The slow death of the landline

[elsiegee40]

There used to be a rule (law?) that if you have a phone line it must have a phone plugged in so that someone can ring 999 if they need to

 

hence if you had a cordless phone then you had to have another non cordless one plugged in as well in case of power cuts (remember I lived in times when power cuts were regular)

 

I remember this being explained on instruction of cordless phones when they first came out

 

anyone else heard of this - or even know whether or not it was ever/is law???

 

I certainly remember the power cuts. And I remember the advice that cordless phones won’t work in a power cut so you should always have at least one wired phone.

 

I am unaware of any legal requirement though.

[mikeprice]

Mobile phones have GPS, surely more accurate for 999 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Mobile_Location

 

If you ring 999 from a mobile the 999 people only get the approximate location based on mobile masts etc etc - which could be a couple of houses out

 

if you use the landline they get the exact address

 

so if you're collapsed upstairs the police/ambulance might not know exactly which house you rang from

 

Look at me sounding like an expert - I think the above is correct - but I have talked rubbish in the past (see wife for details)

[Katy]

If you ring 999 from a mobile the 999 people only get the approximate location based on mobile masts etc etc - which could be a couple of houses out

 

if you use the landline they get the exact address

 

so if you're collapsed upstairs the police/ambulance might not know exactly which house you rang from

 

Look at me sounding like an expert - I think the above is correct - but I have talked rubbish in the past (see wife for details)

There's a "999 database" of number -> physical address which all the comms providers have to maintain. (My friend works for one and has been saying how difficult it is to pull 999 database support into the automated system he's building, as it's a different way of setting for ported numbers vs non-ported)

[mavhc]

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240234212/Advanced-Mobile-Location-pinpoints-999-calls-to-inside-30m and that was in 2014, only gets better.

[chrisakak9]

Out of curiosity how much do you guys pay per month for just internet with Virmin MEdia @synaethesia @Norphy ?

 

I was paying about £49.20 with the player/free TV and phone bundle (even though advertised price is £48), 70 Mbps Down after free upgrade from the original 50 Mbps in my area. Im out of my contract period and now on 30 day rolling contract.

I rang them to contest the extra charge and move to broadband only (as i have sipgate and player TV is less channels than freeview) they tried to tie me into another 12 months to drop the chage back and change bundle but I contested that i shouldn't have to as they are charging me more that the stated price and said the usually i can get cheaper elsewhere.

they went away and came back with the offer of keeping my current bundle, upping me to 100 Mbps and dropping the price to £34 (just £1 more than Broadband only). I'll just have to keep an out out for them upping it at a later stage and ring again.

Edited July 4, 2018 by chrisakak9

[chrisakak9]

On the other hand without a land line how can get the calls from "Microsoft" & "TalkTalk" customer services

[nicholab]

Which I could get 100mb for £34 per month. But I a can only get FTTC grrrrr!

[mikeprice]

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240234212/Advanced-Mobile-Location-pinpoints-999-calls-to-inside-30m and that was in 2014, only gets better.

 

 

Thanks - very informative

 

still only to within 30 m though - fine if there is smoke pouring out of a window - not so good if you are collapsed upstairs so the landline still wins

(assuming you can find it whereas your mobile may well be in your pocket)