Keep seeing stories regarding BT's planned switch off of analogue phone lines in 2025 but, knowing little about telephony, and having no particular interest in the subject, don't know what this really means for the average home phone user.
Thoughts?
Everyone will need to buy either new phones or else a converter (essentially analogue/digital interface) to allow existing analogue phone to work.
Either way, power will be needed for these phones or converters, which means that a landline phone cannot be relied on during power cuts. When we were having up-down-up-down power cuts the other night, I was able to use an "old fashioned" corded phone to phone the power distribution people.
The converter or new phone could include a rechargeable battery, perhaps of the same size as common non-rechargeables, acting as part of a mini-UPS. As an option, the phone could then optionally ring you, there or elsewhere, to tell you that the power had gone off/on ...
However, a switch-off of the analogue phone signal does not _require_ a switch-off of the DC power which is applied to the distant end of your telephone feed.
No, although as the UK moves gradually towards FTTP rather than ADSL or FTTC, the ability to take DC power from the exchange or cabinet will be removed.
Good idea to have a rechargeable battery as a short-term UPS - why didn't I think of that?
BT used to supply a BBU (Battery back up unit) with their fibre network terminals but (a) I don't know how widely the analogue phone port (FVA) was used (b) this has been removed from the universal service obligation and now they don't.
Won?t fibre to the cabinet at least become normal once digital has fully taken over, the few people who don?t have broadband or transferred to one of the plans that use fibre for part of the route from the exchange will fairly small by then and be connected in that manner wether they like it or not. With no copper connection it won?t be possible to power phones by DC from the exchange.
GH
Wnereas the replacement of copper with fibre probably does.
It's not clear whether you think that today, FTTC customers have no copper connection back to the exchange?
Perhaps we're powered by the cab, then, We've got FTTC and the old analogue phone works just fine when there's no volts to the house.
LOL.
At glacial speed.
But those green cabinets have a power supply (and a non-smart meter !!) so they could still supply DC from there (in theory).
No, the point is that there *is* copper all the way back to the exchange, so the line voltage and analogue calls are provided from there just like the old days, it's only the broadband that is delivered from the cabinet (it is possible to have line cards in the cabinets, but openreach don't do that)
Whne the mains is present... I think most cabinets have batteries to bridge short mains interuptions without the kit rebooting. They may have enough capacity to keep the cabinet alive for 3 hours or so which is (IIRC) about the time that the batteries in a FTTP box last.
I thought FTTP was GPON, so no active kit in the cabinets?
Ask Mr Corbyn. This is presumably an Openreach decision.
One near me has a smart meter with dedicated analogue telephone line connected to the meter. It also has a large SLA 48V backup battery made of four 12V batteries I think.
Once everyone has been moved to VoIP there will be no need for many exchanges so they will probably be sold. Around here, for example, the fibre from each green cabinet goes to a different exchange to the copper. So once the copper is no longer needed, one of those exchanges is also redundant.
John
interuptions
"FTTP box" as in the box in the premises that needs power to convert the flashing light to ethernet or POTS...
With the first two phones I had installed, all I had to do to use them was to pick up the receiver.
These days I now have VOIP which is much cheaper but to make it work I have to know how to install and configure my router and home network wiring. I also have to understand how to configure the VOIP equipment itself. I need a PC or maybe a mobile phone to do all this.
Were I to use BT or Vonage VOIP equipment which might be configured for me, I would probably have to pay much more for phone calls.
My landline wired phones will work in a power cut. The power supply company likes to send me text messages about power cuts. Thankfully my mobile phone is able to receive these so long as the battery is charged.
Well a little while back it was supposed to be next year, If it means everyone gets an internet connection, I'm all for it. And all that crappy overhead naff cable carrying broadband can go away and the horrible interference it causes will vanish. However knowing such things as I do, I doubt its that simple. One big issue for society, and has already been experienced in Sweden, is can we keep the infrastructure of Voip up during disasters. In the case of the twisted pair so to speak, BT had batteries at the exchanges, but since this means there will be no exchanges and the system is no doubt powered in the streets from normal mains, will it all go down leaving us all cut off?
I think Germany are ahead of us, so we shall see. Get that old CB radio out of the loft. Brian
Well a little while back it was supposed to be next year, If it means everyone gets an internet connection, I'm all for it. And all that crappy overhead naff cable carrying broadband can go away and the horrible interference it causes will vanish. However knowing such things as I do, I doubt its that simple. One big issue for society, and has already been experienced in Sweden, is can we keep the infrastructure of Voip up during disasters. In the case of the twisted pair so to speak, BT had batteries at the exchanges, but since this means there will be no exchanges and the system is no doubt powered in the streets from normal mains, will it all go down leaving us all cut off?
I think Germany are ahead of us, so we shall see. Get that old CB radio out of the loft. Brian
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