Alliance welcome BT's decision to halt plans to remove landline phones

BT has halted its plans to replace landline phones with digital ones, in a move welcomed by the Countryside Alliance.

The company said the decision to pause the changes was made following feedback from customers, with the Chief Executive admitting BT had 'got it wrong' in a public statement.

The rollout, which saw copper landlines replaced in favour of fibre-optic cables, resulted in some customers, including those living in rural areas and pensioners, being unable to call emergency services during stormy weather across the country earlier in the year.

BT and other telecom companies had pledged to equip all homes with digital "voice over internet phones" by 2025 as part of an update to the UK's communication infrastructure.

The Countryside Alliance had raised its concerns over the move affecting those living in isolated rural areas, where mobile connectivity can be poor or non-existent and had called for greater dialogue between the company and its customers before pressing ahead.

Sarah Lee, the organisation's Director of Policy, said: "It may seem like an obvious transition for those that don't rely on their landline telephone, but the bleak reality for too many living in rural areas is they are not yet in a position to move over to digital to carry out every day functions, even if they wanted to.

"We have been clear that those who live and work in the countryside must not be subject to a communications blackout and are pleased to see that BT has listened to the concerns of many of its customers.

"We welcome any move to bring the countryside in line with the 21^st digital century, recognising the importance this will have in eventually making life better for rural people".

Marc Allera, BT's chief executive of consumer brands, apologised and said BT had "underestimated the disruptive impact this upgrade would have". He added that "in hindsight" the technology had been rolled out "too early".

According to The Telegraph, some two million customers have already had their landlines removed to make way for the new systems, with around 160,000 forced to make the switch on average each month since the roll out started in April last year.

However, it is not a permanent halt to the programme and the rollout will continue once the issues are resolved.

Mr. Allera's statement added: "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 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.