As someone who has been switched over already and with no mobile signal in my home, therefore no means of calling 999 in a power cut I can tell you now that it is happening. It's the future.
It is about scrapping the old copper phone lines, so no more telephone sockets for landlines that worked in power cuts. All going.
It won't affect most people. BT will warn you to always have your mobile charged up so you can contact emergency services in a power cut. Simple!
I ought to add that there are no underground cable services here. The electricity and (now disabled) copper telephone wires all come overground on poles to the house. This can lead to more frequent power cuts in bad weather.
One just learns to adapt and be prepared. And that's what I will do. It's worth it to live here.
If you are in a similar situation, rural with no mobile signal --
BT will offer a battery back up for your internet in case of power cuts. DO NOT let them switch you over until they can deliver this short-term solution ( it lasts an hour I was told.) I was promised one, as were others nearby. BT have now said they cannot get any until March 2022.
I was about to tag you @Woodgreen, we talked about this problem. all our cables are above ground, we’ve been told we will never get super fast broadband. We have a 2 cables coming off our telegraph pole that have the potential to touch together in a gale and short out, they did say they can use a different cable so that won’t happen, still waiting, It goes to our pumping station so I suppose they don’t think it’s urgent.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
My daughter used to phone me on the train coming out of Waterloo. Even it was overland, NOT underground: 10 mins out of Waterloo she always lost signal. If you can't get a mobile phone signal in the middle of London , what hope is there for Cornwall, or the Highlands, or Yorkshire Moors?
@Lyn As I mentioned earlier, this will not affect the majority, as many people don't even bother with the old landline/copper system and use mobiles all the time. And if they do, they also will have mobiles. Not all though.
And how they are going to switch people who currently have no broadband?
It's to be completed by 2025, but has been happening here since late summer. Very much below the radar until recently. I do have fibre connection -- overhead along the same poles, overhead across the garden to my house.
Hopefully before much longer something better than a currently unavailable back up will be developed.
BT is going digital voice by 2025 allegedly (https://www.bt.com/about/special-services/latest-news/bt-consumer-digital-voice-launch). What that means is your phone will plug into the broadband router and calls will be via the net. The drawback is that those phones need power - and hence a chat on here a while ago about what happens when you lose power (both broadband and phone are lost unless you have a UPS to keep them both running).
It seems both will evolve over time. A pain in the bum for areas with no mobile or poor broadband cover - but what the coverage plans are for both are, I don't know.
I thought I was on the planet thread for some reason, but glad I saw this about phones. @steveTu, what is a UPS and how long would it keep a connection going in a power cut, do you know?
No phone signal and poor broadband, that’s us. Power cut, routers off, if there’s lightening around I unplug it anyway. It’s always the minority who go without. I suppose they’ll sort it out in years to come as you say Steve.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Posts
It's the future.
It is about scrapping the old copper phone lines, so no more telephone sockets for landlines that worked in power cuts. All going.
It won't affect most people. BT will warn you to always have your mobile charged up so you can contact emergency services in a power cut.
Simple!
The electricity and (now disabled) copper telephone wires all come overground on poles to the house.
This can lead to more frequent power cuts in bad weather.
One just learns to adapt and be prepared. And that's what I will do. It's worth it to live here.
BT will offer a battery back up for your internet in case of power cuts.
DO NOT let them switch you over until they can deliver this short-term solution ( it lasts an hour I was told.)
I was promised one, as were others nearby. BT have now said they cannot get any until March 2022.
all our cables are above ground, we’ve been told we will never get super fast broadband.
We have a 2 cables coming off our telegraph pole that have the potential to touch together in a gale and short out, they did say they can use a different cable so that won’t happen, still waiting, It goes to our pumping station so I suppose they don’t think it’s urgent.
Even it was overland, NOT underground: 10 mins out of Waterloo she always lost signal.
If you can't get a mobile phone signal in the middle of London , what hope is there for Cornwall, or the Highlands, or Yorkshire Moors?
And how they are going to switch people who currently have no broadband?
It's to be completed by 2025, but has been happening here since late summer. Very much below the radar until recently.
I do have fibre connection -- overhead along the same poles, overhead across the garden to my house.
Hopefully before much longer something better than a currently unavailable back up will be developed.
@steveTu, what is a UPS and how long would it keep a connection going in a power cut, do you know?
It’s always the minority who go without.
I suppose they’ll sort it out in years to come as you say Steve.
https://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/beacon_fires.htm
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.