I joined the GPO engineers in 1970. Ladder in one hand, roll of cable in the other, tools in me hat. It was good enough then and good enough now. What's all this modern rubbish anyway?
I joined the GPO engineers in 1970. Ladder in one hand, roll of cable in the other, tools in me hat. It was good enough then and good enough now. What's all this modern rubbish anyway?
I thought that was Bob Dylan at first glance, but he said it ain't me babe
I've got a landline but the only people who ever ring it are elderly relatives and scammers. If I had my way itthe elderly relatives would have gone years ago.
Slightly different tact,my grandfather worked for The G.P.O on the cable laying ships down Warspite Road in Woolwich.
My Grandad worked at Telcon down Blackwall Lane, what became a C&W location, I believe. They'd often have a cable ship tied up there so I guess the two sites were connected in some way.
After years of slow internet our village received BT ultrafast broadband in April. In mid June BT informed me out of the blue that they were doing away with my 'copper' landline at the beginning of July and I would have to have a digital voice handset which would work via the hub. They informed me the handset would not work during a power cut and therefore advised that in the case of a power cut I would need to use a mobile.
I have managed to change the cut off date but not sure how many times the system will allow me to do this. We regularly have power cuts - two within the last fortnight, lasting several hours. We also have no mobile reception.
It's a big concern that I will be unable to access the emergency services should I need them during a power cut, given the frequency off power cuts here. I will also have to go to the expense of buying extra handsets as they will only provide one free of charge.
BT are well aware of the problems this changeover will cause in rural areas.
After years of slow internet our village received BT ultrafast broadband in April. In mid June BT informed me out of the blue that they were doing away with my 'copper' landline at the beginning of July and I would have to have a digital voice handset which would work via the hub. They informed me the handset would not work during a power cut and therefore advised that in the case of a power cut I would need to use a mobile.
I have managed to change the cut off date but not sure how many times the system will allow me to do this. We regularly have power cuts - two within the last fortnight, lasting several hours. We also have no mobile reception.
It's a big concern that I will be unable to access the emergency services should I need them during a power cut, given the frequency off power cuts here. I will also have to go to the expense of buying extra handsets as they will only provide one free of charge.
BT are well aware of the problems this changeover will cause in rural areas.
I’m sorry but Cherry Orchard is not a village. Just saying.
There is much to say in favour of retaining the landline. People, of a certain vintage ~ who didn't grow up reaching for an illuminated oblong every five minutes have a much healthier approach to their time and others. The mobile phone, while obviously useful for those occasions when we are trapped down the side of a cliff in terrible weather and no way of gaining anyone's attention but is NOT useful when you don't want to constantly be accessible. "I don't want to be "in" when I'm "out". And I don't want to be "out" when I'm " in"" was the wise rejoinder nan said once. Or grandad "You say it best, when you say nothing at all"
"The past is a foreign country. ~ they do things differently there".
Slightly different tact,my grandfather worked for The G.P.O on the cable laying ships down Warspite Road in Woolwich.
My Grandad worked at Telcon down Blackwall Lane, what became a C&W location, I believe. They'd often have a cable ship tied up there so I guess the two sites were connected in some way.
Blimey, regular power cuts lasting several hours. I haven't experienced that since the 1970's.
One of the joys of country life along with fly-tipping - about a 100 of these were rolled out from the back of a lorry as it drove through. No number plate so no chance of them getting caught
After years of slow internet our village received BT ultrafast broadband in April. In mid June BT informed me out of the blue that they were doing away with my 'copper' landline at the beginning of July and I would have to have a digital voice handset which would work via the hub. They informed me the handset would not work during a power cut and therefore advised that in the case of a power cut I would need to use a mobile.
I have managed to change the cut off date but not sure how many times the system will allow me to do this. We regularly have power cuts - two within the last fortnight, lasting several hours. We also have no mobile reception.
It's a big concern that I will be unable to access the emergency services should I need them during a power cut, given the frequency off power cuts here. I will also have to go to the expense of buying extra handsets as they will only provide one free of charge.
BT are well aware of the problems this changeover will cause in rural areas.
Haven’t even got FTTP where I live in Sidcup, so slow here.
After years of slow internet our village received BT ultrafast broadband in April. In mid June BT informed me out of the blue that they were doing away with my 'copper' landline at the beginning of July and I would have to have a digital voice handset which would work via the hub. They informed me the handset would not work during a power cut and therefore advised that in the case of a power cut I would need to use a mobile.
I have managed to change the cut off date but not sure how many times the system will allow me to do this. We regularly have power cuts - two within the last fortnight, lasting several hours. We also have no mobile reception.
It's a big concern that I will be unable to access the emergency services should I need them during a power cut, given the frequency off power cuts here. I will also have to go to the expense of buying extra handsets as they will only provide one free of charge.
BT are well aware of the problems this changeover will cause in rural areas.
How often have you had to call emergency services in the past, during a power cut?
After years of slow internet our village received BT ultrafast broadband in April. In mid June BT informed me out of the blue that they were doing away with my 'copper' landline at the beginning of July and I would have to have a digital voice handset which would work via the hub. They informed me the handset would not work during a power cut and therefore advised that in the case of a power cut I would need to use a mobile.
I have managed to change the cut off date but not sure how many times the system will allow me to do this. We regularly have power cuts - two within the last fortnight, lasting several hours. We also have no mobile reception.
It's a big concern that I will be unable to access the emergency services should I need them during a power cut, given the frequency off power cuts here. I will also have to go to the expense of buying extra handsets as they will only provide one free of charge.
BT are well aware of the problems this changeover will cause in rural areas.
How often have you had to call emergency services in the past, during a power cut?
I haven't but if I needed to it was reassuring to have the landline!
It doesn't even need to be a proper power cut though, I'd have thought. If there's flooding and the water's come in above the level of your plug sockets then that'll trip your circuit breakers won't it?
After years of slow internet our village received BT ultrafast broadband in April. In mid June BT informed me out of the blue that they were doing away with my 'copper' landline at the beginning of July and I would have to have a digital voice handset which would work via the hub. They informed me the handset would not work during a power cut and therefore advised that in the case of a power cut I would need to use a mobile.
I have managed to change the cut off date but not sure how many times the system will allow me to do this. We regularly have power cuts - two within the last fortnight, lasting several hours. We also have no mobile reception.
It's a big concern that I will be unable to access the emergency services should I need them during a power cut, given the frequency off power cuts here. I will also have to go to the expense of buying extra handsets as they will only provide one free of charge.
BT are well aware of the problems this changeover will cause in rural areas.
How often have you had to call emergency services in the past, during a power cut?
I haven't but if I needed to it was reassuring to have the landline!
So, this is an interesting answer and thank you for it. What you now have is a situation whereby you want to be protected against being unable to do something you've never been unable to do in the past.
I This is all getting a bit too deep for me now and I haven't got an answer to the question. I just wanted to put the case for us old codgers living in rural areas
A surprising feature of this thread is the temptation for some people to take the piss out of the older and concerned people, rather than debate all the practical issues. It looks as if it might be ‘progress’ but at the cost of casting some others adrift judging by some of the responses from some posters. In explaining the technical solutions such as they may be it has led (for me) to more confusion. Anyway, is Plumstead Cable Television still going?
A surprising feature of this thread is the temptation for some people to take the piss out of the older and concerned people, rather than debate all the practical issues. It looks as if it might be ‘progress’ but at the cost of casting some others adrift judging by some of the responses from some posters. In explaining the technical solutions such as they may be it has led (for me) to more confusion. Anyway, is Plumstead Cable Television still going?
Plumstead cable became Greenwich cablevision which began Cable & wireless which became NTL which became Virgin, I think.
I This is all getting a bit too deep for me now and I haven't got an answer to the question. I just wanted to put the case for us old codgers living in rural areas
It's difficult though, isn't it? It may be a real concern that you might have need to call emergency services at exactly the same time as you have a power cut. But your concern might not be vested in any reality, since you have never, ever had to do that in the past, and you have no reason to believe it's any more likely you will need to do so in the future.
But the answer probably isn't to continue with the increasingly expensive legacy systems in place in order to insure against an issue that hasn't ever arisen. Maybe the solution is for internet connectivity that doesn't rely on mains power. Maybe the solution lies in how the new telephony is powered, rather than to continue with legacy systems.
Necessity is the mother of invention. So maybe this is a drive for more portable power. And, as we are being encouraged to move towards electric cars, for example, maybe this could hold the solution for mobile internet connectivity? Your car might, in future, power your fixed-line internet connection as well as providing mobile internet connection when you're driving?
I like these sorts of problems, because it's only by considering where we want to get to that we can drive innovation. But it sometimes requires the letting-go of old technology. We wouldn't have cars if people were fixated on whether they could keep their horse just in case we ever ran out of petrol.
A great example is how Rwanda has solved the problem of millions of people living a long, long way from a hospital, but who can get to a doctor. What happens at a doctor's surgery if a patient arrives, suffering heavy blood loss? In the UK, the doctor would call an ambulance to take the patient quickly to the nearest hospital, where they would receive blood infusions from blood stored there, at the hospital. Makes sense when you can reach a hospital within an hour. But what if you can't reach a hospital within a day?
Would you be interested to know how they solved it?
Comments
My parents certainly dont have any internet access so what is going to happen to them.
Further their mobility isn't what it was, and the landline phone is the only way they stop themselves from going mad on a daily basis.
Dreadful decision.
I thought that was Bob Dylan at first glance, but he said it ain't me babe
That's what you meant to say, didn't you?
And the prize for this month's best comment goes to...
My Grandad worked at Telcon down Blackwall Lane, what became a C&W location, I believe. They'd often have a cable ship tied up there so I guess the two sites were connected in some way.
I have managed to change the cut off date but not sure how many times the system will allow me to do this. We regularly have power cuts - two within the last fortnight, lasting several hours. We also have no mobile reception.
It's a big concern that I will be unable to access the emergency services should I need them during a power cut, given the frequency off power cuts here. I will also have to go to the expense of buying extra handsets as they will only provide one free of charge.
BT are well aware of the problems this changeover will cause in rural areas.
I haven't experienced that since the 1970's.
There is much to say in favour of retaining the landline. People, of a certain vintage ~ who didn't grow up reaching for an illuminated oblong every five minutes have a much healthier approach to their time and others. The mobile phone, while obviously useful for those occasions when we are trapped down the side of a cliff in terrible weather and no way of gaining anyone's attention but is NOT useful when you don't want to constantly be accessible. "I don't want to be "in" when I'm "out". And I don't want to be "out" when I'm " in"" was the wise rejoinder nan said once. Or grandad "You say it best, when you say nothing at all"
"The past is a foreign country. ~ they do things differently there".
Who should carry the cost of that protection?
It looks as if it might be ‘progress’ but at the cost of casting some others adrift judging by some of the responses from some posters.
In explaining the technical solutions such as they may be it has led (for me) to more confusion.
Anyway, is Plumstead Cable Television still going?
But the answer probably isn't to continue with the increasingly expensive legacy systems in place in order to insure against an issue that hasn't ever arisen. Maybe the solution is for internet connectivity that doesn't rely on mains power. Maybe the solution lies in how the new telephony is powered, rather than to continue with legacy systems.
Necessity is the mother of invention. So maybe this is a drive for more portable power. And, as we are being encouraged to move towards electric cars, for example, maybe this could hold the solution for mobile internet connectivity? Your car might, in future, power your fixed-line internet connection as well as providing mobile internet connection when you're driving?
I like these sorts of problems, because it's only by considering where we want to get to that we can drive innovation. But it sometimes requires the letting-go of old technology. We wouldn't have cars if people were fixated on whether they could keep their horse just in case we ever ran out of petrol.
A great example is how Rwanda has solved the problem of millions of people living a long, long way from a hospital, but who can get to a doctor. What happens at a doctor's surgery if a patient arrives, suffering heavy blood loss? In the UK, the doctor would call an ambulance to take the patient quickly to the nearest hospital, where they would receive blood infusions from blood stored there, at the hospital. Makes sense when you can reach a hospital within an hour. But what if you can't reach a hospital within a day?
Would you be interested to know how they solved it?