A BT customer in north Skye finally got her old phone back last week and was due to have broadband reinstalled today (Thursday).
Mairi MacDonald from Digg in Staffin has been without either since returning from holiday in May, when she was told that BT would be taking over her line and installing a new Digital Voice service.
However, Mrs MacDonald suffers severe sight impairment and was concerned that the new phone is designed to be unusable in the event of a power cut.
BT were meant to have resolved her complaint on 3rd July, but her old phone wasn’t reactivated until Thursday 11th. However, she is still without her old phone number and was still unsure as we went to press today (Wednesday) why broadband had not been restored on her line.
She told the Free Press: “They are coming tomorrow to decide what the problem is and why I can’t get broadband through the line. Hopefully this time they’ll get it sorted.
“They also said they would get my old number back. We have run a B&B since 1997 and the phone number is on all our business cards and everything else.”
Mrs MacDonald had also questioned the capacity of the local broadband network to support the Digital Voice service as the bandwidth speeds in the area are well below those advertised by BT.
A spokesman for BT confirmed that Mrs MacDonald’s landline is “up and running, but there remains a problem connecting her to the broadband service.”
With regard to Digital Voice being unsuitable for the west Highlands and Islands, he added: “BT recently announced an update to its timetable for moving all customers off the Public Switched Telephone Network and onto digital landlines, outlining a series of improvements to better protect vulnerable customers and those with additional needs, including telecare users.
“Based on our revised approach, we now expect most customers (business and consumer) to have made the switch off the PSTN by the end of January 2027.
“For customers who don’t use broadband, which includes landline-only consumer customers, the company is working on an interim, dedicated landline service designed to keep these customers connected while moving them off the analogue Public Switched Telephone Network. New equipment will be installed in local telephone exchanges that will allow consumer and business customers who do not have broadband to use their landline in the same way as they do today until a digital solution becomes available, or 2030, if that comes sooner. Trials have already begun, with a nationwide roll-out for eligible customers expected this autumn.
“Given the increasing fragility of the analogue landline network, we still need to work at pace, but we will ensure vulnerable customers are protected.”