It's the end of an era.

[Accy cyclist]

I keep my landline telephone just in case I can't find my 'mobile phone' when in my flat, then I ring it's number to search for it, going off it's incoming call sound. I still remember my parents landline number after I moved out in 1991 and my ex house when married, which I left in 2017.

 

[lazybloke]

I don't think so, you can transfer your number if you move like doing a mobile number transfer. I've done it a couple times. And when I've had a new line fitted, it gets given a random number to start with.

I didn't like the number BT allocated to me so asked for a different one. Went through a list until i heard one i liked.

Virgin somehow changed my landline number midway through a contract. We HAVE to have a landline to get Virgin but we have no phone and I couldn't tell you what the number was anyway. I despise virgin.

Not the case for me. I signed up to VM in late 2023, and opted for no phone; giving up the number i'd obtained from BT in the 90s.

 

[Punkawallah]

In 1992 I bought my first house, or more accurately acquired a large debt, and so got my own phone number.

Today we've changed broadband from the shysters at Virgin to Plusnet, and now we no longer have a landline, so the same number that has gone through different providers over the past 33 years is no longer ours.

I might need to have a brandy tonight to help get over the shock.

It must be early. I read ‘landmine’’ :-)

 

[Jenkins]

I would have diched my landline when I moved over to VOIP last year, but my mum refuses to call my mobile for some reason. Nobody else except scammers call it.

 

[geocycle]

We no longer use a landline. BT rolled out full fibre broadband 18 months ago and are withdrawing the copper wires so the main remaining advantage of a landline for us, having a phone that works in a powercut is going. The other more significant advantage was being able to make a call, given we have no mobile reception, but that has also gone with Wi-Fi calling from our mobiles. We do technically still have a landline number and VOIP phone but only because it was the cheapest way to get a broadband package. It will go when we get to the end of the contract.

 

[oxoman]

We ditched our landlines with BT about 10yrs ago when Voip first started as the charges were getting ridiculous. We still have the same number even after jumping from sky to virgin recently. We keep the number purely because the whole family knows it off pat. Sadly the old landlines will be disconnected completely for domestic customers over the next yr or so. Not sure about emergency services though. Major downside is if you get a powercut you've got no phone, unless local mobile masts are still operational and you have a mobile.

 

[presta]

you can transfer your number if you move

I think that's only if you stay on the same exchange though isn't it?

I can't quite bring myself to get rid of it totally, not yet anyway.

And if you give it up then change your mind, you won't get it back. There's been a stop-sell on new copper lines for the last year and a half.

I didn't like the number BT allocated to me

Some of them can be a bit of a tongue-twister.

the main remaining advantage of a landline for us, having a phone that works in a powercut is going

There's been a lot of talk in the media about losing VOIP in a power cut, but the reason I want it is that I rate the reliability of the mains far higher than that of batteries. In the last 30 years we've had just one power cut, and I couldn't count the number of times I've been let down by various batteries in that time. A 999 call is a classic example of the type of application that batteries are least suited to unless they're float charged: rare, unpredictable, and urgent.

 

[wiggydiggy]

I think that's only if you stay on the same exchange though isn't it?

I'm not sure about exchange distances, I stayed within the same area code if that means anything.

 

[welsh dragon]

I think that's only if you stay on the same exchange though isn't it?

And if you give it up then change your mind, you won't get it back. There's been a stop-sell on new copper lines for the last year and a half.

Some of them can be a bit of a tongue-twister.

There's been a lot of talk in the media about losing VOIP in a power cut, but the reason I want it is that I rate the reliability of the mains far higher than that of batteries. In the last 30 years we've had just one power cut, and I couldn't count the number of times I've been let down by various batteries in that time. A 999 call is a classic example of the type of application that batteries are least suited to unless they're float charged: rare, unpredictable, and urgent.

I didn't realise once it's gone that's it.

 

[presta]

I'm not sure about exchange distances, I stayed within the same area code if that means anything.

Yes, that's the point, I don't think you can keep a number if you're moving onto another area code because someone else might already have it. On this exchange everything begins with a 3 or a 5, so I don't know whether you could bring a number that begins with something else, even if it wasn't taken.

 

[presta]

I didn't realise once it's gone that's it.

Yes, there's been no new lines since September 2023. They've been out to maintain mine in that time, but even then I suppose there might be a limit to the time & money they're prepared to spend on repair before they just pull the plug and install a new fibre line.

https://www.openreach.co.uk/cpportal/products/the-all-ip-programme/stopsell-updates/

I notice they say wholesale line rental, do retail providers keep a "stock" of new lines? What is there to stock, either the line's physically removed, or it's left in place, and just disconnected at one end or the other.

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

Regarding those with VOIP phones and concerns about being disconnected during a power outage. This can, in a lot of cases, be prevented by sticking your router onto a UPS.

 

[geocycle]

I think that's only if you stay on the same exchange though isn't it?

And if you give it up then change your mind, you won't get it back. There's been a stop-sell on new copper lines for the last year and a half.

Some of them can be a bit of a tongue-twister.

There's been a lot of talk in the media about losing VOIP in a power cut, but the reason I want it is that I rate the reliability of the mains far higher than that of batteries. In the last 30 years we've had just one power cut, and I couldn't count the number of times I've been let down by various batteries in that time. A 999 call is a classic example of the type of application that batteries are least suited to unless they're float charged: rare, unpredictable, and urgent.

My comment wasn’t about batteries. We had some serious power cuts a few years ago and I could plug an old fashioned phone straight into the socket. The phone didn’t need power as it was powered by the cable. We had a queue of neighbours making calls.

 

[Fastpedaller]

Regarding those with VOIP phones and concerns about being disconnected during a power outage. This can, in a lot of cases, be prevented by sticking your router onto a UPS.

What's a UPS?

 

[oxoman]

UPS is an uninteruptable power supply. Basically a battery back up that gives mains power all the time. I know we have had issues at work with a whole host of communication systems failing on power failure. Like others have said you used to be able to just plug an old corded phone in and off you go. Not so now.