In September 2024 I was asked to help family members sort out a concern with their broadband and landline service. Despite being under a recently renewed contract, the service was very expensive and, knowing that landlines are all being switched to digital, together we had begun to look at alternative options early in 2024.
The scenario:
- Landline number has been in use for 51 years, so we wanted to retain it.
- Current ISP must be retained for broadband due to ISP specific email accounts in use.
- ISP’s call packages are prohibitively expensive.
- Call charges from the landline outside call packages are prohibitively expensive.
- ISP does not offer a VoIP (digital voice) service but recommends their parent company – also prohibitively expensive – and not an ISP I would recommend.
- Equipment – laptops, tablets, non-smart mobile phones, DECT phones.
Objectives:
- Retain the existing ISP – switch to broadband only.
- Retain the existing landline number. Port to a VoIP service.
- Retain current equipment.
- Save money.
But couldn’t you just…
Perhaps this is more complex than the average situation where many people would choose or indeed feel forced to lose their landline and rely on mobile phones. In this situation, it would have been more expensive and less desirable for my family members to upgrade their mobile phones and start paying monthly fees to gain inclusive calls and texts, rather than to use a VoIP service with their long-standing landline number and current equipment.
Having looked at other ISPs that offer both broadband and VoIP services, these were dismissed on the grounds that we’d lose current email accounts and the cost would increase even further – we wanted to avoid the complexities of changing email addresses for multiple reasons.
We agreed on a VoIP service with a good business track record, now branching out into residential services. I had opening conversations with both them and the ISP. Then the fun began.
Left hand? Right hand?
There are many details (irritations) which would make this an even longer read. In summary, I became an “authorised user” on behalf of my family members with both the ISP and VoIP provider in order to discuss technical and logistical issues. I ended up having numerous conversations with both “account” and “technical” departments at both the ISP and the VoIP provider, so at times there were four discussion threads in play. I received contradictory information about the process of porting a landline number to VoIP from all quarters.
Of particular note, the ISP “account” department told me that if we specified a date to swap their service from broadband and phone to broadband only, and then informed our VoIP provider of that date, we would only have one hour without the landline. In hindsight, this was a sales pitch if ever I heard one. I later received contradictory, more accurate information from another member of that department.
After much back and forth with each provider, we chose a date to change the ISP service to broadband only, set up an account with the VoIP provider and informed them of the broadband switch over date so they could then port the landline number.
Lessons learned to this point
It was a surprise to me that the legal requirement for landline providers to retain numbers for 31 days (though one person told me it was 14 days, another 30 days) to make them available for porting to VoIP services has not been in place since the very beginning of the digital switch over, or if it had, it has not been enforced. I understand that some consumers have simply lost their numbers, perhaps through poor industry understanding and communication. My conversations with the ISP and VoIP provider left me under no illusion that even within single organisations there is still much confusion about the process.
It was also a lesson to me that landline numbers are “owned” by Openreach. During the process of porting the landline number from the ISP to the VoIP service, we had to sign a document which would be passed to Openreach to release the number. This appears to be what holds up what should be a “flick of the switch” software process to transfer from one provider to another.
If the VoIP provider tried to port the number ahead of schedule, and the request was accepted, the broadband service would have been immediately stopped. In the event, although the date was scheduled with the VoIP provider, someone did indeed send the port request early, causing our ISP to contact us for clarification. Fortunately, we were able to cancel that port request and things then proceeded as planned.
The actual process
- Research ISP and VoIP options.
- Set a date for ISP switch to broadband only.
- Set up a VoIP account. Request number porting and set a date.
- Ignore automatic emails from ISP who seemed to think we were leaving.
- Ignore automatic emails from ISP who tried to sell us an “upgrade” to their parent company.
- Date of ISP switch arrives – ISP service switched successfully to broadband only.
- Landline ceases to function.
- Notification by VoIP provider of porting process underway.
- Date given for number porting to take place – seven days from ISP switch over.
- Date of VoIP porting arrives – number porting successfully completed.
Result
The result is that my family members’ broadband only service on a two year contract is now a reasonable price, and they have retained their email accounts.
Their VoIP account, using their former 51-year-old landline number, is on a 30-day rolling agreement and offers a far superior service with many more controls, much cheaper inclusive call packages, vastly cheaper out-of-package local, national, mobile and international calls, more accessible support, rerouting to mobile in case of a power cut and much more. In addition, we were able to buy a pre-configured phone adapter which can be supported remotely so they could carry on using their existing DECT phones.
They are now saving a minimum of £200 a year.
Of all the conversations I had I would say the VoIP provider porting team were the most helpful, and clearly experienced in dealing with frustrated customers in similar circumstances. However, both the VoIP provider and ISP provided contradictory information from within their own organisations, so overall neither organisation provided a wholly satisfactory consumer experience.
National switch over
It does not surprise me that the nationwide landline switch off has been postponed from 2025 to early 2027. In situations where people are not prepared or are unable to simply switch to mobiles, or don’t have at least some relevant knowledge to find the best option for them, some are going to fall through the net.
Digital Poverty Alliance are actively campaigning to raise awareness of the impact the switch over will have on millions of vulnerable people.
For those who use Telecare alarm services that rely on landlines, there is useful article on their website.
The charity Which has written an article on what the digital switch over means for all of us.
Whilst we at PCrefurb do not have all the answers, we are aware of the risks and complications that the digital switch over can present. We will always do our best to help and advise.
Helen Melhuish
October 2024