iDNET to Migrate Entire UK Phone Network to All-IP with BT

[Tacitus]

iDNET simply bolting on a Centrex VOIP package might explain some of the price difference as there will be two profit margins built into their price.

I think you're assuming they are simply a reseller for someone else - at least so far as VoIP is concerned.  TBH I don't really understand the ins and outs of SIP/VoIP and internet telephony in general.  I imagine software is available so iDNet could buy in a VoIP server and run the whole thing themselves.  OTOH given the complexity they may feel it's not worth the bother and propose to hive it off elsewhere.  Dunno.....

Voipfone were regarded as one of the better VoIP suppliers and they got taken out by a DDOS attack a few weeks back, something which blew a hole in some of their advertising claims.   There was a thread about it over on the Voip forum on TBB. 

[stan]

The comments on this thread have been useful and informative but, to my way of thinking, do highlight the uncertainty which us customers feel right now.

I guess there could be a number of reasons for the lack of updates including an apparent shortage of equipment (the chips problem maybe?)  maybe a shortage of staff experienced with this new technology? plus other stuff we don't know about. But at least we can keep an eye open for signs of development and at least we realise that there will be a change in 2025 whereas I suspect there are an awful lot of people who don't.

And that assumes the cut off does happen in 2025. If we look at most large scale projects it usually turns out that they get delayed anyway.

Lastly, I see there are quite a few other threads which cover the same sort of thing - and none of them have elicited a response from IDNet staff so I suppose there's little chance of this one being any different.

[Tacitus]

TBH I think that by 2025 there will be a whole load of Routers which include a DECT base station and ATA converter so you can use your existing phones.  The Fritz range already have both options and the router that BT issue is another example, I don't doubt there will be many more.

Personally I'm not really worried since we'll see what the options are when the time comes. 

[peasblossom]

I'm assuming that when IDNet know what the deal is, they'll let us know. BT have surely got to firm loads of details up before any telecoms firm can say anything useful to their customers on this.

[john7]

We have a friend in a fairly isolated  Welsh village who appears to have been miss sold fibre by BT. I haven’t been to look, but from what she says BT replaced there original box the phone and internet were plugged in and now if there is a power cut, where they are not uncommon, they have no phone. There is no mobile reception in most of the village, I do know that  is the case! Both of them are in there 80’s and have health problems. I thought the BT fibre boxes had battery’s to provide power but they say there is no sign of any with the box installed. It doesn’t sound to promising for how fibre is going if BT are miss selling like this.

[john7]

I have now been told the vally has largly been coned and is now trying to force BT to do somthing as every one put onto fiber has no emergacy conextion.

[peasblossom]

If that's the case, John, complain. And (sadly) be willing to keep at it. They're vulnerable and they should/must have priority.

[robinc]

I would suggest that a complete tale is passed on to the local BBC TV Regional programme - it's the sort of thing they love to get their teeth into!

[john7]

Indeed this is what I have said to the one we know. They shouldn’t be responsible for replacing the existing emergency phone connection BT is withdrawing. It was bad enough with early BT fibre domestic boxes that had rechargeable batteries which you were responsible for replacing. There are a lot of people who wouldn’t be able to do it. To overcome that it looks like they just now do nothing to maintain an emergency connection. I don’t know what is happening to those phone connected devices like alarms, personal alarms etc. This is going on we think in a number of places, this one is  Llanarmon  vally.

[Postal]

This whole discussion has already been had earlier in this thread way back in November 2020, starting with Reply #13.

OfCOM have ruled that the average power cut in the UK lasts 45 minutes so that ISPs must provide vulnerable customers with a means of keeping in contact for at least one hour.  No comfort for the small number of people out of the population as a whole who have no mobile signal and live in rural areas where there are several power cuts a year lasting a number of hours.

[Clive]

I've bought several USB charged LED lights that can be used anywhere in the house.  Very handy for getting up in the night too although I have to keep waving my hand to keep it lit.   

[Den]

You should have bought the ones without a PIR then you would not to keep waving your hand. 

[Clive]

I'm sure I can disable the PIR.  On the other hand Mrs Clive and myself can dance around the room during the power cuts.   
myself

[Simon]

An "unprecedented" and co-ordinated cyber-attack has struck multiple UK-based providers of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services, according to an industry body. Industry body Comms Council UK said several of its members had been targeted by distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks in recent weeks. "An overall threat has been made to the entire industry," a spokesman added. Ofcom said it was aware of the situation. DDoS attacks work by flooding a website or online service with internet traffic in an attempt to throw it offline, or otherwise make it inaccessible.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-59053876

[zappaDPJ]

I don't understand why they can't mitigate against such a basic attack.

[Simon]

But it wouldn't half cause a problem once everyone has been switched over to VoIP.

[zappaDPJ]

It would and I think security in general is a concern e.g. is VoIP encrypted? How might it be affected by malware and viruses? etc.

[robinc]

Houses in our area are being swapped out as an 'enhancement' by BT - it is causing a bit of concern as folks find they have lost their phone lines as many do not understand that is what is happening.

[Tacitus]

I don't understand why they can't mitigate against such a basic attack.

Just checked VoipFone's status page https://www.voipfonestatus.co.uk and it looks as though they are still suffering.  And it's now a week since these attacks started. 

Doesn't augur well for VoIP, at least for the independent suppliers.

[zappaDPJ]

Doesn't augur well for VoIP, at least for the independent suppliers.

Their advice made me smile... 'You might wish to set your phones to automatically failover to the PSTN or mobile networks'

[peasblossom]

Thought people might like this. (It also suggests BT are swapping people over now?!?!) David Mitchell's column.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/14/its-good-to-talk-unless-youre-a-bt-customer

[Simon]

Can't argue with that. 

[robinc]

The Mail on Sunday did its bit to help https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-10198081/BT-warned-phone-shake-puts-vulnerable-risk.html - and yes BT are now switching people over. I'm not sure how it will affect the folks who are living in the bargain basements such as John Lewis internet which is resold PlusNet which is BT .....

I'm quite sure that iDnet will be less cavalier in their approach.

[zappaDPJ]

The astonishing thing about this roll-out is nobody seems to know about it. Outside of this forum I've still not found a single person who knows anything about it. The could be the UK's best kept secret!

[Simon]

And that fact that it seems to already be happening, with seemingly no general hysteria, is perhaps even more astonishing!