Although I don't use a landline anymore because a mobile is all I need, I do get to use the existing household connection via my Now TV subscription and have a number should I wish to use it.

Recently Mike mentioned that the mobile infrastructure is vulnerable to power outages. Maybe this winter could show some holes in the system that a land-line would protect you from.

I can't understand why Vonage is so expensive when compared with a mobile phone SIM.  For less than their monthly fee for UK landline calls only, I could get a SIM with free calls to landlines and mobiles, unlimited texts and loads of data.

With the money saved, I could buy a cheap mobile phone and stick it on a table in the hall.

True, but I would lose a phone number I have had for over thirty years. 

Unless there's a way of permanently moving a landline number to s mobile. 

odd. when my folk were done the fibre to ethernet modem just had a phone socket at the side that 'rings' on their original no. when the copper phone got cut off, all that was needed was to plug the installation that had been on the master socket into it instead, The hiccup is they now need a UPS if they are to phone up to report a power cut, as unlike the old land line, it needs mains to function. It is quite fun to unplug the fibre and watch it struggle to re-associate via what I think is EE. It takes a touch over 90secs to change from fibre to mobile data. However my dad had several long chats with the BT  folk before it all happened and I am not sure if this is their standard set up or the good one they give to folk who complain a lot ;-)
Mike

We have a copper connection only for internet broadband from talktalk with a gif-gaf on each of the mobiles.  Mobiles have free calls to other phones, rather than using the BT dial up phone handset which is unnecessarily expensive on local calls.

mapj1 

I think some Internet Service Providers supply a router with a phone socket and others have provision to use a DECT wireless phone linked to the router.

However at the moment we are lined up to be connected by Be Fibre who don’t appear to offer these options.

Simon Barker 

If you think the Vonage VoIP is expensive have a look at the “pensioners” copper landline deals.

www.simpletelecoms.co.uk/Telephone-line-for-Elderly-People

It seems there’s only now two copper phone line providers BT and these, any idea of competition and the free market keeping costs down for consumers have gone completely out of the window. Have a look at that website and you will see their take on how things will go with phone only deals.

I only really want to keep my landline number having had the current one for thirty one year's, though the number of customers who actually use it is diminishing rapidly.

Nothing will happen for a couple of months or more as the fibre hasn’t been installed yet and there will be a change over period when we have both copper and fibre connections with internet from two ISPs and the phone.

I am pretty sure there is an agenda to discourage copper lines,  shut off the copper networks completely and remove all the kit from the exchanges. I would not be so concerned about that - glass fibre is capable of being technically superior, but there are choices that  have  made over  things like  the complete replacement of circuit switching - a point to point connection - with packet switching, which is more internet-like  and your message is not guaranteed to arrive in the same way, and a disregard for how to make it all work without mains that I think make it a backwards step.

Meanwhile, as I live in an area that will not get fibre for years, and is suffering from line-rot, I am trying to switch back from a combined broadband and voice line to  voice only, to find it is almost impossible not to get billed for a sub megabit broadband connection I can not use. ( the reasonable rate of internet now coming over the air from a nearby base-station is ~ 10s of mbits.)

Mike.

According to that website I linked to new copper connections are only supposed to be available until this time next year.

We had a new drop wire earlier this year from the pole to the socket, because one of the conductors had snapped after fifty years or so of blowing in the wind.

From that last website I linked to:

”Openreach is withdrawing ALL copper-based voice telephone lines from the UK’s network on December 31st 2025, as the network will reach its end of life.”

https://www.simpletelecoms.co.uk/cloud-Phone-Lines-for-Retired-People

As the copper phone network only has a working life of just over three years, I presume VoIP from Vonage or an alternative supplier is the only real way of mimicking the existing system and keeping a landline phone number.