Future of Voice

April 14 2022
Jeff Richards, National Retired Members Committee, has provided this article on the important issue of the future of the current telephone network which will have an affect on many retired people and pensioners.
Thanks Jeff and look forward to your important Motion 11 submitted to this year’s Annual Conference in Bournemouth.
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We have tried to make all our CWU retired members, by the passing of motion 1 in the retired members conference, more aware of the “future of voice” project

“This conference notes that the current telephone network will close by the end of 2025. The closure of this network could lead to associated costs for our members, particularly our retired members who rent a “line only” from their telecom provider”.

This conference instructs the Retired Members Committee to work with the NEC to mount a campaign that ensures that telecom providers immediately inform “line only” renters of any financial impact this network closure will have”.

With the NEC accepting motion 11 at general conference, all CWU members will become more aware of the project.

“Conference notes that the PSTN telephone network in the United Kingdom will close by the end of 2025. The closure of this network could lead to associated costs for all telephony users, costs which could particularly affect those on lower wages. This conference instructs the NEC to mount a campaign that ensures that telecom providers immediately inform their customers of any likely impact this network closure will have”.

On the 29th March 2022, BT announced a pause in the roll out of the project. I take this opportunity to quote, Marc Allera, CEO, Consumer division, BT

“This will be a pause to part of the programme, we will aim to re-start once we have key solutions in place to provide our customers with more resilient connectivity. These include:

  • Hybrid phones that can switch to a mobile network and have an in-built, long-lasting
  • The option of longer-lasting battery back-up units for customers who want or need them.
  • Providing in-home ‘mobile landlines’ for people without broadband.
  • Addressing so-called mobile ‘not-spots’, with continued investment in the Shared Rural Network. We’ve recently announced a further 1,500 locations that will get better coverage as a result.
  • Launching an awareness campaign so that our customers better understand the need to switch.
  • Continuing to proactively engage the related industries – like healthcare pendants and burglar alarm providers to ensure our most vulnerable customers continue to get the service they need.

And we’re continuing to work on other things, too, including advancements to scam-call shielding and fraud reduction tools that we know are becoming ever more important to our users of landlines”.

While we cannot claim sole responsibility for the pause we can claim in keeping the issue alive with not only our CWU members but with other organisations.