ISP BT Pause UK Digital Voice Rollout After Consumer Complaints

Broadband ISP BT has paused the national UK rollout of their new Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) style Digital Voice product after complaints due to recent service outages. The service is designed to replace their old analogue phone service and is typically offered alongside broadband packages.

Hopefully by now most people will be aware that Openreach (BT), much like other network operators across Europe with a legacy of older copper infrastructure, is in the process of moving all of their lines away from the old analogue Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and on to a fully digital network, which is due to be completed by December 2025.

We first began reporting on this change in more detail all the way back in 2017 (here). A number of reasons exist for this change, not least of which is the inevitable switch to gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband lines (it is not economically viable to retain both old and new networks) and the fact that very few people today make much use of their landline phone (most prefer mobile, VoIP and internet messaging).

Like it or not, the old analogue voice and copper line infrastructure is destined for the rubbish bin of history, and many will be happy to see it go. As a result of this, ISPs have had to adapt to offer broadband connectivity as their primary product, with phone (voice) services becoming more of an optional add-on (offered via VoIP on the same internet connection).

Service Disruptions

However, many consumers often only become aware of such transitions once they start to be directly impacted by them. The problem is that replacement VoIP solutions do have the odd caveat, and some of the most vulnerable people are starting to notice.

The first problem is that consumers, even landline-only customers, will need a broadband connection, and this makes the setup a little more complex (e.g. you must plug your old analogue phone into the router, an ATA adapter or change handsets – more details). The next challenge stems from the fact that a lot of older systems, such as building alarms and remote medical monitoring devices, have not been adapted to work with digital voice solutions.

On top of that, people often forget that the old analogue copper phone lines were remotely powered, which meant that even in a power cut you could still connect an analogue handset into the wall socket and make calls. But to do this with VoIP would require battery backup (Battery Backup Solutions) for your handset, router and ONT (the latter is only relevant if you have FTTP) – these will also only last for so long (a few hours, at most). Hard luck if you need to call 999 in an area with no mobile signal during a protracted outage.

Suffice to say, the recent storms left many people to suffer from lengthy power cuts and those who had been migration to a VoIP style product (e.g. customers of BT’s Digital Voice) suddenly came face-to-face with these caveats – particularly those in areas where mobile signals don’t exist or are unreliable.

So far BT has, perhaps unfairly, taken the brunt of the flak for all this, which is despite the fact that it’s an industry-wide change. But this may partly reflect the fact that BT’s customer base includes a higher proportion than most of landline-only phone customers, which are the hardest group to tackle as they’re often also amongst the most vulnerable.

BT’s Response

BT has responded to all the negative stories about its Digital Voice transition by choosing to pause part of the migration process, while admitting that it made a mistake. None of the other providers going through this same transition have acknowledged the same difficulties, despite the fact that many of the same caveats will apply.

Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s Consumer Division, said:

“We underestimated the disruptive impact this upgrade would have on some of our customers. With hindsight we went too early, before many customers – particularly those who rely more heavily on landlines – understood why this change is necessary and what they needed to do.

We also recognise we have more work to do on getting better back-up solutions in place for when things disrupt the service like storms and power cuts. We got this part of our programme wrong and for that, we’re sorry.

The huge disruption caused by recent Storms Arwen and Eunice brought this into sharper focus, when people – including many of our customers in rural areas – needed to get in touch with loved ones during power outages. While many lines were cut in those storms, including the older phone lines, as well as power lines – we do recognise that for some customers, making calls would not have been possible with a broadband-only connection.”

The operator will apparently now only transfer customers to Digital Voice when they request it (except those on their legacy ‘Fibre Voice Access‘ product as this needs to be replaced) and they’re also working with energy providers on faster power restoration. Naturally, new customers in FTTP-only areas will also only be able to get Digital Voice, as the copper alternative may not exist.

BT will also continue their rollout for customers in Salisbury and Mildenhall, where Openreach has been working closely with BT and other ISPs to trial the retirement and withdrawal of old, analogue landline technology. “It’s important we continue this work so that we learn how to upgrade customers in the smoothest, most efficient way,” said Allera.

On top of that, BT are looking to produce longer-lasting Battery Backup Units (BBU) for those who need one (vulnerable customers) and are planning to introduce new “hybrid phones” (handsets), which can automatically switch the Digital Voice to a mobile network (signal allowing) when broadband is lost. Hopefully they don’t hobble the latter by forcing customers to only take their own mobile service in order to benefit.

BT’s Planned Digital Voice Changes

➤ Hybrid phones that can switch to a mobile network and have an in-built, long-lasting battery.

➤ 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.

BT states that they have 10 million customers to upgrade to Digital Voice by 2025, but they’ve pledged to keep the migration on pause until they have all the key solutions in place, which we think could take quite a few months (unofficially BT suggests it could be later this year or early 2023).

However, it’s worth noting that there isn’t a total fix for all the core issues, and battery backup units will only ever last so long. Another issue with battery units is that they may only cover one device, but in a modern FTTP setup you’d need it to support at least two – router and ONT (possibly three if the handset also requires mains power). The reality is, there’s only so much an ISP can do.

As for BT’s Enterprise customers, they will be upgraded to a different, business-focused IP voice product, so are “not affected by this temporary pause“. BT’s Enterprise business will begin to proactively contact customers in phases over the coming months to advise on timescales and process for upgrading to new Digital Voice and broadband products.