Vulnerable people in Norfolk could be put at risk because of plans to axe traditional telephone landlines, councillors have warned.
Members of Norfolk County Council raised their concerns after BT announced details of its plans to shift customers from analogue to digital technology, which requires a broadband connection.
Many phone companies are making the change - known as Voice over Internet Protocol -between now and 2025.
And BT confirmed this week that its engineers will start work in East Anglia in the spring to change the technology.
The company stressed landline phones are not being phased out and, for the majority of customers, the switch only involves plugging the landline phone into a broadband router instead of a wall-mounted socket.
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But Alexandra Kemp, independent county councillor for West Lynn and Clenchwarton, raised concerns at a meeting at County Hall.
She said: "By 2025, analogue telephones are going to be switched off, but people are being switched to a less reliable service unless they have fibre to their home.
"If the internet goes down, the phone goes down. The phone won't work in a power cut. This potentially puts people at risk, particularly older people.
"The battery power backup only lasts 35 minutes after a power cut. This is an accident waiting to happen.
"Hundreds of vulnerable older residents, who don't have mobile phones, will struggle and will, perhaps, be left without lines of communication in a Norfolk storm."
Jane James, the council's cabinet member for corporate services and innovation, said the council was talking to telecom companies and information about the change was available on the authority's website.
She said: "It is industry-led and we share our concerns that some of our more vulnerable residents are going to be left without the really essential lifelines out there.
"I share your concerns about the battery side of things. Are they going to be good enough? Are they going to last long enough? That is something we are challenging industry with at the moment."
BT has said initially, people with healthcare pendants, those who only use a landline, have no mobile signal or those who have disclosed any additional needs will not be proactively switched.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE SWITCHOVER
Norfolk County Council has provided the following information about the change...
WHAT IS GOING ON?
Between now and 2025 the old analogue telephone landlines will be upgraded to landline services using digital technology.
In the future, landline calls will be delivered over digital technology called Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which uses a broadband connection.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO?
In most cases you don’t need to do anything until your provider tells you that your telephone service is changing.
When the switchover happens and people have internet connections, the change may be as simple as plugging your phone into your broadband router rather than the socket on the wall.
DO YOU HAVE TO HAVE BROADBAND?
Once the old telephone connection is switched off, customers that wish to continue having a landline phone, and do not already have broadband, will generally need to have a suitable broadband connection – this is the case even if they don’t use a broadband service.
Providers expect to have a range of options for people in this situation, so customers should not be forced to take out a high-speed broadband package if they do not want to.
WHAT IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW DEPENDS ON A LANDLINE AS A FALL MONITOR OR PERSONAL ALARM?
People should notify the communications provider now so they can advise on how the switch might affect the service of the devices or home phone.
WILL VoIP PHONES WORK IN A POWER CUT?
Unlike traditional phones, a phone connected to a broadband router will not work in a power cut, as the router gets its power from the mains.
If you rely on your landline - for example, you don’t have a mobile phone, you’re unable to use a mobile phone or you don’t have mobile signal inside your home - your provider must make sure you are able to contact the emergency services during a power cut.
This could be in the form of battery back-up so your landline will continue to work, or by giving you a basic mobile phone to use.
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