Rural lives will be put at risk as landlines transition from analogue to digital, it has been claimed.
Telephone companies that are making the transition confirm that digital landlines do not work during a power outage and urge people to have a fully charged mobile phone on standby during an emergency.
However, many parts of the dale have sketchy mobile signals, and in some cases mobile phone towers do not work in a prolonged power failure.
County councillor for upper Teesdale, Cllr Richard Bell was only given nine days’ notice that his landline would transition to digital this month.
He said: “Turning off the old landline was always going to be a retrograde step, as the digital connection requires electric power to the house, and we saw during Storm Arwen that the landline was the only thing left working – the mobile masts had no power and the handsets charge lasts a few hours anyway.”
He noted there are a number of “not spots” across Teesdale where only landlines work.
Cllr Bell added: “But the major annoyance here is that while people were aware the old landline was going to be turned off by 2027, nobody expected to be given nine days’ notice for such a major change.
“I have complained to BT via the Digital Durham team at Durham County Council, who know nothing about it either. For this switchover to be done like this is completely unacceptable.
“It seems to me that rather than progress, we are turning the clock back 60 plus years to the era before everybody had a phone, and people looked after their neighbours by calling in to see if they were all right during winter storms.”
The gov.uk website notes that the transition is a telecoms industry initiative and not spurred on by government, but it confirms the transition is to be completed by 2027.
Hamsterley Forest Action Group member Andy Richardson is also concerned about the changeover’s impact on forest residents.
He said: “We are concerned about the loss of analogue landlines locally, as with many County Durham rural communities we have poor, patchy mobile signal, meaning many households will rely on wi-fi calling via the broadband network.
“We are subject to frequent electricity supply, planned and unplanned, disruptions which render the broadband network unusable.
“The loss of analogue telephone service is of concern in an emergency situation such as a wildfire or other medical emergency.”
A BT spokesman said the switch to digital is part of an industry wide initiative made necessary because the “decades old analogue equipment is increasingly prone to faults and last year saw a 45 per cent rise in faults reported to Ofcom.
The spokesman added that BT plans to offer an advanced back-up unit which will enable calls to be made in the event of a prolonged power outage.
They added: “We are committed to providing our customers with clear and timely communication when it comes to their service. We’re sorry to hear that on this occasion this customer’s experience was not in line with our usual notification procedure.
“We’re looking into what happened and taking steps to resolve.
“Our priority remains ensuring that our customers are supported throughout the move to Digital Voice. Customers with additional needs or without mobile signal can take advantage of free solutions to keep their service powered during the event of a power cut.”
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