Campaigners have launched a boycott of BT’s digital landline switchover after vulnerable pensioners were left cut off from the outside world before Christmas and personal alarms stopped working amid a wave of complaints over the scheme.
Silver Voices, the only UK-wide senior citizens campaign group, is calling for older people to write to their telecom provider and inform them they do not give permission to be switched over to the new digital-based system.
BT is currently switching all its customers’ landline phones to digital, affecting around 10 million homes, and had originally planned to complete the change by 2025, prompting fears millions could be left in the dark in the case of a power cut.
But telecoms giants were forced to halt their forced switchovers after Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan called a meeting with Sky, BT, Virgin Media 02 and TalkTalk last month amid concerns for pensioners’ safety.
It came after multiple ‘serious incidents’ in which vulnerable customers found that personal health alarms, designed to automatically call for help in the case of an emergency, failed when the internet cut out or phone numbers were changed.
This is when the change from the old copper network to a new broadband-based connection will take place across the UK
Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices which represents over 60s, is calling for a boycott of the digital switchover by older people
Telecoms companies said they would pause the rollout to ‘vulnerable’ households after campaigners warned of an emerging ‘horror story’ amid the digital switchover, which they claimed was ‘going too far too fast’.
Now campaigners are advising vulnerable Brits to write to their landline provider and inform them that they either already rely or could soon be forced to rely on alarm systems linked to their landline.
They advise customers to ‘make it very clear that you are withholding your permission to have your landline cut off, until you can be provided with an alternative system which is just as reliable, at no extra cost, as your personal safety is being threatened’.
Dennis Reed, Director of Silver Voices said: ‘The scrapping of copper-wire landlines is developing into a full-blown scandal which politicians must address.
‘Do we have to wait for the first fatality, caused by the inability of a stricken customer to make an emergency call, before this botched programme is halted?
‘We are calling on all older and vulnerable customers to identify themselves to the telecom giants and make clear that they are withholding permission for their landlines to be cut off, on the grounds of personal safety.
‘Woe betides the telecom companies if they ignore these communications, they will then be directly liable for any consequences.’
The group added: ‘Silver Voices argues that all older people are by definition ‘vulnerable customers’ in that we are far more susceptible to falls, heart attacks and strokes, and also argues that the problems with digital voice run far deeper than telecare devices.
‘Internet systems are not as consistent and reliable as traditional landlines and will fail whenever there is a power cut or an internet outage. Battery back-up systems are generally short-lived.
‘Some telecom companies advise that they can provide hybrid phones which switch automatically to a mobile signal, but these are still in a prototype stage, and they are useless where mobile signals are weak or non-existent.
In the next couple of years, the Digital Voice programme will move ten million BT customers off traditional copper-wire phone lines to fibre cables that use new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to make calls
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‘Future increases in costs for VoIP once the mass transfer has been achieved are bound to be exploited by the companies. Many promises to protect vulnerable customers have already been made, and broken, by the telecom giants.’
Last month Ms Donelan said: ‘It is absolutely right that the most vulnerable people in our society should feel safe, secure and have complete confidence in the services provided to them.
‘That’s why I have brought our biggest network providers and industry regulator to the table, agreeing a cast-iron set of principles to reassure people and put their minds at ease.
‘The recent issues families have had to endure are unacceptable.’
Providers have agreed to carry out extra checks on those who have already been forcibly migrated to digital to ensure they do not have telecare devices the provider was unaware of, and if they do, to ensure suitable support is provided.
Providers are now required to provide back-up solutions that go beyond Ofcom’s minimum of one hour of continued, uninterrupted access to emergency services in the event of a power outage.
But Mr Reed fears these steps will not go far enough and criticised the need for customers to self-identify as vulnerable.
In the next couple of years, the Digital Voice programme will move ten million BT customers off traditional copper-wire phone lines to fibre cables that use new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to make calls.
previously revealed that life-saving personal alarms, which automatically call for help in the case of an emergency, stop working whenever there are problems with the internet – unlike with traditional copper wires.
Other customers have faced losing phone numbers they have had for up to 50 years, despite BT previously promising no-one would be forced to give up their old numbers.
A BT Group spokesperson previously told : ‘We’re working hard to ensure that everyone knows about the switch from analogue to digital landlines, how they will be impacted and what they need to do as a result.
‘We know there’s more to do and we’d encourage any customers with questions or concerns to get in touch.’