legacy TalkTalk telephone lines.

Graywisdom

An aged relative of mine has a landline with TalkTalk. This line was taken on by TalkTalk sometime ago when TalkTalk took over another provider. It is purely calls and there has been no problems for many years. Now TalkTalk keep sending routers as the line is now digital. But the relative doesn't want or need broadband. TT have never told them that the 'standalone' line would continue. I dont believe that the relative still has the paperwork when TT took on the line. there is nothing on TT's website regarding these old lines. Any thoughts.

iniltous

If your relative has been supplied with a broadband router and broadband service to enable their telephone service to continue working , provided the costs haven’t increased (so the broadband is basically free) then there really isn’t an issue , just don’t use the broadband, they need to be aware of the issue that power outages will stop the telephone service working ( because it’s dependent on the broadband router that’s mains powered ) so Talk Talk should also provide a battery back up unit to keep the router working in the event of a power cut , but you may need to call to get them to supply one.

If Talk Talk took over the provider your relative was with , it’s probable they were on the PSTN (publicly switched telephone network) that’s what is being switched off in January 2027 , hence the need to act , in some ways it’s not that common because many Talk Talk customers are not on PSTN but TT own network , and not affected by the January 2027 deadline, but seemingly your relative is.

molerat

TalkTalk state that digital voice is only available to full fibre customers and that their copper lines are not affected by the digital switchover due to using their own equipment in the exchange. It could be that some of their inherited legacy customers may be using the OR infrastructure on exchanges that don't have a TT presence so will be affected by the switchover. All you can do is contact TT and ask what is going on,it could be that the router will only connect for DV and they don't supply a dedicated DV box.

MouldyOldDough

My aged parents in law are the same - they just use the phone (TalkTalk) and have not been told of any changes - what will happen to them come January ? Nobody has been in touch with them…..

They are on the normal phone network - not a TalkTalk owned network - they switched from BT to TT about a decade ago.

They were still "dial up" until 6 years ago !

Grumpy_chap

I think the OPs' position that TT have communicated the change and taken action is rather more positive than seems to be the case with a number of TT customers who have received no direct communications about the impending analogue switch off.

Like MOD, we have TT as they inherited the contracts from Post Office - Shell - Octopus - TT and we have received no communications from TT about the analogue switch off. Either some action to keep the service live or some communication that we don't need to switch would be useful. While I assume the Post Office service was initially using the OR infrastructure, it is possible that TT switch us to the TT local loop and we were never informed of that change.

I suspect, with TT having their own local loop service that does not require any changes, they might be further behind the curve for the smaller proportion of their customers that do need the system changed to keep working. The reported financial status of TT won't be helping matters.

In fact, the acquisition of TalkTalk by BT might well mean there are no a high number of TT customers that would not previously have been switched to digital but will now be migrated across. It is my assumption (without any basis in fact) that BT will not maintain the TT Local Loops so eventually migrate all TT customers to OR. Whether that can all be done by January is another matter.

iniltous

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82181260#Comment_82181260

How do you know they are not on a Talk Talk MSAN (Talk Talks own telephone network, that isn’t PSTN ) , dialtone is identical, the phone instrument is ‘powered’ from the MSAN in the same way the PSTN powers the telephone instrument, so what is it that convinces you that your relatives are on PSTN , it’s nothing more that guesswork on your part , or put another way , if 10 to 15 years ago Talk Talk built (at great expense) their own broadband/telephone network, that in large part meant putting their own MSAN equipment into ‘BT’ exchanges , why would they chose to leave Talk Talk customers connected to BT PSTN (and pay BT rental for doing so ) and not migrate those Talk Talks customers directly to the TT MSAN , and save the rental costs they were paying to BT when they were on the BT PSTN ?, most TT customers wouldn’t even know they were moved across to TT equipment, there could have been some edge cases , customers in tiny exchanges where it wasn’t viable for TT to put equipment but for the vast majority of TT customers, they were transferred off the PSTN , and new customers joining TT went straight onto the TT MSAN .

Now it could be like @Graywisdom relatives , your relatives will get some sort of contact from TT about changing telephone services to IP , but it’s more probable that they won’t , unlike @Graywisdom , who’s relative was on a different provider that sold up to TT not much before TT financial situation caught up with them, chances are that other ISP was still on BT PSTN and TT never got around to switching them off PSTN and into TT MSAN, hence why they need an IP solution much sooner than the majority of TT MSAN customers that are not affected by the PSTN switch off .