Phones Going Fibre

[trog]

When I saw this thread title "Phones Going Fibre" - visualised a mobile phone user holding their phone... with a loooong bit of fibre coming out of it!

As a child my first mobile phone was like that, 2 tin cans and a long piece of string connecting them.

 

[Black Hole]

When I saw this thread title "Phones Going Fibre" - visualised a mobile phone user holding their phone... with a loooong bit of fibre coming out of it!

I take it you're a lot younger than most of us here then. if to you "phone" is synonymous with "mobile". Personally I think it's throwing the baby out with the bathwater if a home phone doesn't work in a power cut.

 

[trog]

I take it you're a lot younger than most of us here then. if to you "phone" is synonymous with "mobile". Personally I think it's throwing the baby out with the bathwater if a home phone doesn't work in a power cut.

I may be wrong but I think he already mentioned that he is in his 70's or there abouts.
EDIT I may be thinking of that other newbie who posted about the EZ several times.

 

[HugeMaximum]

Not that amazing. Wire-guided missiles and torpedos are old-skool.

Consider it a "re-boot" of the old wired version... with modern drones... and sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads!
...Amazing.

 

[HugeMaximum]

I take it you're a lot younger than most of us here then. if to you "phone" is synonymous with "mobile". Personally I think it's throwing the baby out with the bathwater if a home phone doesn't work in a power cut.

I suppose I just move with the times. Nothing against people who insist on having a 'wired' telephone - even though it is now becoming wired to a router (and won't work in a power cut). The more disturbing thing is that in a bad (more widespread) power cut, I've had the mobile providers go off-air as well... that's dangerous (no 999 calls)! If you are considered vulnerable, I think your ISP (or the local power distributor?) are supposed to provide you with a UPS if your phone service is delivered by broadband.
But wired phones have long been considered redundant for me - and even more so if it's not bundled with your broadband. Also, as my phonebook is in my phone (mobile ) and syncs with my behemoth's online contact 'app' that comes with their email... I'd need to look at my phone for my contacts anyway (or laptop as a backup). Everything in one place, but available everywhere - even that's a concept that not everyone's happy with.

 

[EEPhil]

that's dangerous (no 999 calls)!

999 calls can be made via any mobile network even without a SIM. The question then is - is there UPS to at least one network's transmitter within an area? If not there will be a problem with a wide scale power outage.

 

[HugeMaximum]

999 calls can be made via any mobile network even without a SIM. The question then is - is there UPS to at least one network's transmitter within an area? If not there will be a problem with a wide scale power outage.

Good point! But still quite bad how many networks actually went down during the widespread power cut my area previously had.

 

[HugeMaximum]

Found this:-

Communication providers: ensuring telecom services are resilient

www.gov.uk

If you use a landline phone service that relies on the internet - such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) - you may not be able to call 999 during a power cut or if your broadband connection fails. To ensure continued access to emergency services, communications providers are required to offer a back-up solution that enables calls to 999 for at least one hour during a power outage. This must be provided free of charge to customers who rely solely on their landline.

The provider's system must then legally be resilient (e.g. UPS's/BBU where necessary) for at least 1 hour. BBU = Battery Backup Unit.

 

[EEPhil]

Good point! But still quite bad how many networks actually went down during the widespread power cut my area previously had.

Isn't there some work being done on connecting newer mobiles via satellite in difficult reception areas and anywhere else in an emergency.?

 

[HugeMaximum]

Isn't there some work being done on connecting newer mobiles via satellite in difficult reception areas and anywhere else in an emergency.?

Starlink mobile service. It is already being trialled for text messages. EDIT: And data, it seems...

Virgin Media O2 signs landmark partnership with Starlink to boost rural UK mobile coverage - Virgin Media O2

Virgin Media O2 and Starlink Direct to Cell have agreed a multi-year partnership that is set to boost the operator’s mobile coverage using Starlink satellite technology

news.virginmediao2.co.uk

 

[Black Hole]

This is all nonsense, copper was resilient, and then got replaced with crappy aluminium. It's just that the telecoms companies have been allowed to cut costs by our useless governments.

 

[Owen Smith]

This is all nonsense, copper was resilient, and then got replaced with crappy aluminium. It's just that the telecoms companies have been allowed to cut costs by our useless governments.

My 85 year old aunt, who is both technophobic and useless with it, has no broadband and no mobile phone. She manages to use her HDR Fox T2 to record and play things but it took her about 10 years to properly get used to it. I dread Freeview being switched off and having to support her using something else. She still has a BT landline and has DECT handsets, I picked Gigaset 450 which will do voip so if/when they force her onto voip I can use the same handsets and she's already used to them (and myself and my parents use the same model for our voip numbers). The last we heard they sent her a letter saying they would switch her phone line over in early 2025 and we've heard nothing since.

It's a nightmare at the GP surgery or hospital for my aunt. They ask how they can get in touch and she gives them her postal address. "Can we have your email or mobile" they ask and she gives them her landline number. They no longer have any procedures for getting in touch to book appointments etc by post or voice phone call.